#PrayForLahore

Spring in Lahore feels transcendent. One will likely be greeted by a light breeze, carrying with it the faint aroma of Jasmine flowers.  Splashes of colour adorn trees as vibrant carnations begin to blossom. Branches decorated with lush green leaves sway gently in the wind. The natural beauty in Lahore is boundless. March 27 was supposed to be like any other spring day as families left their homes to celebrate Easter. They strolled into an expansive park to embrace a beautiful afternoon. Could they have imagined the devastation that awaited them? Neither of us could.



“A human dies when you attack a person, humanity dies when you attack a child.” Our country has seen dark days that are marked by the death of innocent children. Two years ago, terrorists stormed the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar and did the unthinkable. Pakistan still hasn’t reeled from the shock of that traumatic incident. We were foolish enough to think that terrorists had limits. Maybe we desperately wanted to believe that no one would have the heart to deliberately target children. Were we being idealistic, or human? I still don’t know how to put my thoughts into words when writing about the APS attack. I just remember feeling numb while blocking out mental images of young boys taking notes seconds before gunmen sprayed their classroom with bullets. Now, it feels like December 16, 2014 has come back to haunt us.

On March 27, 2016, a suicide bomber picked Sunday afternoon to attack a public park in Lahore. He knew families would flock to the playground during that time of day. Did he hesitate at all when he saw children racing past him? Was he overcome with even a smidgen of guilt? Did he stop to think about what a merciless coward he was? Nobody in the surrounding area stood a chance. They were unarmed, and unprotected. In his eyes, those families were just moving objects — their lives meant nothing to him. He was a sick, godless man. Even if someone stopped to tell him that 12-year-old Sahil and his 13-year-old cousin, Aman John, were promised an Easter weekend trip to the park after studying hard for weeks, he wouldn’t have thought twice before detonating his suicide vest.

These murderers have stooped to a new and unimaginable low by constantly going after our children. A Taliban splinter group took responsibility for the attack. They were reportedly targeting Christian families observing Easter, even though both Muslims and Christians died that day — 72 people so far, 24 of them children.

Regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, it is our duty to stand together and confront the people who are trying to divide us.

Security forces and government officials need to realise that their fight against the Taliban is no longer restricted to the Pak-Afghan border. This conflict has infiltrated our cities and trickled down to residential communities. Our homes are supposed to be places of refuge where we feel safe. People living in Iqbal Town will never forget the deafening sound of that explosion. Their memories have been tainted with recollections of shattered windows and broken glass.

How the suicide bomber was able to get this far into Lahore remains a mystery. This attack is a rude awakening, showing us that there is still work to be done. It will take much more than an army operation along the border to wipe out the menace of extremism that has beleaguered Pakistan for so many years.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th,  2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.