[dropcap]N[/dropcap]o one will accept the justification given by the Pakistani Taliban for mowing down 141 people including 132 school children. There was a two-year-old boy among the victims. The Tuesday carnage of Peshawar was real hell. It was too horrific to describe. The Pakistani Taliban militants have not killed only the 132 school children. They have also ‘killed’ the parents, brothers and sisters of those deceased. For those parents their worlds have ended on Tuesday afternoon. The pain of losing their nearest and dearest ones is going to be part of their entire lives (sorry to say that).
“We targeted school because army targets our families. We want them to feel our pain.” This is the justification given by the Pakistani Taliban. The militants wanted to punish the Pakistani army by killing their children. They thought killing children from the army school would definitely hurt the Pakistani army who are hunting them. Most of the victims could be the wards of the Pakistani army personnel too. Indeed, the Tuesday incident really hurts the army. It hurts Pakistan. It hurts the entire humanity. Nothing can repair the damage.The Taliban should know the army is taking orders from the administration in whatever it does. The army or the school children are not responsible for the operation against the Taliban. Killing the school children will perhaps intensify the operation against them. This column does not give a suggestion the Taliban should take on the children of those in power. It says the Tuesday act was akin to setting your house on fire to get rid of rats.
In fact, the activities of the Taliban in past several years have prompted the administration to act. We really don’t know the allegation hurled by the militants that the army carried out against the families of the Taliban too. However, we do know that innocent lives have been lost due to the Taliban sponsored terrorism in Pakistan. These militants have been giving an extremely difficult situation to the administration for the past several years.
