With Love, To Peshawar.
By~ Romesa Qaiser Khan | Muhammad Mohsin Ali | Hatib Zia - KEMU '18.
Guest Bloggers~ Hamza Khan | Zainab Ahmed | Iqraa Arshad
As 25th December, the birthday of our beloved Quaid dawns, we take out time to bring you a glimpse of Jinnah's true Pakistan. To remember those of our brothers and sisters who have been victims of the monsters amongst us. The extremists who are at this very moment, the biggest threat to the integrity of our nation. Today we have brave this tragedy. Today we swear to never forget the blow they have dealt us. Today we show that we are resilient. Today we stand united in our hatred against the enemy within us. Today we honour the martyrs of 16-12-14.
Rather than one person saying it all, we had everyone say a little. Our utmost gratitude to all those who have shaped our gesture so beautifully by their participation. For each of the 145 martyrs they have made, one more person has raised their voice. All of our prayers are with Peshawar. We will never forgive, we will never forget. And we hope that somehow, we can all learn from this tragedy and never have to face such a calamity again.
The companion blog can be found here: http://www.kemunited.com/2014/12/lessons-from-peshawar.html
~RQK.
“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs. If there was no suffering, man would not know his limits, would not know himself,” says Leo Tolstoy, in his magnum opus, War and Peace. More than a century later, we find ourselves at the same crossroads, with inevitable war awaiting us, and the prospect of peace both behind us and in front of us.
On 16th December, we lost a generation. A generation that was going to make us proud. A young and energetic generation which was going to lift up the burden we had so miserably failed to carry.
But from suffering arises hope; the deepest sorrows give us the greatest creative impetus. And so, when we lost our future, we decided firmly: Enough. We pledged that we will stand resilient in the face of darkness. We vowed to strive harder, to achieve the goals originally set by the kids we lost.
We want the world to know this: We are Pakistanis. We will not be defeated. For one candle that will be blown out, another will be lighted. For every potential doctor or engineer you murder, we will raise another. We may appear divided, we may fight with one another over petty conflicts, but do not think we are weak. Do not think we will be caught unaware. Do not think we fear death.
Our prayers go out to the little souls we lost. We will never forget them, and we will never forgive our enemies. Let a new dawn rise.
Guest Bloggers~ Hamza Khan | Zainab Ahmed | Iqraa Arshad
 |
| Credits: Hadia Tahir |
As 25th December, the birthday of our beloved Quaid dawns, we take out time to bring you a glimpse of Jinnah's true Pakistan. To remember those of our brothers and sisters who have been victims of the monsters amongst us. The extremists who are at this very moment, the biggest threat to the integrity of our nation. Today we have brave this tragedy. Today we swear to never forget the blow they have dealt us. Today we show that we are resilient. Today we stand united in our hatred against the enemy within us. Today we honour the martyrs of 16-12-14.
Rather than one person saying it all, we had everyone say a little. Our utmost gratitude to all those who have shaped our gesture so beautifully by their participation. For each of the 145 martyrs they have made, one more person has raised their voice. All of our prayers are with Peshawar. We will never forgive, we will never forget. And we hope that somehow, we can all learn from this tragedy and never have to face such a calamity again.
The companion blog can be found here: http://www.kemunited.com/2014/12/lessons-from-peshawar.html
~RQK.
“Man cannot possess anything as long as he fears death. But to him who does not fear it, everything belongs. If there was no suffering, man would not know his limits, would not know himself,” says Leo Tolstoy, in his magnum opus, War and Peace. More than a century later, we find ourselves at the same crossroads, with inevitable war awaiting us, and the prospect of peace both behind us and in front of us.
On 16th December, we lost a generation. A generation that was going to make us proud. A young and energetic generation which was going to lift up the burden we had so miserably failed to carry.
But from suffering arises hope; the deepest sorrows give us the greatest creative impetus. And so, when we lost our future, we decided firmly: Enough. We pledged that we will stand resilient in the face of darkness. We vowed to strive harder, to achieve the goals originally set by the kids we lost.
We want the world to know this: We are Pakistanis. We will not be defeated. For one candle that will be blown out, another will be lighted. For every potential doctor or engineer you murder, we will raise another. We may appear divided, we may fight with one another over petty conflicts, but do not think we are weak. Do not think we will be caught unaware. Do not think we fear death.
Our prayers go out to the little souls we lost. We will never forget them, and we will never forgive our enemies. Let a new dawn rise.
~MMA
While your efforts are commendable, a better use of our effort and time would be to raise actual awareness. You would find, amongst us, people who are apologists and those who would not spare these innocent martyrs a second thought beyond a sentimental status or a placard. We need to educate people, move past our differences and take practical steps towards changing our circumstances.
ReplyDeleteVigils, placards, sit-ins - these are for nations that are clear on their stances and ones which have a pragmatic approach towards, as well as measures in place to address these issues.
We? We need to act- before another tragedy strikes.