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Children are Children, aren't they? #IndiawithPakistan

The mothers of Pakistan's murdered children

The Mothers of Peshawar

As a young girl in India, I learned to hate Pakistan. I was told the history of this country with my own, how we were once one nation, and are now bitter enemies.

I saw the Kargil war. On TV, yes, but its horrors did not go away.

I saw each terrorist attack on India, there were many, and was told Pakistan was behind each of them.

But today, when I see the seige on Pakistan’s children, those young lives snuffed out before they could properly begin, I cannot remember that they are from a country I was taught to hate.

For years I’ve been on to the politicians of both countries: they’ve flamed up hostilities between the two nations whenever things got hairy within either country.

Today I stand with those mothers in Peshawar, whose children wouldn’t come back.

I’m not a mother, but I’m a daughter, and I’ve seen mothers.

I cannot begin to imagine those households where children would return from school in coffins.

So those of you who tell me Pakistan deserved it, that they had supported terrorists once, that they’re villains who murdered Hindus in Kashmir, I have no time for you. Those who tell me that Muslims and Islam are the problem, I have no time for you either. Those Pakistanis who blame India for this, I’ll spend no time on you.

I hang my head in shame, because I’m part of a world where children are murdered to raise funds, where some people can find it in them to feel good about what happened to those children and their families.

The beauty and goodness in this world must be coming to an end if the murder of children does not receive universal condemnation.

Mohammed Ali Khan, 15, a student in a Peshawar school, will not return home today.

I choose to name and remember him, and remember his fallen friends. I choose not to name his murderers, and dignify their existence with a name.

And if children are butchered in schools, it is a collective failure of all of humanity, including mine.

I stand with the mothers who lost their children yesterday, the Mothers of Peshawar. I give them my puny strength, and my puny voice.

Children are children, whether they’re born in India, Pakistan or anywhere else in the world.

——————

Have you read about these mothers and their children? What can we do to bring sanity and peace into this world gone mad? What do you have to say to the grieving mothers of Peshawar?

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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160 Comments

  • esoofi says:

    I respect your writing and your sentiments, but Pakistan reaps what it sow. What was ISI doing when innocent were butchered? Were they planning another 26/11? Entire government, police and military failed to stop that gruesome massacre. They are boasting that they have weapon’s to fight with India, let them first fight and win their enemies at home.

  • mumbaslife says:

    Next time write same kind of blog for Hindu children too.

    • Damyanti says:

      Not sure what part of my post made you think I treat Hindu, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or atheist children any different. Children, and humans, do not come with a ‘manufacturing’ stamp of their religion– and dividing them along those lines is what creates these tragedies in the first place. Hindu children are children first and Hindu afterwards, and the same with any other religion. Unlike you, I hope I never have to write a post about children in this kind of tragic situation again, irrespective of their religious background.

      • mumbaslife says:

        I agree that humanity should come first than religion. But we don’t see that happening. My problem is those people who cry their heart out for so called “minority” especially “the most peaceful religion in the entire universe” – Islam. For them if my Hindu child dies then it doesn’t matter. But one Muslim boy/girl did then it is showtime. I hope you have written at least one blog for Hindus oppressed in its very own land ,if not then it is a time for serious introspection.

        • Damyanti says:

          I find it strange that humans find it difficult to label themselves as humans first, and above all. Hindus, Muslims and all other religions are man-made labels.

          Yes, I’ve written blog posts about the suffering of children before this post– but never wondered whether they were Hindu or Muslim. Now that I think back on it, some of them were Hindu, and Buddhist, Christian, and Muslim.

          Unlike you, my brain does not think in labels. It follows the heart– and the heart sees with love, not denominations and religions.

          I introspect on a daily basis on many topics, as anyone who reads my blog would know.

          You might consider some serious introspection yourself, and answer a few questions in your own mind: why are labels important to you? Why is it that don’t see humans as humans, and must divide them along the lines of race or religion? As a Hindu, have you never met an unethical Hindu, or an ethical Muslim? Why is it that you feel the need to comment on an old blog post on a human tragedy, and try to stir up conversation along religious lines? What is ‘own land’? Do we carry any of the land we are born in, after we die? Do we truly ‘own’ anything at all?

          Every child’s death matters, what religion they belong to is irrelevant.

          My only avowed religion is the practice of kindness, love, and compassion towards all living beings: whether human or otherwise.

          • mumbaslife says:

            It is easy to talk about humanity from AC room in comfortable chair. But if you belong to a families whose son has been executed by terrorist or if you think from their perspective then you find strong urge to differentiate between good and evil, even in children. Not that I don’t feel bad about such killings but I do think you reap what you sow. So, Pakistan is getting the taste its own medicine. And FYI most Indians do not hate Pakistan due to brainwash as you claim but because we see things and use our brain. However “innocent-soon-to-be-terriost” Pakistani children do get brainwashed stepwise.Sorry,but I carry no sympathy for next Osama.

            • Damyanti says:

              Compassion. When you see the eyes of compassion, you reach the heart of truth. I’m not sure all Indians do all good things, and all Pakistanis are Osamas. The unfortunate part is that the politicians of both countries stir up hatred for their own selfish ends, and the common man gets conned into it. If you judge others, you’ll always see find something to hate. For example, how do you know that those who are compassionate have never suffered losses? I would encourage you to have compassion for all beings– hatred only brings suffering, to yourself and to those you judge.

  • I was so moved by this post. Our voices may be small but together they form a chorus. My country also turns a blind eye to the cost in innocent lives, the anger we incite, and the destruction of humanity’s future. I add my voice to yours.

  • Absolutely right! My heart is with you on this one. Not naming the perpetrators to deny them their very existence is a strong message in itself and although that is not feasible in the larger context, on a sub-conscious scale, it measures up to more than killing them for what they have done.

  • Del'Balqis says:

    i just read one post of ur blog, and concluse you as a smart girl. nice sharing, and keep sharing ur thought.

  • Thank you for liking “The Downward Spiral of Gift Giving.” I was also deeply saddened when I first heard about this awful event, and I am still sad about it when I think about it. I agree with you. The brutal killing of children and other innocent people is a tragedy no matter what part of the world the people are from or what their racial background is or what their religion is. Sadly, there are no easy solutions for achieving peace in a world filled with government corruption and distorted concepts of morality.

  • annepm2015 says:

    Well written but a sad commentary on two bitter enemies.

  • mike7sedona says:

    You don’t have to worry about trolls, the social media is full of them, but go about showing your empathy where it is needed most sans borders.

    Children are children and caste, creed or color do not matter – they are the true temples wherein God resides, and those who stoop to such low levels of slaughtering them are demons in human form!

  • curtisbausse says:

    Reblogged this on Journey of a Squivelist.

  • iku2e says:

    Tomorrow’s terrorists are killed by today’s terrorists, have no more comments!

  • luckyjc007 says:

    I totally agree with you. All “people” are hated even if they had nothing to do with the horror taking place and had no control of it. However, they get included in the group because they live in that country or perhaps are associated with the same religion. The ones creating the horrors…I can’t even bring myself to call them human.

  • finleysmom says:

    Very moving piece.

  • Unfortunately, there’s nothing I could say to the mothers and fathers of the murdered children in Peshawar that would help them. Nonetheless, I applaud this post, Damyanti. What I do think people can do with their voices and their words, however, is just what you’re doing here: a sort of peer pressure, if you will, to let our fellow humans know that they will not be able to get away with atrocities like killing children in a school. These murderers will be condemned, vilified, ostracized, and, ultimately, stopped.

  • epsnider says:

    Young children everywhere must be educated not to hate. If this could be accomplished think what a wonderful world this next generation would run.

  • I agree completely. What a well written article.

    • I live in a country that incarcerates and brutalises children of parents from war torn countries, who are seeking asylum in Australia. Childhood and children are universal, what we do to these vulnerable little ones who end up doing all sorts of terrible things to themselves just to end the misery, affects every Australian parent, grandparent and child. All of us, innocent or not share in this shame.

  • FullEmpty says:

    Very moving and thoughtful, thank you for this blog. Being humane seems so obvious and necessary, and yet so difficult to achieve.

  • well written.I am from Pakistan and i am pleased that people cross the border also felt the pain with which Pakistan is suffering

  • I thank you for this post . I am a Pakistani and I can still feel the pain

  • PictureThis says:

    Thank you for this, I believe children and their plight in the world today do not get enough press. They are the innocents.

  • What a moving story and refreshing perspective. Thank you very much for sharing. It is important to know what is happening in the world, and it is important to challenge previously held beliefs.

  • oshrivastava says:

    Reblogged this on oshriradhekrishnabole.

  • I agree with you. This is not a crisis for Pakistan but a crisis of of humanity today. I feel equally ashamed that who could kill those innocents are also called human.shame on us.

  • admin says:

    Children are children no matter where they live in this world. There is so much inhumanity to man in this day and age, but we must strive to be the better person. We were loved first and we must love our neighbor. Life is short. Make your mark for the good.

  • Samson says:

    I share your feelings and I feel the loss. I honor those children and the parents of those children who lost their lives that day. May we see no more.

  • I think you’re very brave. Not many people would speak their mind like you do. I share your mind, completely.
    And I think that to change the world we need more people like you. Because change is build with small steps. More people-more steps-more change.

  • PreciousRhymes says:

    As cliched as this may sound, I do feel that love and prayer have the power to heal and transform. May light and love reach all hearts!

  • Thank you for stopping by my blog. This post is incredible. I wish more people felt like you.

  • brinkling says:

    Thank you for lending your voice. Given the amount of followers here, I definitely wouldn’t call it puny.

  • I like it that you chose to name the boy. You were also right to make a statement by not dignifying the murderers by naming them.
    Very good writing on an important issue. The world has evil in it.
    Annie

  • Rachel Tey says:

    Happy New Year in advance Damyati. I’ve just nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger award.

  • Thank you for posting this. It is so sad. Shocking. And savage. Why can we not live in peace and truly care for others?

  • It is getting worse and worse, isn’t it? And closer and closer home. Terrorism was, for a long time, something that happened ‘to others.’ Now it is right at the doorstep, and breaking down the walls!

  • logicalmynd says:

    There are so many forces at work that allow and direct these horrors to happen. I try not to respond to things like this because it’s difficult to keep my response from being an emotional reaction. I also know exactly how these things have come to pass and exactly where to place the blame. It is more so a distributed effect across the model and practice of collectivist government. As soon as people draw lines in the sand and create divisions among “these people” and “those people”; there has just been a division of our potential. And the idea of a group being more important than any one other being is called collectivism, and that is the root cause of governments ability to spread their ideas and commit great evils.

    All life is sacred. A group is intangible but it’s comprised of individuals. I only care for the individuals among each group. The collectivist governments we form are not to be trusted. It makes me sad so many people are not allowed to live long lives.

  • phillygq says:

    So well said. So so sad what we do to our children, what we do to our brothers and sisters.

  • adamjasonp says:

    Not once did blame enter my mind when I heard about this the day it happened; it was the Taliban’s doing, it was the corruption.  Just the fact that people don’t like to hear about it, and how bad it was, means it’s condemned; not everyone speaks up, but we are disgusted.

  • Kathy Waller says:

    Children belong to all of us. There are so many of us; why can’t we find a way to make this stop, all over the world? Thank you for your post.

  • ldsrr91 says:

    I am old school, no knowledge of how to tweet or what a tweet even looks like?

    So I will use this medium here to say, “You are a powerful writer my dear” you bring the point to the front burner of the stove, which is good, you are awakening the minds of your countrymen. Whether it will effect change in the future remains to be seen, but at least you tried.

    I salute you.

    DS

  • it tears the heart!!

  • Mary Rowen says:

    Thank you for this post, Damyanti. There are no words to describe the horrific nature of this crime. I feel as though the world has lost all sense of justice and reason. How can anyone justify killing children in the name of politics?

  • RDoug says:

    A beautifully written, well-conveyed, and intelligent response to a horrible crime against humanity.

  • Humble, but more than that, humbling. Loved it.

  • rumaharya says:

    I am here.. right behind your back.. children are always children

  • jvarwig says:

    This is absolutely heartbreaking. My prayers go out to the hurting families of the students who were killed.

  • Beautiful and sad. The only way I know how to tackle these kinds of horrors is through prayer.

  • Indrajit Das says:

    No words !!

  • mira65 says:

    Touching and heartfelt….

  • Well said. Evil snuffing out innocence should have no place in the world, no matter the politics involved.

  • daydreema says:

    This is a great piece- after all, children are children, and nobody who can massacre children on this scale does not deserve to be called human.

  • Charles Lominec says:

    It takes strength to write about something so sad and tragic with the eloquence you used.

  • chattygurll says:

    well written I had actually forwarded this to my friends and they were actually shocked! what was done was VERY VERY VERY wrong!!

  • Exceptionally well-written. You have a great talent!

  • lexacain says:

    I agree with almost all you wrote and applaud you for tackling a serious and tragic subject with such sensitivity and fairness.

  • Reblogged this on Salvoes in Faith.

  • Marie Keates says:

    Very well written. I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments, nothing can justify killing children.

  • “I’m not a mother, but I’m a daughter, and I’ve seen mothers.”
    I love this line because it applies to so many people, especially in the face of tragedies like this. We may not be able to relate directly and wholeheartedly because of barriers in culture, language, social class, circumstances, etc… But we can all relate in some way because we are all humans and we all know humans. Thank you for this thoughtful post. Prayers for these mothers and families.

  • I’m with you all the way.

  • Reblogged this on Chooseday and commented:
    A must read…it’s tragic how we sit here and write, goa bout our lives and things like this are happening worldwide. Will the horror show ever end?

  • Thank you for this piece. It made me cry. I am appalled by those who would tear the lives of children apart. I am ashamed to even feel human as the murderers are. This world continues to show its ugly face day in and day out, with this, with the shootings in Afganistan and with every other disgusting attempt to ‘right wrongs’. We are a sorry excuse for people. I hope more people write like you do and uncover the wool from the worlds blinded eyes.

  • Agree, we have all failed as human beings in protecting the innocent lives. It’s a real shame and time to move on past the India vs Pakistan. It’s the lives of children and that’s what matters.

  • Peter Nena says:

    Children are children, indeed. Just as you say. It is extremely heartbreaking that we drag them into our wars. Wars based on bullshit. It is awful.

  • anoshanadeem says:

    Reblogged this on BLOGPRESS.

  • I think of my own children being in the place of those who died and I cannot comprehend it. I simply cannot. My heart goes out to the mothers of those children. Peace and light

  • Hi! I had not heard of this tragedy until this morning at a Ladies’ Bible study. The leader brought it up with an anguished voice; all the participants grieved over the loss of innocent lives. I’m praying for these heartbroken families. Jesus would agree. When the apostles tried to keep children away from Jesus, He said, “Allow the children to come to Me.”

    He came to this earth as a man, left heaven above, to reach people with the love of
    God. He and His Father want to shed love abroad in the hearts of men. I’ll bet He’s crying for the hurting families. He said before He comes again, the love of man would wax cold. A sign of His soon return is increased violence on the earth. For whatever reason, He allowed mankind to have free will. Maybe so we would love Him freely, not as robots. Yet, there are times when humanity acts less like wonderful beings made in God’s image. Others suffer and loving people hurt for those that suffer.

    I appreciate your tender heart. Jesus, God the Son, came to earth to tell people to repent of their sins so they could live in heaven for all of eternity. If they would believe on Jesus,
    God the Son, He would set them free. If they chose to love Him and God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit, one God, yet three separate persons, a mystery, He would love them and they could avoid hell, a place of torment. Jesus spoke of hell more than He spoke of heaven. He became a sacrifice so God would allow mankind into His holy heaven. Jesus surrendered His perfect self to a horrible death and took on all the sins of the world to satisfy His Father’s wrath and judgment against sin. The book of John in the New Testament of the Bible tells of Jesus, as do many other books in the Bible.

    If every person in the world loved God and lived as God wants them to, forgiving others, loving others as they love themselves, there would be no slaughter of innocents through school shootings, through abortion in America, a national travesty.

    I pray for America because I am an American and I pray for people around the world because we are all human, made in the image and likeness of God, and God has given me a heart that cares.

    Thank you for your post. Thank you for caring.

  • Reblogged this on The Mermaid Swims… Strait Way to New and commented:
    If I had been at school today, I would have lowered our flag to half mast in grieving the loss of children. The last line of this blog sums it up pretty well:
    “Children are children, whether they’re born in India, Pakistan or anywhere else in the world.” Thank you for your post.

  • fireofnorea says:

    Reblogged this on fireofnorea.

  • Gee says:

    Reblogged this on Nouveau Perspectives.

  • Whatever the motive, I can never imagine how could anyone even try to hurt a kid looking into their innocent eyes!!
    Where are we heading to? What’s going on with our world!! Shame on each and everyone of us adults to be a part of this grown up world of no virtues!!

  • “Children are children, whether they’re born in India, Pakistan or anywhere else in the world.”

    That is what so many forget. Grownups have their differences, and if they cant just accept that others have a different belief system, then let the grown ups deal with grown ups. Children are innocent beings just coming into the ways of the world. There is no excuse for slaughtering innocence.

  • Sean McCann says:

    “Children are children, whether they’re born in India, Pakistan or anywhere else in the world”

    Well, unless they’re born in Palestine, in which case they are just Israeli missile targets, playing on the beach one second, gone up in smoke the next.

  • macjam47 says:

    Oh Damyanti, thank you for speaking out on this horrific subject. Children don’t choose where they are born. They don’t choose their parents. They don’t choose their socio-economic lives. They don’t choose their parents politics. They just come into this world and take what is handed to them. No child should ever have to pay the ultimate price that these children did. The world is in a sad state of affairs, when people can disregard the laws of humanity to such an ugly and senseless end.

  • Nida S. says:

    Thank you for your support and solidarity. It was a bit disturbing that many writers on wordpress chose not to write about the tragedy for whatever reason. I am happy and humbled that you rose above and shared your supportive thoughts with my country’s people. May God have mercy on us all.

  • whitelopezsm says:

    Hi, my name is Luis A. White Jr and I read this article and all i have to say is, you are correct I don’t have time for anyone who even makes an attempt to justify these horrific Murders, there is no excuse for the lack of humanity. My heart and my prayers goes out to the families of these Children of the World.

  • Thank you for the wonderful post. I don’t have any answers – it seems that hate is taught everywhere. I don’t know how one can combat it except to strive for balance, peace, and equality in oneself and present it to others.

  • ccyager says:

    Well said. Americans also know about murdered children not returning home from school. My heart goes out to the Mothers of Peshawar in this time of sorrow and pain.

  • thortonjakes says:

    Incredibly senseless act that surely qualifies as evil.

  • BellyBytes says:

    There is nothing that one can say that will ever heal the heart of a mother who has lost a child. There aren’t words strong enough to condemn such an act of willful and pointless murder. Truly the world has gone mad as you say and one can only pray that sanity will return sooner rather than later. This may sound a fatalistic argument but honestly as a mother, I am left speechless and incapable of thinking of a practical solution.

  • reeyah says:

    Reblogged this on hear me out and commented:
    I honestly don’t want to read about it much because the mere thought of this attack is enough to bring me to tears.

    I agree, this is a collective failure of all of humanity. 🙁

  • Rhonda says:

    Wonderfully written post. Bless you!

  • yeoldefoole says:

    YES!!!

  • rigzin says:

    very well written.. 🙂

  • Your words echo those I penned earlier today. Reading those of one who grew up in the culture, rather than my own, a mere visitor to both countries, gives a more tangible sense of pain.

  • Such a horrible tragedy. Children are always innocent, no matter what nation.

  • Thanks for this post – everything you say is true. As a mother, my heart aches for anyone who’s lost a child. It’s the one thing you dread above all else. The indiscriminate, wanton destruction of children’s lives can only be described as evil. It has nothing to do with Islam.

  • Reblogged this on My Wonder Emporium and commented:
    Couldn’t say this any better and had to share 🙁

  • Well written and you have spoken from your heart! I agree with you completely on the way we have been conditioned. Yesterday, it was with pain and shame that I followed the reports of the cowardly and dastardly act. My anguish would have been the same had a similar incident happened in India or elsewhere in the world.

    Ironical and sad that we are united by violence, not peace.

  • rythaephua says:

    Reblogged this on Rytha Ephua and commented:
    Fact is, I’m dumbfounded!

  • eyraaam says:

    Reblogged this on Experimental..

  • prince kenny says:

    Reblogged this on princekennyjr .

  • flowithelife says:

    Thank you for your post Damyanti, I absolutely agree, children are children and they deserve a better future, a better world we all should create for them

  • aoginni1 says:

    Reblogged this on diongalaxy.

  • A great post. This story is utterly heartbreaking and I still can’t believe something like this could happen.

  • rabbiadar says:

    All life is sacred, young life especially so. I do not understand why some people seem to hate the idea of young people going to school. Thank you for writing so beautifully about this terrible crime.

  • So well expressed, thank you. My heart bleeds for these families…I have a soon to be 15 year old and I can only imagine the pain being suffered by such a loss. Why is there so much hate, why?

  • ywwp says:

    I feel and bad shameful for the mothers of Peshawar. Killing children is killing humanity. regards

  • rod says:

    An excellent post, though you might consider standing with the father’s as well.

  • Dreams and lives of hundreds of famiies shuttered within a few hours. Such a heinous act.
    Damayanti it surely is a collective failure of humanity.

  • This news will haunt us forever. As a mother I weep for the horror of this world and those that were taken so cruelly by this hatred. My heart aches. Thank you for sharing your views.

  • Reblogged this on A mom in Hyderabad and commented:
    It’s not right. Mothers are mothers all over the world, the pain of loss of child is unbearable. Children are everyones children. There’s absolutely no excuse for such acts. These acts are inhuman, there’s no need for us to discuss the religion of any person, if you can’t be human you’re religion holds no significance.

    My heart goes out to all the mothers and families who lost their children in Pakistan.

  • Athenas Take says:

    Its not just children that those brutal cowards have killed, they have killed the future of many, the innocence, the love and so much more. Wish for once that Pakistan should make a strong stand against this madness and restore peace back in a country that so badly needs it.

  • uniqusatya says:

    Well,its a wake up call for all those citizens of pakisthan…big one…to fetch and drive those insects among them and help in achieving World peace.

  • davidprosser says:

    I feel for the families off those children who won’t return home to play any more. I feel for the Nation that has lost their future talents.
    Maybe now the support for those animals who would deny a child an education, deny a child the right to a life, a future will waver and die.
    There will always be the fanatics who though in a minority feel they should decide how others should live. Now it’s time for the majority to say enough!, More than enough! The world does not need this fundamentalism and we don’t need the clerics of hate who twist the words of the beautiful Qu’ran. We need tolerance, we need peace and we need a future for our children.
    What beauty, knowledge and skills the world has been denied in the death of these children.
    xxx Huge Hugs Damyanti xxx

  • rumadak says:

    My heart goes out to such families whose innocent people get killed in name of rubbish politics and terrorism. I completely agree with you about this being shamefully related to India / Pakistan or whatsoever countries. I hope we will live long enough to see a rational world.

  • ashokbhatia says:

    Perhaps the citizens of Pakistan need to demand a stop to alternate sources of power within the political-military hierarchy and stop using outfits to wage cover wars against neighbors. The fight has to be directed against poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition.

  • ANooP says:

    Exactly Damyanti,

    It’s very sad and unbelievable. I don’t understand what they are trying to prove!!

  • 🙁

  • I read in the newspaper today, the lament of a father: “I saw my 14-year-old son in uniform this morning. This evening, I saw him in a casket.” Being the father of 13-year-old myself, I broke down reading this sentence. My eyes are streaming now, even as I type this.

    All those young minds, their minds full of rainbows and butterflies, laughing and twittering on their way to school… their world completely changed in a day. Many of them snuffed out before blooming, the survivors scarred for life, their childhood destroyed forever.

    But we should shy away from fear, anger and hatred… because that is what this monsters want us to feel. It is the demon of hatred in our minds which breeds these devils and give them sustenance.

    Instead, let compassion wash over our souls. Let us cry with those families. It’s not Pakistani children who have been murdered… it is OUR children. Children who belonged to humanity, who should have partcipated in building a new world.

    Mr. Terrorist, we refuse to be afraid. We refuse to hate you or anybody. We will defeat your philosophy of hatred with our philosophy of compassion.

    • Damyanti says:

      “Mr. Terrorist, we refuse to be afraid. We refuse to hate you or anybody. We will defeat your philosophy of hatred with our philosophy of compassion.”

      There. Right there is the message we need to spread far and wide.

      Thank you so much for sharing this.

  • Louise says:

    i, too, am abhorred by all the recent hate..Yesterday was despicable why children? I agree with everyone elses comments. None of it makes sense anymore.

  • Birgit says:

    So well written and I have been thinking about this huge loss due to hate and it saddens me especially during this time of “peace” (Christmas). No matter what religion, race, it is abhorrent to think how those children and adults must have felt when this happened and now the families must grieve and try to understand this horror. The children and teachers who survived must deal with this loss. What does one say? I don’t know maybe words are not needed but a gentle touch, a hug a show of caring and a loss of hate is needed

    • Damyanti says:

      It has been weighing on me since last night, Birgit. I don’t know what to do, other than be good, give love and care, and comfort those that we can reach. The only way to defeat darkness is to strike a light.

  • You are absolutely right. No matter where they live, the people of the world have common goals. They want to live in freedom, to have food to eat and a place to sleep. They would like to have more than one set of clothes and to have something fulfilling to do with their life. Let’s not whitewash the terrible things done by some of these people to each other within and across national boundaries. Why do they do that? Because they are conditioned by religion, ancient culture, power seekers to hate people who are different to them. Then there’s the fear and revenge factors thrown in. So the cycle continues. In practical terms we need to be on our guard because these powerful influences can affect us too. But its important we have a discerning eye to see we are not being manipulated into hating and acting inhumanely. We must have an underlying sympathy for humanity so we can look for the good in our supposed enemies.

    • Damyanti says:

      Yes, Ian. If we forget compassion for our enemies, we risk becoming the enemy. And I don’t believe the peoples of these two countries hate each other– it is the politicians, and at least on one side, the army.

  • SO very well said. Hate only begets hate. I am ashamed to live in a world where people think an act like this is justified.

    • Damyanti says:

      Angela, there are so many in my country that think this is justified. I’m just relieved that they are outnumbered by the many that don’t. I love that Indians stand united with Pakistanis in their times of grief and mourning.

      Yes, the history of our countries is wrapped in conflict, but these were children, and who wouldn’t be heartbroken at the slaughter of children?

  • shellymona says:

    You are right Damyanti….I also feel the same when I hear about such shameless cowards…..

  • Reblogged this on News With Chai and commented:
    We couldn’t stop myself reblogging this. After a very long time, we come to see a sane piece of writing with respect to this subject. Damyanti! Take a salute.

  • Superb! Hat off, Damyanti.

  • Greydreamer says:

    Reblogged this on Sifting The Clouds.

  • Amen Damyanti. May God have mercy on us all.

  • Beautifully said. We are taught to hate, and to accept marginalizing others. We must all work toward making every life sacred, no matter color, creed, ethnicity. Children should never be pawns. As a former teacher this story cuts my heart.

  • Laurel Regan says:

    Very well said. I am not a mother either, but I am heartbroken for those who lost their children. Sometimes I think the whole world has gone mad. 🙁

  • I agree. Such a horrible ordeal all this is. Terrorism doesn’t have a religion, all it has is a disgusting devilish mind.

  • annj49 says:

    I had to share this.
    Thanks for your honest words….
    <3

  • ViewPacific says:

    Well-written post, thank you.
    Can we imagine, and build, a world where nobody can be convinced to do such things?
    Even though killings are done in the name of some country, or religion, or cause, they are still killings.
    People are people.
    Vincent

    • Damyanti says:

      People are people, children are children. But it has taken all the ages of humanity to realize that, and even then, the vast majority of us hasn’t grasped this simple fact.

  • Marie says:

    Excellent post. I agree with you completely. When will enough be enough.

  • jmsabbagh says:

    Savagness in the name of a religion ,.Are the Taliban ,Muslims or not? If they are then they destroyed Islam itself.,by slaughtering innocent Muslim children.

    • Damyanti says:

      I’m not Muslim, and I know very little of Islam. To me, those children and their innocence ought to have been sacred. And it is our failure as humans that it wasn’t. I wonder what an alien race watching us would have to say…

  • Every time I hear about innocent children being killed, it shoots a hole through my soul.

  • This saddens me. I don’t know why people like waging wars on and with one another….

  • trentpmcd says:

    Very well said. It’s such an awful thing. All the people of the world must be grieving with those poor mothers, and with the fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, cousins, friends and everyone else who lost someone in this tragedy.

    • Damyanti says:

      Sadly, all the world isn’t grieving with these people who have suffered such loss. This morning, I spent quite some time on twitter, with people who called me names for supporting ‘Pakistani’ children. Children are children, but sadly, some people have yet to realize this.

      • trentpmcd says:

        I can’t imagine having hate so deep that I wouldn’t feel for children being slaughtered. The children aren’t responsible for acts of war or terrorism.

  • sheenmeem says:

    I am from Peshawar. My cousin’s two sons are dead due to this massacre of children in school. My mind is numb with horror, and grief for all those mothers whose children won’t be coming home alive. Sheen.

    • Damyanti says:

      Sheen, I can’t imagine what your cousin must be going through. The women of the world, the parents of the world stand united behind her in this endless moment of grief. May peace come to us, may the barbarians amongst us wake up to compassion and humanity. Sending you hugs from across the continent.

      • sheenmeem says:

        Thank you. Wish somehow all this senseless killings stop in my country, and those ruthless killers, and the actual masterminds responsible for the carnage brought to justice.

  • Thanks you for sharing these heartfelt thoughts. If we recognize what is universal between us, that which makes us the same, versus different, perhaps there’s hope for the world after all.

    • Damyanti says:

      Humanity is universal, but in the last few days, we’ve seen that so is inhumanity. When will human beings know compassion and peace?

  • This was horrible and I can’t fathom anyone not being saddened by it.

    • Damyanti says:

      Unfathomable as it is, I just spoke to some people who aren’t. That made me feel sadder, if that’s possible.

  • Fatmawaty says:

    Absolutely Sister! You are all heart. I’m as an Indonesian only can pray for the mothers if Peshawar, may God give the patience upon them, and may God put the children whom became victims in His paradise, ameen. Every human has right to live.

  • I actually just recently read a novel The Underground Girls of Kabul, and was surprised to discover that there is an actual resistance in Pakistan. Women even, in parliament who are looking to reform their culture and country. It was a weighty read, but such a prudent one as it shed light on topics we tend to shy away from in a Western society. Great post!

  • Andrew says:

    I’ll be talking about this soon, too, but probably not until after the holidays.
    It’s unbelievable to me, and, yet, it isn’t.

  • Sally says:

    Well said.