A day that did not only shake Pakistan but shook the conscience of the entire world.

On that morning, around 10 a.m., six terrorists wearing suicide jackets and carrying guns climbed over the back wall of Army Public School, Peshawar. Within minutes, they unleashed indiscriminate gunfire. By the time it ended, 150 innocent lives were taken, including 134 children.

Children whose only “crime” were going to school to seek knowledge.

The brutality was beyond comprehension. There was no mercy, no hesitation, only blind, firing, chaos, and bloodshed. White school uniforms that had left homes filled with hope returned soaked in blood, carried on shoulders instead of walking back on little feet.

That day, the entire nation mourned.

Every city feels silent.

Every home felt pain.

Every parent felt as if their own child had been taken.

Today, eleven years have passed.

At Army Public School, candles were lit in memory of those children. Each flickering flame carried a name, a smile, a dream that was never allowed to grow. Those presents searched for familiar faces in the glow of the candles as if the children might somehow return, smiling, laughing, alive.

But pain does not fade with time.

Even after eleven years, the tears in the parents’ eyes are the same. The ache in their hearts is the same, the memories remain as sharp as ever.

This tragedy leaves behind a question that still echoes:

Is human life so cheap in Pakistan that anyone can cross a wall and turn children into targets?

What was the fault of those children who went to school to learn and returned wrapped in shrouds? They went wearing white uniforms and came back stained with red.

How long will we continue to watch our children become victims of terrorism?

How long will we read stories of children killed by bullets, murdered after kidnapping, abused and silenced, or found lifeless in rivers and gutters?

This is not a story that can be forgotten.

This is a pain that can never be healed and never forget

We remember, we mourn, and we owe them a safer tomorrow.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)