By Umer Nangiana
The mood was sombre as hundreds poured in for the candle light vigil held at the Embassy of Pakistan in Qatar to pay homage to the victims of the Peshawar massacre. Taliban gunmen attacked and killed 142 people, 132 children amongst them, in an army-run school in the provincial capital Peshawar on Tuesday.
The attack drew condemnations from around the globe where people observed symbolic silences and commemorated the deaths with vigils in different parts of the world.
Men, women and children from Pakistani community gathered in large numbers at the embassy here on Wednesday evening where they laid floral wreaths and everyone lit a candle to pay tribute to the victims of the attack for which Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.
Many dubbed it as the bloodiest in Pakistan’s history and one of the worst acts of brutality where seven gunmen killed over a hundred defenceless school children and their teachers, shooting most of them in their heads and faces.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Qatar Shahzad Ahmad, Defence Attache Masud Khan, Community Welfare Attache Rashid Nizam and the staff of the embassy joined the gathering. Special prayers were held for the victims and people came pouring in with their families to pay respects.
In a two-hour long programme, more than 300 people attended the vigil. Many expressed their grief and anger at the incident that shocked the entire world.
“This was a very brutal act done by Taliban. We (Pakistanis) should unite because this is exactly the situation where only unity will pay off. Extremism has to be rooted out and we have to be united in order to fight terrorism and extremism in our country,” said Ayaz, a participant of the vigil, while talking to Community.
“The government of Pakistan should take substantive action now. The sacrifices of these innocent children must not go in vain. We as a nation should unite and we should do something to address this problem once and for all,” he added.
With tears in his eyes, another participant, Yasir, said he was yet unable to comprehend how somebody could kill innocent children with such brutality. “I am numb. I do not have words to express how I feel,” said Yasir, looking at the pictures of some of the victims posted behind the candles by the participants of the vigil.
One of the participants was from India. “I am here for the kids. Look what they (terrorists) have done to the kids. I do not know anything about politics. I am here just for the children,” he said without giving his name.
“I cannot imagine the grief of those mothers who have seen the dead bodies of their children. The mothers who dressed their children and sent them to school in the morning and would never see them again,” said Dr Wasi Jafri, a member of the Pakistani community.
“I do not have words to describe my feelings. I pray that God may grant them (parents of the dead children) courage to deal with this immense loss. It is a great loss for our nation and the saddest day in our history,” he added.
“Killing children or any innocent person for that matter is not allowed in any religion. And I believe these terrorists have no religion. They do not even have the right to call themselves humans. They are worse than animals,” said Dr Sohaib.
“Muslims from all around the world should unanimously condemn this heinous act of terrorism. Islam does not permit anyone to take innocent lives. It is a religion of peace,” he suggested.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan embassy put a condolence book at its premises on Wednesday for the public to write their condolence messages. Ambassadors of India, Japan, Singapore, Croatia and United Kingdom have so far recorded their condolence messages in the book.
The book will remain available to people to record their messages in the days to come. In line with three-day official mourning announced by the government of Pakistan, national flag of Pakistan on the embassy will remain at half-mast until today.
GRIEF: A girl lights a candle, paying homage to the Peshawar children. Picture by Umer Nangiana
