Mehmal Sarfraz Column: Changing the narrative for peace

December 16 2014 is a day that will haunt our memories forever Around 150 people mdash more than 120 of them children mdash were brutally murdered nay massacred by TehreekiTaliban Pakistan TTP terrorists at Army Public School APS in PeshawarPakistan has seen so many terrorist attacks in the last decade that we have lost count All we know is that more than 60000 civilians have lost their lives in these attacks and thousands of security officials have also been martyred All lives are equally important they all matter but the way these children were killed shook each and every one of us Those children who survived the attack are scarred for life We cannot even begin to imagine how their lives have changed foreverA year after the Peshawar school massacre teachers and students in Lahore hold a vigil in memory of the victims PicAFPThis attack also changed Pakistan mdash not in entirety but in some ways There was palpable anger in society after the APS attack As a result the proTaliban narrative was changed the military establishment changed its tune so did the politicians and the media But as The Economist pointed out there is much left to do because ldquodrawing the poison from decades of statesanctioned Islamisation will prove far harder than picking off militant leaders mdash not least because death squads and the casual use of capital punishment risks a backlashrdquoTo squash the Hydra of Islamisation unleashed by the state in the last six decades will take many more decades It cannot take place unless and until the state treats all terrorists as one and the same Selective accountability is not the way to eradicate terrorism from our soil Action should be taken against all militant outfits mdash even those outfits that are considered as our statersquos lsquoassetsrsquo Our state must learn that these socalled assets are terrorists at the end of the day and not loyal to anyone but themselvesWe must not forget that the TTP was once considered to be our lsquobrethrenrsquo who had been led astray due to the war on terror Such fallacies propagated by the state is why our society is living in denial Most of our people think that every bad thing that happens in Pakistan is due to some external force We have stopped introspecting and refuse to believe that the enemy lives within If we want our children to be safe and live peacefully in this country we must start challenging the statersquos flawed policies It may take decades but we need to initiate this process now or else it will continue to haunt our future generationsOn another note following her visit to Islamabad Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Lok Sabha that war is not an option and dialogue is the way forward with Pakistan to fight the lsquoshadow of terrorrsquo Ms Swaraj is right So far the Modi government has been extremely hawkish when it comes to Pakistan but slowly it has realised that without dialogue both India and Pakistan cannot progress Instead of stockpiling nukes we should be spending that money on eradication of poverty Our people have suffered enough as it is Now they need peace mdash in their homes and in the regionThe writer is a Pakistani journalist Reach her at mehmalsgmailcom