LAHORE: M.M. Alam Road’s Husain Chowk was one of many places in Lahore where there was a palpable sense of grief as scores of people gathered there on Wednesday to pay a tribute to the Peshawar ‘school soldiers’.

The black armbands, mustard oil lamps, placards and pamphlets were the ‘weapons’ the protesters brought with them to fight the anguish. The Pakistan-US Alumni Network (PUAN), Lahore chapter, members lit the intersection with lamps to commemorate the deaths of schoolchildren shot and killed in the army-run school in Peshawar by Taliban militants on Tuesday.

The crowd, consisting of all age groups, later took a round of the intersection with lamps in their hands. They were led by senior politician from Okara Rana Ikram Rabbani, a PUAN member.

“The government should sack the inspector general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police immediately, if he doesn’t resign,” he said. He justified his demand by saying: “IG Nasir Durrani has served as additional IG of special branch for four years in Punjab and he must have expertise in terror-related intelligence. If he can’t stop such a gruesome attack, he should accept his negligence that led to the massacre.”

As the activists walked, motorists passing by honked horns and flashed lights as mark of their support for the cause.

“We’re taking a small step of holding vigil and standing by the victim families,” said Naeema Butt, PUAN general secretary. “But in fact, it’s a big step that we’ve come out of houses and sent a strong message to terrorists.”

Lawyer Sajid Bashir, clad in his professional black jacket, came to the rally from his chamber. “My participation (in the event) is my political and ideological expression that I’m against terrorists. They are beasts and must be culled,” he said.

Shahid Husain, a journalist with a TV channel, said it was time to fight the ideology of the Taliban.

PUAN President Faisal Sheikh said he strongly condemned the massacre of children on behalf of the organisation.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2014