Two days after the Peshawar incident, as I conducted a special Urdu program at Radio Pakistan Islamabad, I had renowned dramatist and artist Anwar Maqsood on the telephone line.

When asked about his reflections on the brutal massacre at Peshawar school, Anwar was simply unable to respond. His voice grew heavy and it sounded like he was crying; all he could say was: “On 16th December 1971, we lost our past in Dhaka, and on 16th December 2014; we have lost our future. It seems that my own children have been killed”.

Like Anwar Maqsood, there was a unanimous outpouring of sympathy and grief mixed with anger from across Pakistan.

As my mind struggled and repeatedly failed to absorb the dimensions of the brutal act, it felt like I had been robbed of my pleasant memories associated with this school; replaced only with bombs, bullets and blood now.