Today marks a solemn anniversary. It has been 20 years since the 9/11 terror attacks, which killed 2977 innocent people, along with the 19 terrorists.
We will never forget that terrible day, a day when innocent people who thought that Tuesday was just another day were massacred for the sake of fanatic ideologues. This just demonstrates the cowardice and evil of terrorism.
Nor will we forget the death of firefighters, police officers, and other people who desperately tried to save the trapped in the Twin Towers. Many of those who survived have since succumbed to cancers associated with the smoke and particulates from the Towers.
We will not forget the memories of desperate phonecalls from the Towers, or the many children who lost a parent due to these attacks. Nor will we forget those on Flight 93 who most likely saved America from another terror attack, for which they paid the ultimate price.
Many of those who survived have suffered a range of consequences, from survivor’s guilt, to cancers, to PTSD. They are the continued victims of this unfathomable attack. To me, 9/11 was a vague memory, as I was 6 years old. I don’t even remember what I saw. For many, it is a living nightmare, even 20 years later.
Ten years ago, a key architect of this wicked act faced justice in Pakistan, several months before the ten-year anniversary of 9/11.
We must honour the memory of the dead and help the survivors by a total rejection of terrorism. Nobody ever has a justification for slaughtering innocent people in order to terrorise and cripple a nation. Anyone with those ambitions should not be welcome in the free world.
May all the innocent who died rest in peace.
Never Forget.
