There is nothing one can write or say at a time like this, which can do more than sketch the bare outline of the devastation that has been wrought on the families of those killed in the horrific carnage of the night of July 1, a date that will live in infamy in Bangladeshi and world history.
Tragedy has struck Bangladesh in the worst possible way.
By the official count, at least 22 men and women, including two police officers, lie dead in the biggest and most appalling terrorist attack this country has ever seen, and nothing will ever be the same again.
Make no mistake: This was an attack on all of us. This was an attack on Bangladesh itself.
This was an attack on all that we hold to be good and true. This was an attack aimed coldly and calculatedly straight at the nation’s heart to inflict the maximum possible amount of terror and pain.
The sorrow and suffering of the families of those killed cannot even be imagined, and we can only stand in support and solidarity with them and mourn with them for the senseless, sickening, and shocking loss of their near and dear.
It is us or them. And this is a battle we cannot afford to lose
We are thankful for and proud of the commitment of our law enforcement and military personnel who put their lives on the line to free as many hostages as they could.
And we must take the time to consecrate and reaffirm our belief in this beautiful, brave, unbowed country of ours.
We may have been bloodied, but we have not been beaten, and we never will be.
The terrorists behind this killing have exposed themselves as brutal, inhuman, and unfeeling.
They have laid bare the hollowness of their souls and of their claims to act in the name of God.
At a time like this, we must all stand together as one nation, shoulder to shoulder against the barbarous hordes that seek to tear down our very civilisation and destroy everything we hold dear.
Something like this can never happen again.
And we must vow, individually and as a nation, that we will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that this scourge is rooted out and banished from the face of the Earth.
This is an existential battle, and nothing less will be enough.
If it wasn’t clear to everyone before, it surely must be now.
It is us or them. And this is a battle we cannot afford to lose.