My son was my dream. My dream has been killed,” said Tahir Ali, whose 14-year-old son died in the barbaric assault on a school in Peshawar by seven terrorists who shot dead 132 children (and more are likely to die of their injuries) and killed seven of their teachers, including one who was burnt to death in front of his pupils. All friends of Pakistan mourn with the families of all who were murdered and share the pain of the Pakistani nation at this terrible time.

Despite the shock of this massacre, it is now the responsibility of all Pakistanis and their many friends outside the country to come together to find a way to completely reject the Taliban’s malign message and expel the terrorists from society. This is why Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is right to hold all-party talks to jointly define a plan to eliminate terrorism in Pakistan. An unequivocal message from all parties who respect the rule of law and the constitution has to be sent to the terrorists that their message of despair cannot win.

The senseless act of butchery and barbarity perpetrated by the Pakistani Taliban and their extremist philosophy twists and perverts the truth of Islam for their own sick and depraved ends. These killers hide in their bases in the ungoverned mountains of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan (and the tribal regions Afghanistan) and spread fear throughout the country by their use of terror and murder to coerce a nation into subservience.

The terrorists are deliberately trying to keep young Pakistanis in ignorance by keeping them out of school. In 2009, the young Malala Yousufzai called them to account by her blog that gathered widespread support, only to be the target of a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012 that failed. The widespread acclaim for her role in fighting the terrorists was exemplified by her joint winning of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The message of Islam is one of peace. The beauty of Islam is its simplicity. And that simplicity is powerful. But the simplicity and beauty of Islam have been held hostage by extremists in Pakistan and far further afield in countries like Yemen, Libya, Iraq and Syria where similar extremists are pursuing their own political agendas through orgies of violence where the innocents pay with their lives.

A vital part of the answer is to take back the agenda from the men of violence. Three months ago, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had set out three main principles by which to reject the appeal of the terrorists. He joined many Muslim leaders around the world when he called for tolerance and open-thinking, stable institutions governed by the rule of law, and economic opportunity.

What is needed is clear leadership, decisive in taking action against those who use the tenets of Islam as crutches on which to support their radical ideals. And governments too must be open and transparent, removing suspicions from the dark shadows where extremist notions thrive. But most of all, the conditions need to be created where youth are afforded education, opportunities for jobs, for growth and to live in social conditions that negate the ground on which extremists tread.

The students who attended school in Peshawar were working for such a future. Their dreams must live on.