The following letter was published by The London Free Press, on Nov 9th 2023.
I’m starting to see more and more poppies being displayed and it’s making me wonder, are these just meaningless ornaments now?
We talk of Lest we forget, but it sure seems like we’ve forgotten, considering we’re complicit during what seems to be the nascent stages of a third world war.
Innocent children continue to be killed in Gaza, yet we choose to remain silent. We put on poppies to comfort ourselves as if we’ve done our part in commemorating the past and striving for a better future. But this is merely self-deception. True commemoration requires us to do everything in our power to ensure the atrocities of those past world wars never occur again. It’s about time we attach authentic action to our symbolic words and collectively call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Lest we forget.
Ali Shahan Butt, London
