The smaller the coffin ...

"The smaller the coffin, the heavier it is to carry. It's a very, very tragic day." Defense Minister Khawaja Asif.

Such dreadful news this morning of the massacre of children in a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. I worked for some time in Pakistan and visited Peshawar and just like Emma Ayers whose book I am about to buy, my visits left me with a great regard for the Pakistani people. My heart goes out to them.

A Pakistani commentator writes that it is not about religion but about power.

The 'Sydney siege' was not about religion but about one man's delusion. In Pakistan both perpetrators and victims are Muslim but the obvious implications are no doubt lost on the host of racist commentators who continue to exploit the Sydney event to spread racial hate messages.

To his credit PM Tony Abbott is refusing to blame Islam for the tragic turn of events in Sydney, but the Pakistan massacre should give our government pause to think. Our Government sending people back to their home countries even when they are clearly unsafe. This has nothing to do with 'saving lives of boat people' and shows the government's asylum seeker policy is just vindictive and mean-spirited.