PESHAWAR (Urdu Times) 10 years of Army Public School tragedy; grief still fresh
……(Asghar Ali Mubarak)
The martyrs have lit the candle of peace with their blood,the sacrifices of the martyrs of Army Public School can never be forgotten.
The 10 years have passed since the Army Public School tragedy, but the grief of the parents is still fresh. The memory of the children makes the bereaved families cry and they have kept their children’s uniforms, books, school bags and other belongings, ‘‘I can feel the same pain that the bereaved families are feeling’’.
It should be noted that my real brother, Shaheed Mazhar Ali Mubarak, was also martyred in an incident of terrorism on December 25, 2013.
The tragedy of December 16, 2014 is a very deep wound that cannot be filled. Pakistan’s 77-year history is full of various accidents and tragedies, however, there are some incidents that we may never forget.
December 16 is also one of those events in history where on one hand the grief of Pakistan being divided in 1971 was celebrated, on the same day in 2014, a tragic incident occurred that shook the entire nation. The tenth anniversary of the attack on Army Public School Peshawar was observed on December 16, 2024. Remembering this day, tributes were paid to the sacrifices of the martyrs and sympathy was expressed with their families.
President Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari issued a special message on the 10th anniversary of the Army Public School tragedy and paid tribute to the martyrs of APS.
The President said that incidents like the Army Public School tragedy expose the true face of terrorists and Khawarij.
The APS tragedy united us as a nation against terrorism. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in his message that time cannot erase the trauma of this tragedy and the separation of these innocent children.
Terrorists target innocent Pakistanis at the behest of foreign hostile elements.
Prayer ceremonies were organized across the country on the tenth anniversary of the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar tragedy. Candles were lit and a huge tribute was paid.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly offered Fateha for the martyrs of the APS tragedy while unanimously passing a resolution to pay tribute to the martyrs.
The resolution was presented by Shazia Marri of the PPP, in which it is written that this House declares that the sacrifice of the martyred children of APS has united the entire Pakistan against terrorism. Steps should be taken to increase the unity of educational institutions.
The government, the House and the people of Pakistan reiterate that terrorism will not be tolerated under any circumstances, this House pays tribute to the sacrifices of the forces against terrorism.
This House reiterates that Pakistan will be completely free from terrorism.
Senator Kamran Murtaza prayed for the martyrs of the Army School in the Senate and said that medicine should be given along with prayers.
Meanwhile, a resolution to pay tribute to the martyrs of the APS tragedy was also unanimously passed in the Punjab Assembly.
The text says that this House expresses solidarity with the parents of the martyred children of the APS tragedy.
It pays tribute to the teachers who showed courage in the incident.
On the other hand, the National Assembly unanimously passed the resolution to suspend the regular agenda.
The resolution on the APS tragedy was unanimously passed in the Punjab Assembly.
The text of the resolution presented by government member Rahila Khadim Hussain said that the APS tragedy took place in Peshawar ten years ago, incidents like the APS tragedy cannot frighten the nation,
Such terrorists should not be given concessions but should be punished severely.
Abdul Qadir Patel said that the fall of Dhaka and APS did not yield any results, APS was a bargain. The accused involved in the tragedy were brought back and settled.
Ghafoor Haideri said that incidents like APS should not happen again.
Hamid Raza said which murderer has been punished in Pakistan till date. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz paid tribute to the martyrs of the Army Public School tragedy and said that 10 years have passed since the Army Public School Peshawar tragedy, but the pain is still alive today.
The dark morning of December 16, 2014 is etched in the heart of every Pakistani – terrorists brutally targeted 147 innocent children and their teachers. Young students who wanted to brighten the future of this country with the light of knowledge were the victims of brutality.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said that the tragedy of December 16 was not only an attack on the school but also on humanity, education and the bright future of Pakistan. The sacrifice of innocent students and teachers taught us that the end of terrorism is inevitable at all costs.
APS martyrs are the heroes of our nation. The courage and patience of the parents and families of the APS tragedy are commendable. The dream of the 147 martyrs of the APS tragedy was a better Pakistan, it is our responsibility to turn it into reality. We will die only after winning the war against terrorism.
The APS incident was not only a tragic tragedy in the history of Pakistan, but it also gave the nation a new resolve in the war against terrorism.
Even today, the memories of this incident are alive in the hearts, and Pakistanis vow to continue their struggle to eradicate terrorism in Pakistan.
The Army Public School, Peshawar incident was the darkest day in the history of Pakistan when on December 16, 2014, 7 terrorists of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) killed 144 people, including 132 students, in an attack on the Army Public School in the city of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Most of them were students who were in the eighth, ninth and tenth grades and were present in the auditorium during training at that time. Teachers and other staff of the school were also martyred in the attack.
This heartbreaking incident shook not only Pakistan but the whole world. The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the incident, after which the army intensified its ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb against the terrorists.
After this incident, the Pakistan Army’s ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb was further intensified and not only this, but a few days after the incident, the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced a comprehensive strategy to deal with the threats facing the country in his address to the nation.
Nawaz Sharif had announced a 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) and a consensus was reached on it after meeting the heads of all the parliamentary parties of the country.
After the incident, Pakistan’s civil and military authorities had formulated a 20-point National Action Plan in consultation, under which, in addition to the establishment of military courts to give speedy punishment to terrorists, the undeclared ban on the execution of the death penalty was also lifted.
Under the National Action Plan, apex committees consisting of civil and military officials were formed at the provincial level to prevent terrorism.
Death row prisoners in various jails across the country were being hanged, while several terrorists were also sentenced by military courts.
According to officials, more than 21,500 operations were carried out across the country under the National Action Plan.
In these operations, 1,300 militants were killed and 800 injured, while 5,500 were arrested.
Dozens of terrorists were also tried and sentenced in military courts. The sentences of more than two dozen people sentenced to death by military courts have been carried out. The sentences of about 200 accused convicted by military courts were declared null and void by the Peshawar High Court. But the Supreme Court issued a stay order against the Peshawar High Court’s decision.
The attack on the Army Public School located in the middle of the army cantonment in Peshawar raised questions about the security of educational institutions across the country, after which several other measures were taken in addition to deploying additional security in educational institutions.
In addition to raising the walls of schools, colleges, and universities, barbed wire and CCTV cameras were also installed.
Initially, the police and other law enforcement agencies continued to investigate the incident from various angles.
However, at the insistence of the families of the children who died in the tragedy, a judicial commission was formed in 2018 under the chairmanship of Peshawar High Court judge Justice Ibrahim Khan.
The commission recorded statements from around 150 people, including parents of the children killed in the tragedy, police and military officers, and school security personnel.
The judicial commission completed its report two years later, which was submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Fazal Khan, president of the APS School Attack Victims’ Association, expressed reservations about the judicial commission’s report.
He said that the commission formed by the government and the court praised those responsible instead of punishing them. In its 525-page report, the judicial commission, apart from raising questions about school security, also covered in detail the role of the army in the fight against terrorism, extremism, and facilitating terrorists.
The report was submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in July 2020, which ordered its public release. The judicial commission, while mentioning the facilitation of some people in the population surrounding the school, said that when they turn traitors themselves, then it becomes difficult to stop such a disaster.
The report said that the terrorists entered the school through the back wall of the school without any resistance, if an attempt had been made to stop them there, such a big disaster would not have happened.
The report said that the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) had issued a threat alert before the attack, which made it clear that due to the ‘success’ of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, military officers and their families could be targeted.
The judicial commission wrote in the report that this one incident had ruined the achievements of the army against terrorists.
During the hearing of the APS incident suo motu case in September 2020, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Gulzar Ahmed remarked that the tradition of making lower officers the scapegoat in such tragedies should end.
Therefore, action should now start from the top. The Chief Justice had remarked that the terrorists succeeded in their objective through this attack. But the security agencies should have known about such a big plan in advance.
In 2017, the Pakistan Army had announced the arrest of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Ehsanullah, who had claimed responsibility for the Army Public School incident and said that he had separated from the TTP.
However, in January 2018, news of his escape from military custody emerged, which was later confirmed by the then Interior Minister Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah.
Parents of the victims of the APS incident condemned Ehsanullah Ehsan’s escape, calling it a failure of the security agencies.
The then Prime Minister of Pakistan had revealed in an interview that the government was holding talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
On this statement, the organization of parents of children killed in the APS school attack rejected the announcement and said that they can never forgive the killers of their children.
The organization had appealed to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to register a case against the then Army Chief, DG ISI, Corps Commander Peshawar, Interior Minister and Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The matter is still pending in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the court had once ordered to determine those responsible for the incident.
In addition, on September 25, 2020, the Supreme Court ordered to make public the report of the judicial commission set up to investigate the Army Public School (APS) tragedy and the comments of the Attorney General.
The Chief Justice had remarked that action should be taken from the top, strict action should be taken against those responsible so that such incidents can be avoided in the future.
The parents of the martyred children present in the court had said that this incident was not terrorism but target killing, our children cannot come back but we want that such an incident does not happen to anyone else’s children. They had said that we have been buried alive, the people below have been held accountable all our lives, the people above should be caught in this incident,
to which the Chief Justice remarked that we will prosecute this case. At the same time, the Chief Justice remarked that it is a tragedy that small people are held responsible for every big tragedy, nothing is asked from the elders, and this tradition should end.
Later, on the court order, the judicial inquiry report of the tragedy was made public in which the Army Public School tragedy was declared a security failure.
