Four years on, deadly APS attack still haunts parents

PESHAWAR: Four years after the terrorists stormed the Army Public School and brutally killed 147 people, 132 of them school children, parents still remember the tragic day when they sent their children to the school and received bullet-riddled bodies in the evening.

The lethal attack on Army Public School (APS) is no doubt Pakistan’s 9/11. A group of six terrorists entered the heavily-guarded school and started shooting the students and staff. Majority of the students were mercilessly gunned down in the school auditorium.

The nation went through a difficult phase and showed solidarity with the victims of the tragedy.

Some parents despite their huge loss feel proud today. They say the sacrifice of their children prompted the government to take decisive action against the militants.

Pakistan had already launched a massive military offensive against the local and foreign militants in North Waziristan on June 15, 2014, but it was after the APS massacre that civil and military leadership conceived the 20-point National Action Plan in January 2015 to curb terrorism.

The moratorium on death penalty was lifted so that convicted terrorists could be executed and all the political parties in a meeting on December 24, 2014 supported the move to set up military courts.

Tufail Khattak is among the parents who lost their children in the APS attack.

His 16-year old son Sher Shah, a student of 10th class, was martyred. The handsome boy was not only a brilliant student but also lively. He used to stay around his father after his school time and had become familiar with his father’s friends.

On December 16, 2014, Sher Shah was not feeling well but he still went to school.

When the terrorists attacked APS, Sher Shah was among the students gathered in the auditorium where his younger brother, Ahmad Shah of class 8, was also present.

His parents later came to know from the survivors that Sher Shah had managed to come out of the auditorium but he went back when someone told him that his younger Ahmad Shah was still inside.

In fact, Ahmad Shah had already left the hall but fate brought Sher Shah there again to embrace martyrdom.

Sher Shah’s father, mother and his young brother and sister still are unable to forget the tragedy. The couple developed multiple diseases, including depression, hypertension and diabetes as the tragedy was beyond their imagination.

They consulted doctors to get relief and overcome the suffering, but in vain.

When most parents of the APS victims were demanding judicial inquiry of the attack and seeking compensation, Sher Shah’s father Tufail Khattak initiated talent award scholarship in the name of his martyred son.

The idea was to encourage students in their studies in their native Dag Ismailkhel village in Nowshera district.

Every year funds from the Sher Shah Shaheed scholarship is given to students obtaining first, second and third positions in their class.

The topper of 10th class is given Rs15,000 while those winning second and third positions are paid Rs10,000 and Rs5,000, respectively.

The students securing first, second and third positions in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th classes also receive cash prizes.

The topper in each class is given Rs5,000, while Rs3,000 and Rs2,000 are given to the students who secure second and third positions in their classes.

Last year, one student was awarded Rs5,000 under Sher Shah Shaheed Talent Award for his contribution to writing of the holy Quran by hand.

The school in late Sher Shah’s native village has also been named after him. It is now called Government High School Sher Shah Shaheed.

Tufail Khattak had started his career as a journalist but later joined a private firm.

“Our loss is no doubt irreparable and can never be forgotten but today I feel so happy that peace has been restored in Pakistan,” remarked Tufail Khattak.