Candle light vigil for APS martyrs

Islamabad : The barbaric atrocity committed in Army Public School (APS), Peshawar on December 16 will remain etched in our collective memory and national psyche forever. What happened five years ago at the Peshawar Army Public School (APS), on 16 December 2014, was not just a simple act of violence or terrorism or a ‘tragedy’ confined to Peshawar or Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The brutal targeted massacre of around 150 pupils, teachers, staff and Principal Tahira Qazi Shaheed, was a horrific national outrage.

This was stated in a collective statement shared by civil society representatives at a candle light vigil organised on Monday in front of National Press Club to remember the victims of APS massacre. A large number of civil society representatives and human rights activists gathered with their candles to remember those who lost their lives when the school was attacked by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan on that fateful day. They were holding placards and chanted slogans demanding justice for the victims and implementation of National Action Plan.

“That was one of the darkest days of the country. We are still in the state of grief,” said eminent human rights activist Tahira Abdullah while demanding greater transparency of the judicial process, updates on state actions regarding the recovery, rehabilitation and compensation of the surviving students and teachers.

Former Senator Farhat Ullah Babur criticized government’s inaction to bring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s spokesperson Ehsan Ullah Ehsan to justice. “Unless that is done, the world would not accept our seriousness to address terrorism,” he added.

Known human rights activist Farzana Bari urged for continuous effort to eliminate Taliban mind set from the country. Artist and activist Nageen Hayat called upon the government to answer the unanswered questions in the minds of nation regarding APS incident. “Unfortunately, the radicalisation and extremism is increasing in all sections of the society. The recent lawyer’s incident and Islamic University incident are some recent examples. We don’t see enough effort to control extremism in the country,” she said while also criticizing sensationalisation by media which contributes in spreading extremism.

Sameena Nazir, president PODA-Pakistan, said that children especially in schools must feel safe while getting education. Artist and poetess Alia Mirza also demanded transparency and sharing of information with the general public. She looked disappointed with the steps taken by the government to address extremism and extremist elements in the country after the incident.

They participants condemned the non-implementation of the post-APS National Action Plan (NAP) and demand it be done in letter and spirit, especially curricula and textbooks reforms in order to produce educated human beings who do not glorify violence and terrorism, but believe in the values of peace, equality, justice, pluralism and respect for diversity. They called for eradicating hate speech, controlling militant groups, enrolling 23 million out-of-school children especially girls and police and judicial reforms.