By: Azhar Azam
‘My opinion is that we had sent our children to the school not to the battlefield. How they be Shaheeds’, father of 8th grade student ‘Ghasan’ martyred in APS attack said. ‘When someone goes to the war, they move with weapons, not with pens.’
The families of APS martyrs have been demanding judicial commission to fix the responsibility of security lapse and to avoid any such incidence in future. Their other demand is to include APS attack in textbooks.
‘The inclusion of a chapter on the APS carnage in textbooks will keep the tragic incidence alive forever’, President APS Shuhada Foundation Abid Raza Bangash demanded for at least ‘a source of consolation for them’.
December 16, 2014 is the darkest day in the history of Pakistan when 147 people including 134 schoolchildren were martyred and over 120 people injured in a callous terrorist attack on Army Public School (APS) Peshawar.
Six TTP terrorists – all of them were foreign nationals – stormed into the school and opened fire to kill mostly the children aged 8 to 18 and other school staff members – stunning the whole country into a condition of absolute coma.
Studying and playing innocent kids – unaware with definition of terrorism – were shot in heads, hearts and legs to get acquainted with the evil. They were vainly trying to hide and escape from the malicious eyes and raining bullets of those bloodthirsty terrorists.
This wicked act of terrorism had also left a terrible effect on millions of school-going children and their parents in the country. But the credit goes to national securities forces, led by Pakistan army, who have almost clinically eliminated this malignancy from the country and sluiced the environment of fear and trauma.
On the front, Pakistan security forces were sacrificing to secure Pakistan and back home, their children were targeted too. One cannot feel the woe the soldiers or other parents went through while hearing the shaking news of their kids’ demise in the hands of the terrorists.
We must remember that these children were neither on a combat mission, nor were they martyred for commemoration, or for earning any kind of tribute – as modeled by most of the political, media and social circles.
They were gone to school just to learn – not to become victim of this kind of barbaric act of terrorism, as most of the parents shouted. They were too young and too innocent to get involved in such ogre strife.
Most unfortunately the parents are – despite killings and injuries of their children – are snagged by the ‘representatives of people’ who have rarely lost their lives for national cause and mostly died in pursuit of the power lust. The government officials have seldom visited the martyred children and school staff aggrieved families to show their harmony for the deceased.
The parents are not concerned about their cozy support or continuing the so-called kids’ mission. They are stunned, motionless and shredded with that one of the most ruinous, the direst, the most calamitous or the most tragic incident in the history. Nobody can measure the pain, misery, affliction, and sadness just a tear drop contains of the departed souls' family members.
They do not need our futile backing, support or assistance on social media or candlelight vigils for the little victims. They did not send their kids to carry any kind of mission, show the power of the pen to the terrorists or campaign for education.
Pragmatically the kids are sent to school to learn, dream, play and transform their personalities but we are rather trying to cover their virtuousness and innocence in the zones of terrorism, missions, coffins or marking December 16 as black day.
The purpose of criticizing such acts is not to stain the intentions or care for the children passed away, injured and their families but to force toward a step ahead and strive for secure, conducive and nourishing environment for our children instead of pushing them in the tons of stress, trauma and depressing trials.
The parents and the families must be infuriated and lamented over such ineffective and barren proceedings and would be expecting all of us to canvassing for taking revenge from each and every terrorist, terror financier and facilitator.
If we are to gratify the souls of our little angels, wounded roses and their unfortunate family members – we have to unite surrendering the conventional evils of groupings, ethnicity, sectarianism, party-ism and racism.
And we must collectively make an effort to go all-out for Pakistan to free it of terrorism, corruption and social evils so that our children may not be harassed, dismayed, and worried on the way to their bright and productive future.
And if we cannot adhere to these basic tenets mandatory to secure our people and children – we must at least support the ones contributing to this noble national cause.
How prejudice is that the highest dignitaries and the world leaders of 40-countries had shown solidarity arm-in-arm with France and war on terror on the killing of 12 people in ‘Charlie Hedbo’ attack but our little, innocent souls were buried to graves in the tears, cries and pains of helpless parents in the same war on terror.
May Allah Almighty reward those passed away kids and other Muslims the best of places in heavens and save us all and our children for any other or such unforeseen catastrophe.