Seven years have passed after the Peshawar Army Public School (APS) terror attack in 2014, still the bereaved parents of the martyrs have failed to get justice for their deceased children.
It is pertinent to note that on December 16, 2014, more than 140 people, including 132 schoolchildren, were brutally massacred by a group of six armed terrorists.
While the nation pays tribute to the innocent souls every year, their parents still feel that their wounds are as fresh as they were on that tragic day.
“Allah blessed me with two sons and both were taken away from me in this incident,” she said, adding: “For us, every day is December 16.”
Another stated “we have lost our children, who have gone on to attain the status of martyrs, and for that we are proud. But the merciless manner in which they were killed, the way they suffered, is what pains us so”
A teary-eyed mother stated that “This is the kind of grief that will only end the day we die.”
It is to note that last month, PM Imran Khan was summoned by the CJ Gulzar Ahmed in a suo motu case about the 2014 Army Public School massacre in Peshawar.
In a plea to the Supreme Court, the parents of the children demanded that a transparent probe must be conducted into the incident. They further demanded that the top leadership of the country must be nominated in the case.
The chief justice told the prime minister that the parents of the victims are not seeking compensation from the government. “The parents are demanding to know where the entire security apparatus was [that day]?” he said.
The court asked Attorney-General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan to review the situation and take necessary steps, whether it be an investigation or filing cases against those responsible and inform the court.
It must be noted that earlier this month, the federal government has sought time from the Supreme Court to submit progress report in the case of the Army Public School attack in Peshawar.
As per reports, a cabinet committee has been constituted to meet with the martyrs’ parents.
It is pertinent to note that earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had been directed by the Supreme Court to hear the views of the martyrs’ parents, after which he directed the officials to form a Cabinet committee.
The court had asked for a signed response from the PM within four weeks, which ends on December 10.
As per the government’s petition in the SC, the government has formed a committee to meet with the parents of the martyrs on the same day of the attack to commemorate the anniversary of the APS Peshawar attack which falls on December 16.
The petition’s text requested that the conclusion of the meeting between the parents and the committee be brought to light, as well as given a time so that a comprehensive implementation report could be filed with the court.
The Cabinet committee, on the other hand, was formed on the Prime Minister’s orders. It includes Shireen Mazari, Omar Ayub, Fehmida Mirza, and Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan in this regard, stated that it is necessary to satisfy the parents of the APS martyrs, while adding that action must be taken against the then authorities.
