Vigils held countrywide to pay homage to APS martyrs

Numerous parents broke down on seeing students in the Army Public School uniforms, an AFP reporter said. Their photos were also displayed on the walls of the hall.

He also questioned that the federal government on August 28, 2014 had issued a warning to provincial government of a possible terror attack on the APS Peshawar but yet only a police head-constable and a constable were deputed at the school. Pakistani Taliban militants attacked an army-run school in Pesha…

Sharif thanked the political leadership with whose cooperation the constitution was amended to set up military courts, and the National Action Plan was formulated to counter terrorism in the country. “There is no other country where so much violence has occurred due to terrorism”, Basit said here while commemorating last year’s Peshawar school attack.

The parents of martyred children started protest as soon as Imran Khan started his speech.

Imran Khan told the parents that though they were not able to bring back the martyred students to life, the only thing they could do was to pray for them.

The attack, which mostly claimed the lives of school children, has been termed a “mini-9/11” for the country. “Why responsibility has not been fixed despite the lapse of one year?” the protesting parents asked.

“They can’t stop the tears of my wife”, said Jamal Abdul Nasir, breaking down into tears himself as he remembered his son Awais. Besides a large number of parents, PTI chief Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Speaker Provincial Assembly Asad Qaiser and others were also present on this occasion.

“The blood of our children speaks in our war against terrorism”, Sharif said. “Everything happening over the APS attack is drama”, he said.

Army Public Schools across the country were open for ceremonies marking the anniversary, even though a security official said they were “particularly under threat”.

He said only a judicial commission could properly investigate the massacre.

According to Dunya News, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government held a ceremony in memory of APS martyrs in Archive Hall Peshawar.

In Islamabad, more than 120 streets were renamed this week with the names of children who were killed in the December 16, 2014 massacre.

They said it was the courage of APS martyrs which protected the future generations and gave a certain direction to the state authorities to make a special law and policy to fight against terrorism. Finance Minister Ayesha Ghaus Pasha was the chief guest.