Parents and relatives of the victims of the 2014 Army Public School (APS) Peshawar massacre observed a candlelight vigil and marched to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the incident on Monday night.
During the massacre, 147 people were killed, including 132 students and 15 staff members, while 180 others were wounded in the attack on December 16, 2014.
The siblings and parents of the martyred students and staff members assembled on Shami Road and walked to the school, raising slogans and demanding justice for their martyred children.
The parents also lit candles at the Shuhada Monument inside the school and offered prayers for the martyred students.
A banner shows the portraits and names of victims of the 2014 Army Publis School massacre, in Peshawar on December 15. — Photo via author
Shuhada APS Forum President Ajoon Khan told Dawn that despite 11 years having passed since the massacre, justice has not been delivered to the bereaved families.
He demanded that the authorities punish those advocating for the resettlement of the terrorists involved in the incident, and said a judicial inquiry should be conducted into the matter.
Khan further demanded that the report of the judicial commission, which probed the APS massacre on the Supreme Court’s directive, be shared with the parents.
Regarding activities for the 11th anniversary, Khan said that a main function would be held at the APS campus in the morning, while parents would light candles at the Shuhada APS Monument near the Archives Library on Sher Shah Suri Road.
In response to the brutal attack, the government in January 2015 launched the National Action Plan (NAP) — introducing a series of kinetic and non-kinetic measures to counter terrorism, one of which was the decision to try terrorists in military courts. In 2021, the PTI-led government decided to review NAP.
A judicial commission report submitted to the Supreme Court in 2020 highlighted the belated response to the terror attack, while acknowledging that further devastation was foiled by Mobile Vigilance Team-2 (MVT) and the Quick Response Force (QRF).
The commission also made certain recommendations, including medical and psychological treatment of the injured and the martyrs’ close relatives, as well as provision of free education to the injured and the martyred students’ siblings.
