ISLAMABAD: Expres­sing concern over non-implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday declared that the state had no right or authority to pardon the killers of the innocent children who were martyred in the terrorist attack on Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar in 2014.

“The National Action Plan was a pledge to wipe out terrorists from the country. Unfortunately, the promise made to the nation has not been fulfilled which has resulted in terrorists killing our soldiers even today,” Mr Zardari said in a message on the seventh anniversary of the APS tragedy falling on Dec 16 (today).

The former president paid rich tribute to the APS martyrs and said that as long as the killers, planners and their facilitators were not brought to justice, “the state and the nation will remain indebted to the martyrs”.

“The hearts of not only the families of the martyrs but also of every conscientious human being are still bleeding,” he added.

In the deadliest terrorist attack in the country’s history, 131 schoolchildren and 10 other people were martyred when heavily armed militants stormed the school building on Dec 16, 2014. The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mr Zardari said these terrorists would never be forgiven. He promised the families of the martyrs that if given the opportunity, the ruthless terrorists would be brought to justice and given exemplary punishment. He said the homeland would be cleansed of enemies and terrorists like the PPP had done in Swat during its government.

In an apparent reference to the reports and announcements by the government that it was holding negotiations with the TTP with the help of the Afghan Taliban, Mr Zardari said the state had no right or authority to pardon the killers of the innocent schoolchildren. He said that negotiations with the terrorists and killers who were challenging the state amounted to weakening the writ of the state.

In his message, Mr Zardari also paid tribute to the valiant soldiers who had sacrificed their lives fighting the terrorists who had killed thousands of innocent men, women and children in the country. Calling these soldiers “brave sons of the nation”, he said: “These soldiers paid supreme sacrifice against the enemies of our motherland.”

It may be recalled that the banned TTP had on December 9 declined to extend the month-long ceasefire with the government, accusing it of failing to honour the decisions reached earlier. A statement issued by the TTP had also given out details of the six-point agreement that it said it had reached with the government under the aegis of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” on October 25.

Earlier, in an audio message, Mufti Noor Wali Mahsud of the TTP had announced an end to the ceasefire and asked his fighters to resume attacks past 12am. The ceasefire had come into effect on November 9.

After entering into the dialogue with the TTP, Prime Minister Imran Khan and a number of government ministers had offered an amnesty to the TTP if it abandoned its terrorist activities and agreed to function within the country’s constitution.

The parents of the martyred students had also rejected the government’s proposed amnesty to the proscribed TTP and warned of protest demonstrations if the terrorists were given amnesty.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri in their joint statement said the 16th December reminded them of the tragic and barbarous acts of extremists and terrorists who killed innocent children and teachers in Peshawar for their nefarious designs.

They said that such barbarity and cruelty were unprecedented as no religion allowed killing humanity. They said “sacrifices” of the innocent children of APS Peshawar would not go wasted and the scourge of terrorism and extremism would be rooted out from society.

Speaker Qaiser said the nation and the leadership took a clear and categorical decision for an indiscriminate action against terrorists after the APS incident. He said Pakistan was a nation which was matchless in bravery and resoluteness and would emerge as victorious and prosperous at the end of the day. He said the nation would always stand by the bereaved families and continue to share their inexpressible grief.

The speaker remarked that with the support of the nation, the armed forces had achieved peace and harmony in the country through Zarb-i-Azb operation.

Deputy Speaker Suri said the people of Pakistan were resilient and had withstood the hardest times. He expressed his optimism that with the concerted efforts of the government and the armed forces, the scourge of terrorism would be exterminated forever.

According to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, a prayer ceremony was organised at the office of Qasimabad Business Forum in Hyderabad to pay tribute to the martyrs of the APS tragedy. The International Human Rights Movement had organised the ceremony.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2021