— White Star

PESHAWAR: Parents of the martyred students of the Army Public School and civil society members on Wednesday held Quran Khwani for the departed souls on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the gruesome attack, which had claimed 147 lives, mostly the students.

The parents, civil society members and students of the schools also held pictures of the martyred students during a walk held on the premises of the Shuhada-i-APS Public Library.

The parents and relatives of the martyred students lit candles on the monument of the Shuhada-i-APS outside the library.

“Despite the lapse seven years of the tragic incident, we are still going from pillar to post for seeking justice,” Ajoon Khan Advocate, president of Shuhada-i-APS Forum told Dawn.

He regretted that the Supreme Court had been adjourning the proceedings of the case time and again, which had caused worries to the parents of the martyred students.

“We will continue our efforts till registration of FIRs against the top security officials who were sitting on responsible positions at the time of the occurrence of the grisly incident on December 16, 2014,” said Mr Ajoon, who had lost his son, Asfand Khan, a 10th grader, in the attack.

He demanded of the Supreme Court to order registration of FIRs against those who were responsible for the security lapse. He said the judicial commission inquiring the attack had mentioned clearly that the incident had occurred due to “security lapse and negligence.”

If a judicial commission has categorically mentioned that their children had been killed due to security lapse and negligence then the Supreme Court should also order registration of FIRs against such people, he demanded. The question that how terrorists entered the sensitive area despite having prior information was yet to be answered, deplored Mr Ajoon.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2021