PESHAWAR: The parents of wounded students of the Army Public School, Peshawar, have presented a charter of demands for medical treatment, education and financial support of their children and asked the government to notify them as victims of terrorism.

Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Sunday, the parents of the injured students of APS said that the federal government had been ignoring them, but if their demands were not accepted till Aug 30 they would take to the streets and raise voice for their rights.

“Our first demand from the federal government is to notify the injured students, teachers and school’s administration staff as victims of terrorism so that they would not face problems while going abroad for treatment and education,” said Prof Akbar Khan, a nominated president of the newly-formed ‘Ghazi Forum APS Peshawar’.

He also asked for issuance of a letter of apology to the injured persons for admitting failure of the state to provide them protection of life in accordance with provisions of the country’s Constitution.

Another demand is that the government should declare the injured as special persons and extend them preferential treatment by reserving for them special seats in the professional colleges/universities and allocating employment quota for them to get jobs in the federal and provincial governments’ organisations, including those run by the armed forces.

He demanded that lifelong medical and monetary assistance should be approved and provided to the injured students in the combined military hospitals and specialised private sector facilities besides psychiatry, plastic surgery and organ transplanting medical institutions in or outside the country.

Prof Akbar said that the government should issue special treatment cards to the injured people. Referring to the psychological effects of the terrorist activity on the mind of the young injured students, he asked the government to guarantee and provide free education to them in academic institutions of repute.

Accompanied by parents and students, Prof Akbar pointed out that the parents of injured students had spent whatever resources they had and urged the government to pay the students a reasonable monthly stipend till such time they reached the age of 25 years.

The Ghazi Forum president also demanded special compensation allowance on monthly basis for the injured teachers. He said that the martyred teachers and staff members should be posthumously enlisted as permanent employees and provided with all the retirement benefits.

He said that Dec 16 should be declared as the day of commemoration with instructions to all institutions to hold a special assembly session for paying homage to the APS victims. He pleaded that the Ghazi Forum should be recognised as the sole platform of the parents of injured students. About the setting up of the new platform, Prof Akbar said that Ghazi Forum was a separate body as it would solely focus on the treatment, education, rehabilitation and jobs of the wounded students.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2015

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