Remembering The Angels

16 December is a black day in the history of Pakistan. Before 2014, this day was observed as the day of Fall of Dhaka as East Pakistan was separated on 16 December 1971 from West Pakistan and was declared as a new state on the globe as Bangladesh. Bitterness of this deep wound and the pain was still felt in the hearts when after 43 years, in 2014, on the baleful day of 16 December, as many as nine terrorists attacked Army Public School and College (APS&C) Peshawar, opened point blank shooting and killed 231 students, 9 staff members including the Principal and 3 soldiers.

Declared as the most tragic terrorist attack in the history of Pakistan, all political parties, military leadership and the nation stood up for the final blow against terrorists and operation Zarb e Azb was launched with full thrust. Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and Civil Armed Forces operating in Waziristan planned the operation and decided to fight the terrorism out till the last terrorist was eliminated.

Unfortunately, political government of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Shareef (Prime Minister of Pakistan and head of Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz) was not willing to go for military operation against Taliban and they were in the process of delaying any such operation under the blanket of holding "peace talks" with Taliban. Immediately after the start of military operation on the initiative of General Raheel Sharif, Prime Minister had no choice but to appear before National Assembly and had to own and declare war on terrorists in his address.

Attack on APS&C Peshawar will be remembered in the history of Pakistan because of two reasons: -

• Innocent children between the ages from 4 to 17 years were brutally massacred by boorish and barbaric terrorists. These little angels were assembled in school's auditorium for a demonstration on First Aid Training, as per their timetable. Terrorists fired each one of them in the head pointblank and had no mercy for the screaming and frightened kids. 
• The effect of this unfortunate incident was so tenderheartedly felt by the nation that the unity and support for the young students and their teachers was unanimous. Whole of the community and all quarters got united and they demanded stern and quick blow back to terrorists. This kind of oneness and unity in public was not seen earlier save at the time of Pak-India War of 1965. Pakistani nationals all over the globe in general and pan-Pakistan in particular displayed focused strength through unity and indistinguishability and proved to international friends and foes that Pakistan is ONE SOLID BROTHERHOOD irrespective of how much they were wounded through terrorism, sectarianism, and political corruption.

Elite of the nation paying tribute to martyrs on 1st anniversary

 

Although a year has passed, the attack on school seems like the happening of yesterday. As soon as a memory of the incident is repeated in the mind, eyes get wet. As Pakistanis, we salute the parents of martyrs of APS for their patience and great sacrifice, we salute our Armed Forces for not letting the blood of innocent and tender flowers, and we salute the nation for showing all the support, backing and getting united.

Probably on any such moment of grief, the great poet Mirza Ghalib must have said,

سب کہاں کچھ لالہ و گل میں نمایاں ہو گئیں
خاک میں، کیا صورتیں ہوں گی، کہ پنہاں ہو گئیں

"all wherefore? just a few tulips-and-roses in manifested are
dust/dirt in-it what faces must-be that merged-hidden are"