Justice for APS victim families sought

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a function held for remembering the martyrs of the Army Public School said that parents were fast losing hopes in the judicial system of Pakistan which failed to provide justice to the victim families.

The function, held at the Archives Library Hall here on Sunday on the fourth anniversary of the tragedy, was attended by families of the martyred children and leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM).

PTM chief Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen, MNAs Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar and Fazal Khan spoke on the occasion. The pictures of the martyred children were displayed on the walls of the hall and other places.

Large portraits of Ihsanullah Ihsan, the former spokesman of the outlawed militant groups Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaatul Ahrar, were also displayed with demands of awarding him capital punishment.

The speakers said that Ihsanullah Ihsan had claimed responsibility for the attack on the Army Public School Peshawar and he should be tried for his crime.

“Nowhere in the world such a criminal who confesses his crime would go unpunished,” a speaker said.

They said that the judicial system should have ensured justice in the Army Public School attack case. They regretted that it failed to perform its duty. They demanded justice instead of condolences. They criticised the government for not organising events at the national level to remember the martyred children.