APS martyrs remembered

LAHORE:Government College University (GCU) organised a walk here Monday in connection with the fifth anniversary of Army Public School (APS), Peshawar massacre.

Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment Ms Kashmala Tariq also participated in the on-campus walk attended by GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi, teachers and students from the University’s Clock Tower to Main Gate. Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi announced establishing memorial garden for APS Peshawar martyrs on the GCU’s new campus. He said time could never heal or make us forget the school children who went to school and never came back. He added pain and agony, they still felt, for attack on innocent schoolchildren in Peshawar could not be described in words. Kashmala Tariq said that children and youths of Pakistan had failed the terrorists and they could not deter them from their journey to enlightenment. She along with the vice-chancellor also planted a tree on the university premises in the name of martyrs of APS Peshawar. Ms Kashmala Tariq and Prof Zaidi advised the students to plant trees in the memory of the martyred school children. Later, one-minute silence was also observed by the participants of the walk in the memory of victims of APS Peshawar massacre.

Meanwhile, a Dua ceremony was arranged at the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) Head Office for Shuhada-e-Army Public School, Peshawar. According to a press release, PEF MD Col (R) Imran Yaqoob, all programme heads, including employees of PEF participated in the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, New School Programme Director Shafiq Ahmad said that 16th December was a dark day in the history of Pakistan. He added first time in 1971 on 16th December Fall of Dhaka separated this country in two parts while second time in 2014 on 16th December we lost precious lives of innocent children in APS attack. In the end, prayers were offered for the martyrs APS and their families.

tributes: CTO Liaqat Ali Malik has said appalling incident of Army Public School (APS) shook the very foundations of humanity as ‘we had seen funerals of flowers (children) for the first time in history’.

He expressed these views while addressing a ceremony organised to pay tribute to the martyrs of APS, police and army and civilians at a private college here on Monday.

He requested the citizens to love the families of martyrs as they have sacrificed their beloved children for a peaceful future. He stressed the importance of time, parents, teachers and Pakistan during his address. Earlier, students presented tableaus depicting the lives of martyrs and their families in a beautiful way.