Talks with TTP: Court dismisses petition of APS victims’ parents

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by the parents of the victims of Army Public School massacre, asking the court to stop the government from holding talks with the Taliban without taking them into confidence.

A division bench consisting of Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Shahid Khan heard the arguments in the case.The petition was filed by the parents of children who were martyred in the APS attack on December 16, 2014.

The additional attorney general told the court that the government took care of the families of the victims of APS. He argued that what the government will do, if the families of martyrs other than the victims of APS also ask for consultation with them before any talks?

Advocate Ajoon Khan, whose son was also martyred, told the court that the parents of the slain students were not taken into confidence on the ongoing negotiations of the government with the TTP. He said they are ready to return the incentives but they wanted justice for their slain children. Ajoon Khan argued they had sent their kids to school and not any battlefield.