The Other 9/11

Described as 'Pakistan's 9/11', the Peshawar School Massacre is one of those horrific occurences of the 21st century which makes the most fearless tremble with terror and shake the most heartless to his core. Seven Gunmen belonging to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan group, all of them foreign nationals orchestrated an attack at the Army Public School, near Peshawar Cantonment on 16th December 2014. The attack was targeted as a revenge against the Pakistani military operation in its North-Western part of Waziristan against military groups of Central Asia in June 2014.

The attacks commenced at 10:30 am when these terrorist climbed the walls wearing explosive belts. They entered the school auditorium and mercilessly opened fire on the children gathered there for a tutorial on first-aid. When many of them attempted to escape through the two exits, they were shot down in the garden. One of the survivors confessed that they were forced to witness how the terrorists shot down the teachers and even the Principal Tahira Qazi, infront of them. Within 15 minutes, SSG teams entered the school using heavy armoured trucks and engaged in a battle killing one of the gunmen near the auditorium whilst the remaining moved towards the Administrative Bloc carrying hostages. The principal operation took place whilst trying to evacuate this bloc. Special teams of snipers and spotters were employed to nali down the gunmen Killing four of them after they stormed into the building. A search operation was immediately conducted to diffuse any IEDs planted by the terrorists or in the suicide vests they were wearing. 

             The Army Public School, Peshawar

An estimated 1099 people were present in the premises on that fateful day and 149 casualties were recorded of which 132 were children and 121 injuries. The attack shocked the international world, many of the leading figures condemning this attack with all leaders of the Pakistani political spectrum resolving to go deep into the attacks with the media demanding a more aggressive stance against these militant groups. Many of the cultural icons of Pakistan penned poems and songs in remembrance of the fallen. In India, a short film called the 'Schoolbag' starting Rasika Dugal beautifully illuminates the trauma and pain of the parents whose children died in the attack. Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai conveyed her heartbroken condolences at the death of the children and ironically the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda condemned the attack stating that it must be the soldiers who should be targetted and not their children. Using this excuse, Pakistan passed a controversial ammendment that allowed military courts to try civilians for terrorism attacks. They launched a crackdown on Afghan refugee settlements to apprehend illegal migrants causing 30,000 people to move back to its northen neighbour. It adopted a National Action Plan, to obliterate other links associated with the TTP. 

The school was closed temporarily and re-opened on 12 January 2015 under the guard of the Pakistani National Guard. The Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif attended the morning assembly declaring Pakistan's commitment to never allow such a horror to happen again and to break the backbone of the Taliban. At a time, when Pakistan actively participates in a policy of infiltration of terrorists into India many of them belonging to the the group in question, it won't be curious to ask how much the General's statements has been realised. By providing safe havens to these terrorists and often collaborating with them, the Pakistani military might not have broken the backbone of these militant groups but certainly that of the democracy there eroding the basic human rights of its citizens. 

       The smaller the coffin, the heavier it is. Mourners carrying the coffins of their children a            few days after the ghastly attacks.