Of courage and cowardice: ‘You can kill our children, but not our spirit’

Mother of victim says nobody remembers a terrorist

PESHAWAR: Mrs Shahabuddin may have lost her ninth-grader son in the Army Public School (APS) terror attack, but her resolve to sacrifice for the sake of the country is not shaken.

“I am the proud mother of a martyred son,” the mother tells The Express Tribune outside the APS premises. “If I had more sons, I would sacrifice all of them for Pakistan.”

If anything, the brazen attack has strengthened the resolve of parents who have loved and lost. “Today my son, other students and staffers are not among us physically, but they will remain in our hearts forever,” she asserts.

Shahabuddin says her son is alive and right beside her on the grounds of the APS. “He was such a courageous boy that I can’t describe it in words.” She adds his gallantry inspired her to enrol him in the army-run school.

“The students of the APS were martyred brutally because they were strong enough to experience atrocities and hardships.” She believes that Pakistan is a great nation and that is the reason spirits will always remain high, “We have the strength of ‘Jazba-e-Takbir’,” she adds.

ISPR Director General Asim Bajwa shows similar resolve. In a recent Twitter message, he points out that the army chief was with the SSG commandos in Khyber Agency. “Ops will continue till every last terrorist [is] eliminated from our soil. Spirits were sky high.”

Addressing terrorists, Mrs Shahabuddin tells them to think of their own fate. “We [Pakistanis] will not spare you.” She says these militants will soon meet their fate and the world will see it.

“Look there; people from all walks of life are paying tribute to the departed on a daily basis and remembering them.

“No one remembers terrorists and the entire world, including Peshawariites, are cursing them.”

She proudly states that the nation will not forget the martyred children. “Compare the status of our kids and these cursed terrorists.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2014.

Correction: In an earlier version of this article, Mrs Shahabuddin was erroneously misquoted as saying she will sacrifice her other sons as well for Pakistan. She had only one son who died in the attack. The error is regretted.