The APS tragedy robbed many families of their most loved, treasured and nurtured pieces of heart
PESHAWAR: It’s one of those typical wintery days in Peshawar — cold, smoggy, dusty, with a sprinkle of brightness added by the sweet marigolds along the roadside. Everything seems the same as always during this time of the year, except that there is a lingering undercurrent of unrequited sadness, which won’t go away, and quite understandably. Because last year this month we suffered the most tragic, bone-chilling and horrific terrorist attack ever. It robbed many families of their most loved, treasured and nurtured pieces of heart — their children. As they say, “When your child grows up and you see them go out into the world, it’s as though you take your heart out and watch it walk away.” But the parents of the APS schoolchildren, who were martyred, went through an even bigger pain. There is no compensation for the pain one feels when they lose a child. While time is the best healer, it will never be able to change or erase the heartache.
That day started as any other mundane day, with children going to school and others going to offices — everyone going about their work as usual. At that time, no one even in their wildest imagination had thought that within a few hours, the whole city would be in turmoil. That Peshawar’s Combined Military Hospital would be converted into a morgue, the sirens of ambulances will continue to wail late into the night, roads will be blocked, the cantonment will be sealed and worst of all, hysterical parents will be running to and fro from hospital to hospital, trying to find their children who they had sent to school that morning. Yes, on that fateful day, we the people of Peshawar, lost our happiness, our smiles and most importantly, our peace of mind. Ever since that incident took place, one doesn’t feel like smiling because it feels so wrong. There were so many who lost everything that day, for no fault of their own, only because their children went to school. It is a sad and eerie feeling when you see pictures of beautiful smiling children on school hoardings, with schools named after them, as you enter Peshawar. Some in their prime and others so young that you wonder who could have hated them so much to go on a rampage of carnage. Just a few more days and another year will have gone by. For the parents and loved ones of the victims, the wounds left by that life-altering incident will open up again, causing them gut-wrenching pain and a memory that’s etched in their hearts and minds forever. Throughout this year, they must have had so many firsts — first breakfast without their child, first Ramazan, first Eid, so many firsts. This is just a remembrance — just some thoughts to translate that day into words and pay tribute to those brave families. I want to tell the victims’ families that they don’t stand alone, that we haven’t forgotten those innocent brave souls or their dreams, dreams of becoming doctors, engineers, or soldiers. Yes, those dreams and hopes that were vanquished by pure evil will be remembered and all those individuals — the principal, the teachers, all the staff, all those who lost their lives that day — will always be remembered. Seasons may change, years may go by, but you shall never be forgotten.
Saira Rashid
Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2015.
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