Wounds that action, not time, can heal

Another year in the making with pressure on government to perform

PESHAWAR: It has been a little over a year since the Army Public School (APS) massacre and much has been written about it, while even more has been said on different platforms.

The year, in retrospect, has been a difficult one and almost everything that has happened locally or nationally has been under the shadow of one particular incident. The nation is yet to shake itself loose from the trauma it experienced on December 16, 2014 and afterwards. The haunting memories linger on.  In the post-APS world there has been legislation, intelligence-based operations and an entire paradigm shift which aims at education and ‘killing’ the ideology that provided the catalyst for such a massacre.

At the same time, the issue that remains at the heart of the matter is the demand for justice and to get hold of the actual perpetrators who masterminded such a massacre. There is also the matter of the sense of security people will need to feel to bury the narrative of violence.  After a year has passed, the National Action Plan is in place and another year is in the making with pressure on the government to perform.

The militant sanctuaries have now shifted from the tribal areas to Afghan territory and as internally displaced people are being repatriated after a decade of violence, there seems to be a much stronger resolve to eliminate troublesome elements.

The prime minister, in his speech at the ceremony held at APS, said, “Every drop of blood that was spilt in the school will be avenged.” But are we safe? Part of the answer lies in our own understanding of the question. The optimist sees a ray of hope in the situation and a defused bomb outside a school to avert catastrophe is seen as a win. On the other hand, the cynic questions how many ‘lucky’ wins we will encounter in future. The latter are less in number—at least for now—since the narrative holds as strong as the resolve. However, there needs to be an assurance that this long war will come to an end and that our history will not have another APS in its books.

Officials aware of the developments believe that in order to end the age of terrorism, an emphasis on education has to be a deliberate choice for an alternative discourse. “Those who attacked the school were motivated by illiteracy and lack of knowledge” as one official put it. “One way to fight them is to change the mindset.”

The next step will be to expand the educationist mission to areas which have been affected the most; the tribal belt. A university for the people of Fata is a project that has been in the pipeline for more than five years and is finally beginning to take shape. The expectation is that it will happen soon; at least if the governor of the province is to be believed.
Education is one of the main tools the tribespeople can use to battle the scourge of militancy. After all, there is weight in the age-old saying of the pen being mightier than the sword.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2015.