In solidarity with APS: Lawyers to take judicial enquiry demand to PHC

Will file petition to determine who was responsible for negligence in security

PESHAWAR: Lawyers in the city have decided to file a writ petition at Peshawar High Court demanding a judicial enquiry to determine who should be held accountable for the Army Public School attack and other related tragedies. The decision was made at a seminar at Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday.

Since the APS tragedy, parents have been demanding the heads of all state functionaries for a commission to determine who was responsible for the security lapse at the school, APS Shuhada Forum President Abid Raza Bangash said on Tuesday. He was speaking at a Legal Research Institute of Pakistan seminar titled, ‘A Talk on Threats of Terrorism to Our Children and Educational Institutes’ where the lawyers made the decision to file the petition. “However, no one appeared to be interested,” said Bangash.

Policy based on defence

LRIP official Advocate Muazzam Butt said, “Our state is surrounded by [dangerous] boundaries; China is the only friend of Pakistan in the region.” He added national policies are constructed by army think tanks but their perspective is based on defence. Butt was of the opinion the public should participate in policy-making for a safe, strong and economically viable country.



While reiterating Butt’s statement on the role of the public, former deputy speaker of the K-P Assembly Ikramullah Shahid said they were in a state of war and the entire nation will have to perform their role.

Speaking for safety

However, former MPA Dr Zakir Shah said the state was responsible for providing security to all educational institutes and to the public. He added if the state cannot perform its constitutional duty then the responsibility should be handed over to the people so they could safeguard their own lives.

The mother of one of the boys who was killed in the APS attack, said she had lost her beloved son, but would not want to see any such tragedy taking the lives of other children. She added she will not be able to sleep unless her son’s killers are arrested.

APS Shuhada Forum General Secretary Ajun Khan said if the writ petition was not filed within three days, he would resign from the bar council and would mobilise the public to take to the streets for the safety of their lives.

During the seminar it was decided three petitions will be filed in the PHC, including the one regarding the constitution of a judicial commission and repatriation of Afghan refugees.

An anniversary of the victims of the APS attack and other such tragedies will be commemorated on February 16.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd,  2016.