Pakistan

APS parents complain about govt ‘double standards’

Say Malala’s protocol is a source of embarrassment for their families

Asad Zia April 02, 2018

PESHAWAR: The parents of martyred students of Army Public School (APS) Peshawar have grievances that the central government adopted double standards in dealing with the APS victims.

“APS martyred students were the real heroes of Pakistan, because peace has been restored due to their sacrifices not only in Pakistan but in the whole region,” the martyred student Sher Shah’s father Tufail Khattak shared his views with The Express Tribune.

He said that former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and others in the federal government failed to visit or ask about the martyred students’ families and wounded students of the APS incident, despite repeated requests. Khattak added that they had not criticized the sacrifice of Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai but the recent protocol provided to her by the federal government is a cause of embarrassment for the APS parents.

APS, trauma, and the scars that never heal

“Malala is the daughter of this soil and we feel proud of her but we criticized the double standard of federal government that they provided her the protocol whereas not even a single person from the federal govt called the families of the APS martyrs,” Khattak said.

He shared that the federal government from the beginning adopted double standards and they divided the martyred in different classes by awarding Tamgha-i-Shujaat to some and Sitara-e-Shujaat to others. Khattak also criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government that it had only named the government schools after the martyred children but failed to provide basic facilities and teachers in these schools.

Khattak’s second son who was also wounded in the APS attack said that after the incident they have never seen happiness in his home. He added that these kinds of little things hurt them because their children are the real heroes of this nation and cannot tolerate this discrimination.

Families of APS victims still await justice

Another parent Haji Dost Muhammad Khan, father of martyred Asad Aziz said that they cannot tolerate their children’s sacrifice being ignored. He added that the federal government adopted discriminatory behavior from the start and said that if this kind of unfortunate incident had taken place in another part of the country, its magnitude would have been different. “Our children were martyred but not a single person of federal government and cabinet members called to the victim’s families,” he shared.

COMMENTS (2)

Manzoor Ahmed | 6 years ago | Reply APS parents complain about govt ‘double standards? Who are you complaining to are the same incompetent remnants of a na ahal ex pm and is being run by it touts.

Bushra | 6 years ago | Reply In my opinion malala's recovery from that incident is a miracle otherwise she would have been dead that day. And like APS students and other pakistanis who have lost their life to terrorism she would have been just another number. Ppl need to understand that she has been honoured and recognised by West more than our country. I don't know why ppl are always comparing her to martyred kids of APS. If she had died that day she would never be able to do what she has been doing today. Pls accept her good acts and stop saying that she didn't die in this country and she ran away etc etc. She is being able to do things just 'coz she is alive and away from the circumstances of our country.

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