A vigil for the fallen: K-P, G-B weep as Peshawar bleeds

Funerals of students from the districts held, residents come out in anger and solidarity.

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) were charged with all-consuming grief and sorrow on Wednesday.

A three-day mourning period was announced to show solidarity with the victims of the massacre. Shops and markets remained shut throughout the day and private and public schools will remain closed till Friday.

Mardan

Five of Tuesday’s victims were from the district. Their bodies were shifted to their hometowns for funerals.

MNA and Awami National Party leader Amir Haider Hoti attended the last rites along with thousands others. The funeral was followed by homage to the students who laid down their lives.

Kashif was a first year college student who was buried in Katlang,  Zeeshan, a ninth grader, was laid to rest in Lond Khwar, Adnan in Gulli Bagh, while Muhammad Ali also a ninth grader, was buried in Toru, Mardan.



All markets, public and government offices and institutes remained close din the district.

Swabi

Funerals were held in Kaddi, Marghuz, and Kalu Khan to lay to rest three students respectively.

All commercial activities were at a halt while prayers were held for the departed souls in the main bazaar.

Hangu

Two students killed in the Army Public School (APS) siege were buried in Hangu city after their funeral prayers were held in the main bazaar. The entire market shut down and all educational institutes remained closed.

Karak

The funeral of Sadia Gul, a teacher from APS, took place in her hometown in Karak. Thousands participated and condemned the incident afterwards at a protest.

Tank

The body of a student from South Waziristan, Sher Nawaz who was currently living in Dabar in Tank, was taken to the village where thousands of locals received the body and offered the last rites. The eighth grader’s remains were then air-lifted to the agency for burial as enraged residents demanded justice.

Swat

Private and public schools remained closed in Swat after the Swat Private School Management Association (PSMA) announced their closure for three days to show solidarity with the victims and teachers of the APS.

Similarly, markets and bazaars across the valley remained closed after the All Swat Traders’ Federation announced a shutter-down strike. Funeral prayers in absentia were also offered for victims of the Peshawar attack at Saidu Medical College and Grassy Ground.

“These ruthless people need to be treated with an iron fist. It is time to take a collective action against terrorists,” Khwendo Jirga Chairman Tabassum Adnan said.

Hazara

Traders and shopkeepers in Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan and Torghar observed a shutter-down strike to show solidarity with the bereaved families.

Hindus in Battagram also organised a procession and held a candlelight vigil at temples to pay tribute to the martyrs.

Upper Dir

Thousands in Upper Dir protested the ruthless attack, shouting slogans against the militants responsible.

Hundreds prayed at the funeral held in absentia in Warhi wearing black armbands in condemnation.

Nowshera

Residents gathered in front of the press club to pray for the students and teachers who lost their lives in the attack. They demanded the government curb militancy and sentence the culprits to death by hanging.

Similarly there was no business activity in Bannu, DI Khan and Batkhela. Funeral prayers in absentia were offered in Kohat, Lakki Marwat and Dargai in Malakand.

The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government has also announced three-day mourning period to show solidarity with those who lost their loved ones in the deadly attack.

A ceremony was arranged at Governor House to pay homage to victims and survivors. Various political parties and civil society activists observed a ‘black day’ and organised rallies.

Members of the Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council and Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Association condemned the incident as an act of cowardice. “We are observing Yaum-e-Sogh and will not appear in court,” said High Court Bar Association President Raja Ziaur Rehman.

“Even though the incident occurred over 600 kilometres away, the people of G-B are shocked and saddened by the incident,” said Saifur Rahman Afaq, a social activist. (With additional input from our correspondents across K-P)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2014.