Paying homage: ‘APS students’ sacrifices will not be forgotten’

Seminar held at Lahore Press Club to pay homage to Army Public School students.

LAHORE: Participants at a seminar on Wednesday said that the fight against terrorists would continue till the last drop of blood and the sacrifices of the Peshawar Army Public School students would not be forgotten.

The seminar titled Bachay Hamary Hain was organised at the Lahore Press Club to pay tribute to the students who died in the terrorist attack at the Peshawar Army Public School. The participates, included prominent leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party, the Awami National Party, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and several journalists.

The participants also paid tribute to Aitezaz Hassan who sacrificed his life to save fellow students when he stopped a suicide bomber from entering his school in Hangu.

“The blood of our children will not be forgotten. Every step will be taken to eliminate terrorism from the country. The sacrifices of the children have helped unite the political parties,” they said. ANP central general secretary Ehsan Wyne said that former president Ziaul Haq had sown the seeds of extremism in the country. “The bloodshed today is the result of the decisions taken by past rulers. Several political and religious parties have not been in favour of starting an operation against the terrorists. They have instead supported the so-called dialogue. Even now, the terrorists have the support of some political and religious parties,” Wyne said. Imtiaz Alam said that several banned outfits were active in the country. “Thousands of children have been given terrorist training by extremists,” he said.

PPP central secretary Jahangir Badar said that terrorists posed the biggest threat to the country. “Our leadership had tried to warn the country about the seriousness of the threat posed by terrorists in 2001. However, they were not taken seriously. Now everyone has reached the same conclusion,” he said.

PML-N’s Khawaja Salman Rafique and Zaeem Hussain Qadri and PTI’s Aleem Khan also attended the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2015.