Action Forum: Chehlum of APS victims observed

PESHAWAR:

The 16/12 Action Forum observed Chehlum of Army Public School (APS) attack victims on Saturday.

Activists from civil society organisations, political circles and bereaved families participated in the march that started from Khyber Bazaar and culminated at Peshawar Press Club.

Forum members and parents of APS victims addressed the attendees. Forum coordinator Dr Said Alam Mehsud urged the provincial government to raise a monument at Aman Chowk near Gora Qabristan in memory of the 150 victims. He said it is time the government devises a decisive strategy to counter militancy. Mehsud said a counselling centre for militancy-affected families should also be established in order to help them overcome the trauma. APS victim Haris’ father Ghulamuddin demanded “exemplary punishment for the perpetrators”.

“We enrolled our children at APS, taking it for a secure institution as compared to other schools,” said another victim’s father Saeed Shah.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2015.