APS attack: We should promise it won’t happen again, says Malala
Pays homage to the ‘brave children of Peshawar’
Young Nobel laureate and girls education campaigner Malala Yousafzai.
KARACHI:
Young Nobel laureate and girls education campaigner Malala Yousafzai on Saturday said that Pakistan should promise the survivors of the Army Public School (APS) attack that such incidents will never happen again.
“That is the only thing we can give to them,” she said while addressing an event via video link on Saturday. The event, arranged by Citizens For Democracy (CFD) was aimed at bringing together the victims of terrorism in Pakistan.
Malala, who was loudly applauded by the audience, praised the bravery of the children of Peshawar as she talked about the importance of education and replied many questions.
India’s Kailash Satyarthi, who shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala, also spoke at the occasion and said: “The tragedy that happened with the children of Peshawar should not happen to any child in the world”.
“I went to a programme before this and the people here (in India) have sent the message that their hearts are with the brothers and sisters of Peshawar.”
The programme was also attended by a Hazara girl, Mehreen Kausar, who lost her mother and sister in a terror attack; Hangu’s brave martyr Aitzaz Hasan’s elder brother Mujtaba Hasan and Mohammad Tufail Khattak – father of a brave kid, who gave up his life in order to protect his younger brother and several other children in the APS attack.
Mujtaba spoke about Aitzaz and said how his classmates joked that Aitzaz would be enough for one suicide bomber because of his built. He said nobody knew that this joke will turn into a macabre reality.
Mohammad Tufail Khattak urged the audience never to forget the 16 December incident. He talked about Ishaq Amin, an APS student who passed away on Saturday morning. “Consider this country to be your own soil,” he said.
Naziha Syed Ali, one of the organisers from the CFD, while discussing the purpose of this event, said, “The purpose of getting Malala on the video link was because she was a precursor to what happened to the APS kids.”
“The point of this event was to reach out to people and bring people together in Pakistan – a platform where people can join us,” he said.
Morial Shah, another CFD organiser, added: “We wanted to get the conversation going about the attack on children and to form a social plan that can complement the National Action Plan.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2015.
Young Nobel laureate and girls education campaigner Malala Yousafzai on Saturday said that Pakistan should promise the survivors of the Army Public School (APS) attack that such incidents will never happen again.
“That is the only thing we can give to them,” she said while addressing an event via video link on Saturday. The event, arranged by Citizens For Democracy (CFD) was aimed at bringing together the victims of terrorism in Pakistan.
Malala, who was loudly applauded by the audience, praised the bravery of the children of Peshawar as she talked about the importance of education and replied many questions.
India’s Kailash Satyarthi, who shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala, also spoke at the occasion and said: “The tragedy that happened with the children of Peshawar should not happen to any child in the world”.
“I went to a programme before this and the people here (in India) have sent the message that their hearts are with the brothers and sisters of Peshawar.”
The programme was also attended by a Hazara girl, Mehreen Kausar, who lost her mother and sister in a terror attack; Hangu’s brave martyr Aitzaz Hasan’s elder brother Mujtaba Hasan and Mohammad Tufail Khattak – father of a brave kid, who gave up his life in order to protect his younger brother and several other children in the APS attack.
Mujtaba spoke about Aitzaz and said how his classmates joked that Aitzaz would be enough for one suicide bomber because of his built. He said nobody knew that this joke will turn into a macabre reality.
Mohammad Tufail Khattak urged the audience never to forget the 16 December incident. He talked about Ishaq Amin, an APS student who passed away on Saturday morning. “Consider this country to be your own soil,” he said.
Naziha Syed Ali, one of the organisers from the CFD, while discussing the purpose of this event, said, “The purpose of getting Malala on the video link was because she was a precursor to what happened to the APS kids.”
“The point of this event was to reach out to people and bring people together in Pakistan – a platform where people can join us,” he said.
Morial Shah, another CFD organiser, added: “We wanted to get the conversation going about the attack on children and to form a social plan that can complement the National Action Plan.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2015.