Ugly scenes: Terrorist attack on Peshawar school reenacted

LAHORE:

A play re-enacting the Peshawar incident moved the audience to tears on Sunday on the third day of the 14th Interactive Theatre Festival.

The theme for this year’s festival, arranged by the Interactive Resource Centre (IRC), is peace.

The play took the audience back to December 16, 2014 when Army Public School, Peshawar was attacked by terrorists. More than 140 people, most of them students, had lost their lives in the attack.

The play paid rich tribute to Aitezaz Hassan, who sacrificed his life to stop a suicide bomber from entering his school in Hangu.



At the end of the play, the audience stood up to take an oath to play their part in promoting peace.

Another play discussing the Youhanabad church attacks was also showcased. It discussed mob violence that followed the attacks. It advocated shunning religious discrimination to promote peace.

The interactive theatre festival aims at creating an alternative narrative of Pakistan to counter extremism.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2015.