- A sobering reminder!
10:30 am, Thursday, 17th of December, exactly 24 hours after. The winter sun is out, blurred by haze, on an otherwise pleasant winter’s day. The ancient and resilient city of Peshawar stands still. Schools are closed and graveyards are busy, 149 graves to be made ready. Families perform final funeral rites for their children. 132 of the 149 were between the ages of 5-17 years, the rest were school staff. Let that sink in, 132 children and 17 teachers including the principal, who died protecting the children who were under their care. The Peshawar Army Public School massacre was one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistan. Shockwaves rippled throughout the country, forcing awake the government of Mr Nawaz Sharif. As it stumbled towards action, the ironically named National Action Plan (NAP) was formulated. Commitments, resolutions were made, promising the citizens of Pakistan that this will never be allowed to happen again. That this is a turning point and now, finally things will change.
Four years on, that resolve is no more. NAP was put on the back burner by the government as they pursued other goals, fueled by the greed and ambition of Mr Ishaq Dar. Operation Zarb e Azb was intensified and managed to stabilise the situation momentarily. As time passed, the Panama Papers took the limelight and the parents of the victims and survivors of the APS massacre were left to their own devices. They were sought out and remembered only close to the 16th of December when various television channels prepared tribute programs, slick music videos of children in school uniforms standing proud and brave in the face of phantom like men pointing guns at them.
Every year another video reinforcing the ‘bravery’ of these young martyrs. Yet for all these optics, the powers that be (civilian and military both) along with the media, were not able to answer the one question that the parents of those children craved, “Why?” That, “why” still hangs heavy in the air. All the candles, flowers, music videos and other media acknowledgements cannot hide the bitter truth from ourselves.
The truth is, four years ago, on that cold December morning, we failed our children and ourselves. To place blame squarely on political shoulders would be a half truth. This was a collective failure. A failure of domestic and foreign policy shifts and a failure of narrative that was unclear on where we stand as a country on the issue of extremism and terrorism. The incessant and lethal courting of the religious right for power plays by both military and political leadership for short term gains allowed violent and anti-state thought to thrive. And just when our leaders thought everything was under control, the nation was dealt with a blow so painful that its repercussions would be felt for years to come. That evening on the 17th of December 2014, a day after the massacre, we collectively joined in the mourning of our children. We were not Punjabis, Sindhis, Baluchis, Pathans or any other ethnicities. That day we were all parents, brothers and sisters of those children and their teachers who had been so mercilessly ripped away from this world. We did unite, albeit briefly, as a nation.
We as citizens can only hope that he is serious about these aims, although judging by our past, seldom are politicians as sincere as they seem on television
Unfortunately, it was short lived. The media went back to its usual theatrics and our leaders back to their constant tug of war with each other over power. Western leadership that had earlier on poured in messages of condolence and support went back to their demands for “do more”. The government should have taken the initiative to work with the media and put forth an anti-extremist narrative in the context of the APS terror attack for the people. A narrative that would educate and correct those who might think that Islam or religion has anything to do with the brutal killing of school children and school teachers.
Unfortunately, that did not happen. And once again national policy took a back seat to personal gains for all. But history is a cruel task master and has a pesky habit of repeating itself if one does not learn from it. Fast forward to election year 2018, in Mastung a suicide bomber blew himself up during a rally for Siraj Raisani (Balochistan Awami Party), killing 149 and wounding 186 others. There is no need to say more. The numbers and reasons speak for themselves.
We head back to Peshawar, where on Sunday, the 16th of December 2018, events were held to commemorate the attack and to soberly realise the promises mad to us by the state had indeed not been kept. Grandiose words flew around for the APS children, amongst all of this, ‘brave’, was the one adjective that stood out. But that’s the thing, children should not have to be brave. The weight of bravery is too heavy and arduous to be placed upon the narrow shoulders of a child who is meant to carry nothing heavier than a school bag. A nation that requires its children to be brave is a nation that has lost its way. A community that comes together (briefly) only at the cost of 149 lives is too far gone and deserves no redemption
It is the time of Prime Minister Imran Khan now. His first address to the nation on the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attack was clear in reiterating the commitment of the government to wipe out extremism. He emphasised the importance of education in this fight against extremism and pledged his government’s focus towards the implementation of NAP. We as citizens can only hope that he is serious about these aims, although judging by our past, seldom are politicians as sincere as they seem on television.
It is possible to write pages upon pages on where the true blame for all of this lies. To do that today, on what would be the 24-48 hours after the event, is an irrelevant exercise. What is important is to hold on to the unity that we felt as a nation as we mourned a loss so great that it made us forget about all our differences. Is being a Punjabi or a Sindhi, a Shia or a Sunni really that important? Is it more important than the future of this country?