APS Martyrs Day: Remembering The 149 Victims Of School Massacre

December 16, 2014, is remembered as the darkest day in history. When the ruthless terrorists carried out the horror and barbarism in the Army Public School in Peshawar and left 149 houses in mourning.

The APS carnage made the eyes of millions of people around the world, including the country, teary. The martyrs included 132 students, including a principal and 16 staff members. Six years later, the grief of the bereaved is still fresh.

The parents of the Army Public School martyrs could not escape the psychological effects of the tragedy. As December approaches, their grief returns. The minds of those who were martyred in the horrific tragedy of December 16 fell asleep under the dust but their memories are as fresh today as they were the day before.

Their memories and belongings of their loved ones are still preserved in the same way today.

APS tragedy Where many homes were devastated, there are also students who have returned to life today after surviving the tragedy and their spirits are high.

More than 1,000 students, from preschool to high school, were on the campus when the attack began. Militants entered classrooms and auditoriums and opened fire on students and teachers.

In response to the attack, Nawaz Sharif, the then prime minister of Pakistan, lifted the moratorium on capital punishment in terrorism-related cases and established a 20-point counterterrorism policy measure called the National Action Plan.

On September this year, Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the government to make public the report of a one-member judicial commission on the 2014 Army Public School (APS) Peshawar tragedy.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court heard the APS suo moto notice case. The court ordered that the report of the commission of inquiry and the federal government’s response to it be made public.

The Supreme Court has appointed Amanullah Kanrani as a judicial assistant in the case. The court also directed the government to formulate a line of action on the commission report and take stern action against those responsible.

The commission set up to probe the Army Public School attack had sent its report to the Supreme Court in July 2020 after completing its proceedings.

According to APS Commission spokesman Imranullah, the commission’s report is 3,000 pages long.

The commission recorded the statements of 132 people, including the parents of the children who were martyred in the tragedy.

Statements from 101 witnesses and 31 police, army, and other officers have also been recorded.