Queries of parents of the students martyred in Peshawar’s 2014 Army Public School attack should be addressed, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chief Whip in the National Assembly Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Monday.
“We have complete sympathy with those parents and I without any hesitation say that their queries or any concerns or if they want to get information about anyone should be ensured,” he said while appearing on Spotlight with Munizae Jehangir which was aired on Aaj News.
Pakistan observed the 10th anniversary of the APS attack on December 16. Terrorists killed 147 people, including 132 schoolchildren, in an attack on the Peshawar school.
The tragedy devastated families. The-then government, in coordination with the army, formed the National Action Plan to combat terrorism and maintain peace. But still, families of the deceased demanded justice and called for punishing the perpetrators.
A single-member judicial commission was formed four years after the terrorist attack. The Peshawar High Court judge Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan-led commission completed a 525-page report after two years of its formation.
The report could not be made public despite the Supreme Court orders. One of the parents told Aaj News that there were “attempts to save institutions” at which allegations were made for apparent negligence and blunder.
PTI’s Aamir Mughal, who joined the show via video link, said that everyone was responsible for not maintaining order and gave an example that the United States did not let another 9/11 happened after such an attack.
PPP MNA Shehla Raza, who got emotional on the show, described December 16 as a “black day” in the country’s history. He criticised the PTI for not ensuring order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the province still face terrorist attacks.
“I think Pakistan has come out of ‘good and bad Taliban’ concept. I feel happy for some days by thinking this,” she said.
PML-N’s Chaudhry was of the view that freedom of expression should be allowed to discuss issues.
In response to the criticism, Mughal said wondered if the PTI was responsible for unrest then why people were “chanting slogans against security agencies? And to whom families of APS victims accuse. Security agencies control border areas.”
On the show, the host shared that the Federal Investigation Agency has registered first information reports against 150 people, most of whom are journalists, for making social media posts about PTI deaths in the Islamabad protest.
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Secretary Arshad Ansari, who joined the show via video link, condemned such actions.
PML-N leader Chaudhry assured that he would speak to the information minister about this and no one would be harassed.
