PESHAWAR:
Eleven years have passed since terrorists stormed the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, but time has failed to dull the pain. For parents who buried their children, for siblings who grew up without siblings, December remains the coldest and longest month, loaded with memories.
On December 16, 2014, terrorists turned a place of learning into a death camp, killing 147 people, including 132 students, as well as teachers and school staff. More than 150 people were injured in the attack that shook the nation to its core.
Among the dead was the school’s principal, Tahira Qazi, and several teachers who stood between the attackers and their students, sacrificing their lives in desperate acts of protection.
In the wake of the tragedy, a martyr’s monument was built within APS to honor those who died. Every year, families of the martyrs gather at the site to pay tribute, while a formal salute is also presented in memory of the victims.
On Tuesday (today), the 11th anniversary of the APS tragedy will be celebrated with ceremonies at the school, while families across the country will perform Quran recitations and special prayers in their homes.
‘She had left home happy’
As the anniversary approaches, painful memories continue to surface. A deeply emotional message from Altaf Hussain, father of a young APS student who was martyred in the attack, has gone viral on social media.
In her publication, she recalled that her daughter had left the house happy, clutching her books, on her first day of school, but never returned.
“She went to school with books in her hands and came back wrapped in a shroud,” she wrote, adding that although years have passed, the pain is still fresh and many questions still persist. He said he would never allow the sacrifices of his daughter and other martyrs to go in vain and urged the nation to choose unity, patience and humanity over hatred and despair.
“The memories of APS martyrs remind Pakistanis that no matter how great the cruelty, courage and compassion are stronger,” he added.
‘My soul went with him’
Another heartbreaking story is that of Muhammad Ali, a ninth-grade student and his parents’ only child, who was seriously injured in the attack and later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital later that day. Later, the government awarded him the Sitara-e-Jurat in recognition of his bravery.
Speaking to The Express PAkGazette, Muhammad Ali’s father said that as December approaches each year, the pain deepens. “There is pride in my son’s sacrifice, but the pain of his absence can never fade,” she said. His mother shared that after losing her son, only his body remains, his soul left with him. “There is not a single moment when I don’t remember it,” he said, adding that his only prayer was that Pakistan would not witness such a December again.
More than a decade later, time has not erased the loss of the victims’ families. However, it has also not diluted the determination sustained by memory and immense pride, and carried forward in the belief that the dead will not be forgotten, but their sacrifice will not be reduced to a date on the calendar.
In the days following the massacre, international media described the attack as Pakistan’s “9/11,” shorthand for a wound that went beyond numbers and cut deep into the collective psyche of Pakistanis.
The Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group commandos launched a rescue operation that killed the six terrorists and evacuated 960 people from the besieged campus.
The deliberate attacks on children had marked a rupture. National outrage spilled over into politics, giving rise to the National Action Plan, an attempt to dismantle militant networks and reclaim state authority. Commentators drew grim parallels with the Beslan school siege in Russia in 2004.
Similarly, the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted, military courts were authorized through a constitutional amendment, and counterterrorism operations in the northwest were intensified. On December 2, 2015, four militants linked to the APS attack were executed. Two others had died during the siege itself. The mastermind of the attack, Omar Khorasani, was killed in Afghanistan in August 2022. In August 2016, the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences of two other convicts.
The army’s media wing released a series of tribute songs, including “Bara Dushman Bana Phirta Hai”, “Mujhe Dushman Ke Bachon Ko Parhana Hai” and “Humain Agay Hi Jana Hai”, giving voice to the pain and defiance in equal measure.
