I thought about whether to pen this article on the anniversary of the brutal massacre of 150 children and teachers at the army public school in Peshawar 10 years ago on this day. There is constant pain in Pakistan and everyday one thanks the Almighty we have survived another sunup and hope for a hopeful next day.
Is this the life envisaged by the Creator for his flock? Or is this the life we have allowed to fester out of control.
Taking stock 10 years after an event which shook the soul of Pakistan on that fateful morning in Peshawar, on 16 December 2014, what have we learned and changed since?
The details of every minute of that day are etched in our DNA. Madmen took hostage the students of a school nestled in the security of a cantonment, surrounded by the most ‘secure’ apparatus ‘safeguarding’ all that is privileged and dear. What we witnessed was what happens when humans are dehumanized and radicalized by deprivation and provided all the tools to display the outcomes – over generations.
All those families who lost so much that day cannot be consoled or provided an adequate explanation of how was that possible, inside a cantonment area. But they are fully aware, as is the rest of the nation, why it was possible.
The mindset which believes this kind of violence is possible still roams without impunity
Today 10 years later, the same government and regime has chosen to shut down all the schools across the nation, to commemorate the darkest day in our living memory. The government ‘notification’ did not explain to the schools as to why they were to remain closed, and also sent the notification the evening before Monday the 16th of December.
In the middle of exams, all schools had to shut down. When the children and young adults ask “Why?”, what should we tell them? Will they ask? Will they know the answer without being told? In this silence we continue.
In the 10 years since 150 children and their teachers were butchered by terrorists who came and went without a single obstacle, the government’s response has been no justice for the families of the victims and absolutely no actions to ensure that it does not repeat itself.
The closing down of schools is not only an inappropriate gesture but also indicates even more emphatically how little has changed; there is a danger it can happen again. The mindset which believes this kind of violence is possible still roams without impunity.
Today the madrassas remain unregistered unregulated and tools of the permanent problem. Where in the world is it acceptable to so limit the public discourse around regulating those accused of child abuse, radicalization of minds and souls, legitimizing millions poor abandoned children to the fate of further isolation from a hopeful future? The argument that Pakistan will once again become a target of FATF is a deterrent or a motivational factor to attempt to register these unregulated training educational fora. Sadly, it is because we would like to see Pakistani citizens irrespective of social economic conditions access basic, healthy, sane education opportunities, where children are safe from unregulated predators and radicalizing generations on the pretext of peddlers of faith.
What have we done since 16 December 2014? What steps have we taken to ensure that this kind of violence is never seen again?
We saw the ‘release’ of TTP’s Ehsanullah Ehsan, responsible for the APS massacre in a bizarre unbelievable escape from prison. Was he an asset of the state? What has changed since 2014 to make Pakistanis believe we have learned any lesson from that tragedy?
All I feel is a sinking feeling, rather than seeing schools staying open, so as to open the minds, hearts and souls of the future of Pakistan.
All I see is that schools remain closed to mark the day when a school was made a site of butchery.