The nation observed the 9th anniversary of the Army Public School (APS) massacre with a broken heart, watery eyes, utter disappointment, and gloominess. The government leaders, political activists, and civil society paid rich tribute to the students and teachers of the APS Peshawar who suffered ruthless terrorism and laid their lives with honour and dignity. The cowardly terrorist attack grieved the entire nation and strengthened the national resolve, leading to decisive action against the menace of terrorism in the country.
December 16 is a dark day in the history of Pakistan because the perpetrators of terrorism and the enemies of the country weighed a massacre of innocent students in APS School Peshawar about nine years ago but the same enemy earlier broke apart Pakistan into two pieces in 1971. Historically, the APS tragedy was the turning point in the one-and-a-half-decade history of homegrown terrorism in Pakistan that brought the entire nation on a single-point agenda to defeat the evil of terrorism on Pakistani soil. Soon after the APS tragedy all political parties and military leadership set together at one table and devised a National Action Plan (NAP) to fight the terrorists and eradicate terrorism and extremism from the country. Although, our brave security forces fought gallantly and defeated the menace of terrorism from our soil but the political leadership failed to fully implement the sweeping reforms and strategies including Counter Violent Extremism (CVEs) policy, and necessary legislative, administrative, and social reforms to streamline the religious seminaries, educational syllabi, to counter extremism and promote tolerance, pluralism and enlightened moderation in the society.
Apparently, Pakistani leaders failed in tackling the issue of terrorism and extremism in their nation, rather successive political governments fell prey to their politically motivated slackness and delay in the implementation of the National Action Plan in certain areas. Previously, the Shehbaz-led PML-N government in Punjab eluded such reforms in the Southern parts of the province to appease its electoral allies and strengthen its stronghold in that region. Later, the same mistake was repeated by the PTI government in the KP by striking an agreement with the terrorist outfits and importing the menace of terrorism once again. Unfortunately, the Pakistani nation confronts the same circumstances and the same challenge that it faced in the aftermath of the APS carnage almost 9 years back and dealt with during early 2015 and 2016. However, this time there is no chance for repetition of mistakes and tolerance for terrorism as our leaders did in the past.
Introspection and an admission of mistakes on such a day is no shame. As a nation, we must admit our mistakes that led to the reoccurrence of tragedies on 16 December 1971, on the same date in 2014 and the one we are embattled with these days. Currently, our people, cities, markets, Bazars, and sensitive installations are unsafe, while the Pakistani LEAs and brave sons of the soil are chasing the terror deep inside in its caches and hideouts in DI Khan, North Waziristan, South Waziristan, and hilly areas in Kutch and other parts of Balochistan. The APS tragedy and the recent resurgence of terror in the country is a reminder that the state’s security and foreign policies have failed as the non-state actors are active once again on a rampage with impunity. Those who sought to placate the militants and negotiate peace with them last year have done incalculable damage to the nation and must be held accountable for their misconduct and negligence. On this day, we must unite ourselves against our enemies and set a nationwide course to overcome the challenge of terrorism, extremism, and intolerance for the sole purpose of building a heaven that enshrines peace, love, and tranquillity and moves toward progress and prosperity in the days ahead.
