Seven years on, mothers of APS martyrs say their wounds are still fresh

Even after the passage of seven years, the mothers of the victims of the Peshawar Army Public School (APS) terror attack in 2014 still await justice for their deceased children.

On December 16, 2014, more than 140 people, including 132 schoolchildren, were brutally massacred by a group of six armed terrorists.

While the nation pays tribute to the innocent souls every year, their parents are still not over the loss, their wounds still as fresh as they were on that tragic day.

“We have lost our children, who have gone on to attain the status of martyrs, and for that we are proud. But the merciless manner in which they were killed, the way they suffered, is what pains us so,” a mother said while speaking to Geo News.

Another, shared that she is the mother to not one, but two martyred children.

"Allah blessed me with two sons and both were taken away from me in this incident,” she said, adding: "For us, every day is December 16."

Overcome with emotion, the teary-eyed woman added: "This is the kind of grief that will only end the day we die."

Parents await SC's verdict

Last month, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had summoned Prime Minister Imran Khan in a suo motu case about the 2014 Army Public School massacre in Peshawar.

In a plea to the Supreme Court, the parents of the children demanded that the top leadership of the country be nominated in the case and a transparent probe be conducted into the incident.

The court asked Attorney-General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan to review the situation and take necessary steps — whether it be an investigation or filing cases against those responsible — and inform the court.

The chief justice told the prime minister that the parents of the victims are not seeking compensation from the government. "The parents are demanding to know where the entire security apparatus was [that day]?" he said.