Peshawar school massacre: Mothers turn grief to action

DW (English)

The Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, became a battlefield on December 16, 2014. Militants of the Pakistani Taliban TTP stormed classrooms, killing over 130 schoolchildren in one of the worst terror attacks in Pakistan's history. DW's Irfan Aftab and Fatima Nazish met some of the victims' mothers, who have channeled their pain to pursue justice and support their community.

Transcript

00:01Bishawar's Army Public School was a scene of suffering and brutality on December 16, 2014.

00:0911 years ago, more than 100 mothers lost their children in a terror attack.

00:39Even for a nation accustomed to terrorism, it was one of Pakistan's darkest days.

00:51More than 130 children, some just eight years old, were massacred by the Pakistani Taliban.

01:03Pakistan vowed revenge, launching military operations and executing militants linked to the attack.

01:10But 11 years on, the victims' families are still seeking official accountability for security lapses and the slow response.

01:18This is the story of the slain children's brothers who channeled their pain to pursue justice and support their community.

01:25Pishawar, the bustling capital of Pakistan's northwestern Khayber Pakhtunkhwa province,

01:32Despite the city's vibrant cultural life, checkpoints and armed patrols are a constant reminder

01:39of the dangers and security challenges Pishawar faces.

01:54These are some of the mothers who lost their children 11 years ago on December 16.

02:13Every year, they gather for special, if somber occasions, to hold birthday parties for the children they lost.

02:26They lost.

02:53Falaknaz Durrani is the mother of five children.

02:56She lost her two sons in the APS attack.

03:01Nurullah was in grade 9 and Saifullah was in grade 8.

03:06Falaknaz Durrani chose to send her children to the army public school, which is run by Pakistan's military.

03:21She wanted to give them the best possible education in a safe and secure environment, even in Pishawar, which has long struggled with insecurity.

03:42The army public school in Pishawar was turned into a bad school.

04:09The army public school in Pishawar was turned into a battlefield on December 16, 2014.

04:16We didn't get permission to film inside, but this is the view from outside the school walls.

04:23Militants perished a wire fence and stormed into the auditorium, where children were attending a first aid lesson.

04:31Armed with guns and wearing explosive vests, the attackers moved from classroom to classroom, shooting and killing indiscriminately.

04:39Hours later, 144 students and teachers had been brutally murdered, and a nation was plunged into mourning.

04:51Shahana Ajoon Khan's teenage son, Aswand, was in grade 8. His friends and family used to call him Sonu.

05:13After the shooting, Shahana found her son at a military hospital, but she could not bring herself to look at the bullet wounds on Aswan's body.

05:22How did it go after the shooting, as well?

05:23What is it?

05:24The printing the Fantastic Matrix must experience meи

05:25Theypole the

05:39I was away from the side of her.

05:44When I left my hand, my blood was all.

05:49People were taking me away.

05:53I was crying and crying.

05:57Everyone was crying.

05:59But they were not giving me to go to the funeral.

06:02I was crying and I couldn't think how much I could get.

06:06The grief Shahana felt that day, 11 years ago, has accompanied her every day since the attack.

06:17It has become an inescapable part of her daily life.

06:36Through these small acts, they honor the memory of their children, refusing to let their physical absence erase their presence,

07:05even if it is only in spirit.

07:15The attack at the Army Public School in Peshawar, 11 years ago, remains one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan's history.

07:24The killing of more than 130 school children shook Pakistan to its core.

07:29I think it was a movement that completely changed the history of terrorism in Khaybar-Pakhtunkha, overall Pakistan.

07:46The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the 2014 Army Public School massacre.

07:52TTP is a banned militant organization.

07:56It is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, but shares ideological roots.

08:00They said the attack was a retaliation against the Pakistani military's counter-terrorist campaign.

08:05In the army public school, there would not be many children whose parents were in the army.

08:14There were students who were from, you know, common families.

08:22Their parents were either in business or in other services.

08:25But the result of attack on APS school was that those people came out of their houses

08:35and started protesting against the government to take action against the killers of their children

08:41who were responsible for the martyrdom of their children or for the killing of their children.

08:50In response, Pakistani security forces carried out multiple counter-terrorism operations.

08:56They targeted hideouts of the TTP militants, especially in the country's northwest border region with Afghanistan.

09:04Special military courts were also established under a constitutional amendment

09:08in the wake of the APS attack to fast-track terrorism cases.

09:12Several militants linked to the massacre were sentenced to death and executed following military tribunals.

09:23Despite some tactical successes, analysts say the group has not been eliminated.

09:28Those who carried out that incident, they were all killed there on the spot.

09:34As far as the other organizations are concerned, most of their leaders,

09:41they also met their fate in drone attacks like Mawlana Faslullah and others.

09:47But it's a phenomenon as organizational setup.

09:52It's a mindset.

09:53If two are killed, five are other, you recruit because there is a social space for them.

09:59So we have to adopt some short-term and long-term strategies for that.

10:08Over the last 11 years, mothers like Shahana Ajoon Khan and Falaknaz Durrani

10:13have become leading voices for the victims' families.

10:18They still have many unanswered questions, especially about the events leading up to the attack.

10:24We have to say, yes sir, no sir, we have to say anything.

10:54Families of the victims are demanding accountability.

11:02They are frustrated that official inquiries are pending

11:05and that the outcomes of the investigations have never been made public.

11:09There was no response from Pakistani military to DW's request for an interview.

11:37A veteran politician like Mia Iftokhar Hussain from Awami National Party lost his son in a Taliban attack in 2010.

11:47He also believes that the voices of the victims' families must be heard.

11:52Pakistan has been criticized in the past for not doing enough against certain militant groups in the country.

12:14Since the APS attack, the Pakistani government has looked to take on the TTP.

12:20It has launched military strikes, tried reconciliation and introduced internal security measures with mixed results.

12:29So I think this policy of appeasement and negotiation with certain elements of Taliban has led to this phenomenon of good Taliban,

12:40which was, I believe, not a very sound policy as far as the government is concerned.

12:49And bad Taliban, of course, we call them who are actively engaged in terrorism acts in South Pakistan.

13:00December 16 has not only come to be known for grief and tragedy, it is also about resilience and survival.

13:06Many children who survived that day carry both physical and emotional scars.

13:15Aakif Azim was in the 12th grade on their day.

13:31He not only survived for hours in the school during the attack, he also did what he could to help his fellow students.

13:38Aakif Azim and his brother Muni Wazim, who was also at the school that day, no longer consider themselves victims.

14:05They are survivors. Their mother, Aakif Azim, is torn between relief that her children survived

14:11while burdened with the pain of seeing them relive their trauma.

14:15In Pakistan, the victims of terrorist attacks have very few facilities to help them overcome their post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD.

14:28That is why Aakif decided to become a psychiatrist. He wants to give other the help and support which was not available to him.

14:49The resilience of victims' mothers has come in many farms.

14:52The resilience of victims' mothers has come in many farms.

14:53For Falaknaz Durrani, the challenge was to work hard for her three daughters.

14:59To ensure that they grew up to be independent and self-reliant.

15:02To ensure that they grew up to be independent and self-reliant.

15:09We have our own parents, our own parents, our own parents, and our own parents.

15:16We have our own parents, our own parents.

15:18We have all done everything.

15:19But there is no need for our parents.

15:20We have no need for our parents.

15:22We have no need for our parents.

15:23We have no need for their parents at home.

15:24But there is no need for their children at this time

15:26We have no need for their parents.

15:29We will live in a day and die.

15:31We will thrive and die every day.

15:32We will go to life.

15:34We will live and die every day.

15:37Every day, you can't call it that day, or you can't be reduced, you can't live every day, and die every day.

15:51Hafsah Durrani was in 11th grade at the time of the APS attack.

15:5611 years later, she completed her medical bachelor's degree and is now pursuing post-graduate training.

16:02Her elder sister is a softer engineer, while her younger sister is studying medicine abroad.

16:09Falaknaz Durrani's daughters support their parents like a son would have.

16:32In Peshawar, a road was named in honor of Shahana's son, Aswan Khan.

16:47It is a symbol of remembrance for those who lost their lives in the APS attack.

16:52For Shahana, the message is clear.

16:54The children who were cruelly taken from them will not be forgotten.

16:57Shahana drove us to visit Aswan's grave.

17:19For Shahana coming to her son's final resting place helps her feel closer to him and helps her deal with the pain.

17:28We want justice, we want justice, we want justice.

17:56Every year, families gather in front of the memorial for the martyrs of APS.

18:04For these mothers, justice is not only about punishing the perpetrators or holding officials accountable.

18:11It is also about ensuring no other mother would ever endure the same agony.

18:16And their voices echo, never again, never forgotten.

18:24We're still Range of parole, and we're safe.

18:24We've been trying to make a da Nissupe.

18:29Fill my babyphemes for a 머리를 to get fed into the feliciding part.

18:32Things are easy to meet the knowledge, but life possesses compassion to humanity.

18:35They ensure that importance of significance, it is acceptable.

18:38What are we saying?

18:40doitNLIN SANDERS

18:41They sympathize

18:41Well, the father of the little maid

18:42tonight

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