PESHAWAR: The Pakistan People’s Party has urged the political forces to join hands for strengthening democracy to fight the menace of terrorism and put the country on the path to development.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Monday, PPP central executive committee member Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq described the students’ massacre at the Army Public School, Peshawar, as a coward act on part of the planners.

The PPP leader visited the injured of the violence at the hospital and inquired after them.

Appreciating efforts of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for their firm stand against terrorism and rendering matchless sacrifices for restoration of peace in the region, Mr Haq said that the incident was so horrible that it helped unite the entire nation to support the security forces for hitting hard the anti-state elements.

In the past, he said it was generally presumed that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were religious extremists but by playing active role against the extremists they had practically proved that they were progressive.

Mr Haq was also flanked by PPP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Khan Zada Khan, general secretary Engineer Mohammad Humayun Khan, women wing president MPA Nighat Orakzai, Peshawar district president Malik Tehmash Khan, and Zulqarnain Shah.

Mr Haq said that progress and development was impossible unless terrorism was uprooted completely.

He expressed the hope that the blood of the innocent children would not go to waste and the sacrifices would help uproot the menace of terrorism once for all. He said that the nation had experienced many disasters, including Kashmir issue, earthquakes and displacement of people from different districts and tribal regions, but the recent incident had shaken the nation.

“I visited the injured children and met the affected families but they are still having the courage to face the hardships which is really appreciable,” the PPP leader said and added that it was time the grief was turned into strength to get rid of terrorism once for all. The most vulnerable, he said were the poor people because the rich had the resources to move in bulletproof vehicles and thus it was need of the hour to secure lives of the common people.

The PPP leader also appreciated the security forces for rendering sacrifices during the war on terror. He said the sacrifices of other law enforcement agencies like police, Frontier Constabulary were also matchless.

On the occasion, Nighat Orakzai said that once approved from the provincial assembly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sensitive andVulnerable Establishments and Places (Security) Bill, 2014 would deal a blow to the terrorists.

She said the government should take effective steps for improvement of education standard and honour the families of the victim students.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2014