KARACHI: Mujataba Hasan had only just started speaking when his voice trailed off, shaken by emotion upon recalling the memory of his younger brother Aitzaz Hasan, the boy from Hangu who sacrificed his life while averting a suicide attack on his school.

“Aitzaz was overweight and all of his classmates would jokingly remark that with his physique, he can single-handedly tackle any suicide bomber. In reply, he would make up heroic stories about what he would do if he ever encountered a bomber. Who knew his stories would actually become a reality,” said Mujataba to an audience gathered at Arts Council in an event organised by Citizens for Democracy (CFD).

He was not alone in his grief. Along with him in the auditorium were survivors of the Army Public School (APS) attack and families of victims of sectarian killing. To show solidarity with them, Nobel Peace laureates Malala Yousufzai and Kailash Satyarthi also spoke through live video links from Birmingham and New Delhi.

“Pakistan needs to promise that these incidents never occur again. That is the biggest consolation we can give to terrorism victims,” said Malala. “Raising voice for our right has a lot of power, a power greater than any gun or Kalashnikov can behold. If you see injustice in your society, in your home, speak up, that can only bring about change in society.”

Kailash also shared his experiences when he had been attacked numerous times because of his cause, two of his friends had been killed in the attacks, yet he remained steadfast in his mission.

He expressed his sentiments on the Peshawar school incident and acknowledged the bravery of the children, “The children in Pakistan are my children too. What happened in Peshawar, may it never happen to any child in any part of the world. When I heard about the news, I had pleaded at that time for the terrorists to take me as hostage but don’t kill my children in Peshawar.”

With the death of another APS student who succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, memories of the massacre seemed more pronounced than ever. Yet, the survivors answered questions and spoke with surprising courage and optimism, little expected from teenagers who had suffered from a heart-wrenching tragedy.

“The attackers can’t be Muslims, they are terrorists. We have all lost a lot of our friends but I know that they are martyrs and that’s a consolation,” said Mohammad Talha, an intermediate student of APS who survived after sustaining three bullets, his face still half-hidden by a surgical mask covering the unhealed bullet wound to his jaw.

“I am not going to school for as I am still under the recovery process but I am studying for my exams at home. Some of my schoolmates said they would join the army and avenge the terrorists, but I will fight back through education. I want to become a civil engineer one day,” said Talha while speaking to Dawn.

Another APS student present was Ahmed Ali Shah, an eighth grader who had survived because of his elder brother, Sher Shah who had shielded him just in time and taken the bullets instead. “I cannot concentrate on studies for now, the tragedy is still too fresh in my mind. But I do know I will fulfill my brother’s dream of becoming a journalist,” said Ahmed.

Amidst the silent tears, the standing ovation and words of encouragement, the fact remained that life for the survivors would never be the same again. Mehreen Kausar was in the middle of her degree in BS Zoology from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University Quetta when a shia pilgrims’ bus was attacked near Quetta. Mehreen lost her mother and sister in the suicide blast and with them, her dreams had shattered too.

“I have the responsibility of managing the house now so I can’t continue my studies. My mother had wanted us to get higher education. My sister Kaniz wished to be an anchor, all dreams left unfulfilled.”