The pupils of the Army Public School, Peshawar, have indeed set forth an example of bravery which has no parallel. When the school re-opened in January after the December 16 massacre, the world watched in amazement as the pupils, injured, bruised and mentally scarred, walked back through the gates of the same institution that was engulfed in flames and drowned in blood the last time they had walked out of it.

They walked in with hopes and dreams anew. They walked in without fear with determination to defeat the Taliban.

We should all feel immensely proud of the gallantry displayed by those children who proved to the world that Pakistanis are indeed an invincible nation and as one of the parents of a child said: “We are a nation of beauty and courage. Our smiles are more powerful than their swords.”

Safa Sadiq

Peshawar

(2)

According to foreign media, Pakistan has surpassed Saudi Arabia and Iran in the number of executions. Human rights’ activists have been raising their voices against the decision of the Pakistan government to lift the ban on death penalty. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s countries have put an end to the death penalty considering it cruel, degrading, discriminatory, inhuman and unethical.

Most countries are moving in the opposite direction abolishing execution while Pakistan is among the states which are executing criminals.

Changezi Sandhu

Lahore

(3)

TERRORISTS tried to play the wrong card by murdering our children. They were stupid and forgot that we love our children. They murdered our children. We will never forget. How wrong that commander was in the terrorists’ glee club when he thought killing children would be the best way to hit the people of Pakistan and the armed forces hard.

The killers who carried out this deed one year ago today are worse than animals. They have strayed away from Islam; not only they but also their supporters.

The massacre did nothing to shaken the nation’s resolve. The children are back in school. They are happy; they are strong and healthy. The carnage at the Army Public School at Peshawar served to bring the nation together. In the end it is the nation that will tear the soul of the terrorists apart.

We want the terrorists to be clear-headed: we are coming after them.

Muhammad Naeem

Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2015