CHILDREN are like treasure whose worth cannot be measured. But are the children safe in Pakistan? Aren’t they the treasure the state should be protecting?

Of course, they are — but not for everyone. Some inhuman creatures exist in our country who felt no shame in massacring children in the name of Islam on Dec 16 four years ago at Army Public School in Peshawar.

Terrorists martyred 149 people, including the principal and 132 children. The scale of attack shocked the world. No one who was at the APS will be able to forget the nightmare that unfolded. We may never be able to understand the pain of those crying mothers and restless fathers who lost their children and went through this trauma.

Four years have passed but those memories still haunt each and every Pakistani who believes in spreading love, positivity and humanity.

The APS martyrs are not among us but their legacy will always remain a great source of inspiration in fight against terrorism.

But nothing has been done to provide them the ultimate justice they deserved. We may believe that the masterminds of that massacre have been killed but what about other terrorists flourishing in Pakistan?

Fardeen Jawed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2018

Editorial

Updated 05 Aug, 2026

State of confusion

FROM the looks of it, America has no exit strategy to extricate itself from the disastrous war with Iran. US...
05 Aug, 2026

Pension decision

THE government’s decision to formally operationalise the new Defined Contribution Pension Fund Scheme is a step...
05 Aug, 2026

Preventable deaths

THE deaths of 144 children from measles and diphtheria in Karachi during the first seven months of the year expose a...
Updated 04 Aug, 2026

Swat bombing

IT is a bitter irony that terrorists struck a protest against violence in Swat on Sunday, causing at least 17...
04 Aug, 2026

Tariff blow

FOR an export sector already squeezed by high production costs, the additional 10pc tariff on top of the existing...
04 Aug, 2026

Perilous peaks

THE deaths of 10 climbers in an avalanche on Broad Peak is a sad reminder of the perils that many mountaineers face...