Pashtun nationalists condemn Pekhawar massacre

[Bengal_Tiger]

The Islamic scholars of Pakhtunkhwa, including some of the big awliya (saints) there need to make serious du'a (supplication) for peace for Pakhtunkhwa.

Soon, I will start my own du'a thread for peace in Pakhtunkhwa soon.

Pir Samiullah (rahmatullahi 'alaih) murdered by the Taliban in Swat. Pakistan army were close by when he was hung.

He fought against the Taliban militarily and was the first major figure in the area to form a "Lashkar" (tribal militia) against them.



Hamza Shinwari, a Sufi and a Pashto writer.




Pir Rehmat Karim (right) another big Sufi scholar of Pakhtunkhwa.


There are various acts of worship they can do to precede and augment their du'a (supplication) such as doing khatm (completion of the Quran) or reading Yasin 41 times and many other things.

Oh Allah please help our beloved Muslim brothers and sisters in Pakhtunkhwa in these difficult times from the cruelty of the Taliban, Pakistan army and their sponsors in America.

Please bring peace to Pakhtunkhwa and Afghankhwa.

Ameen, thumma ameen wa sallee 'alaa sayyidina Muhammad.

[Bengal_Tiger]

LONDON.

From WatanPal Yusufzai's facebook.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Civil Society activists to block roads in Pekhawar on 31st December to protest 16th December massacre.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1153039/civil-society-activists-to-block-peshawar-roads-on-31st

Civil society activists to block Peshawar roads on 31st

Bureau Report
Published Dec 25, 2014 06:32am

PESHAWAR: The 16/12 Action Forum, a grouping of civil society organisations, on Wednesday announced its activists would block roads in the provincial capital on December 31 to protest the last week’s militant attack on the Army Public School.

Falak Niaz of the 16/12 Action Forum told reporters at the Peshawar Press Club that activists of the forum along with political workers and students would hold a candlelight vigil at Amn Chowk near Gora Qabristan at 4pm before staging demonstrations on the roads in the city.

Accompanied by colleagues Sana Ijaz, Tariq Afghan, Arbab Sheharyar, Ajmal Afridi and Riaz Marwat, he said the forum had contacted different organisations of transporters, traders and political parties for joining its protest.

Falak Niaz said 2015 would be marked as the year of peace.

He asked the people to play due role for restoration of peace in the country.

Say transporters, traders, politicians requested for joining protest against Dec 16 carnage.

The forum’s representative said the government was not serious about changing its foreign policy and therefore, terrorists were frequently attacking innocent people.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata had been a battlefield since 1979, where thousands of people had been killed, injured or displaced, while infrastructure had been in ruins.

Falak Niaz said no one in authority had the plans to check bloodshed in the region.

He said the war on terrorism had led to the closure of around 1,800 industrial units, destruction of hundreds of educational institutions and mass displacement in the province and adjoining tribal areas.

The forum’s representative said the war on terrorism had caused massive unemployment and increased crime rate, especially that of the kidnapping for ransom and extortion, forcing the people to flee the province for safer places in the country or abroad.

He said around 4,000 tribal elders and political activists had been killed in terrorist activities.

“It is the duty of the government to change its foreign policy, crack down on all banned outfits, and punish the sympathisers of the Taliban terrorists. This is the only way to stop terrorists from shedding more blood,” he said.

Falak Niaz asked the government to compensate the terrorism-affected families, send injured students abroad for necessary treatment, and declare Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata a war-hit zone.

He also said the government should establish a library and educational institutions in the name of the Army Public School students, while survivors of the December 16 attack should be treated for trauma.

[Bengal_Tiger]

Refugee Students In Indonesia Remember Peshawar School Attack

Thursday 18 December 2014, by Muzafar Ali

The massacre of 132 innocent students in Peshawar shocked the whole world. People around the world expressed their grief and discontent over this barbaric act.

Students from Cisarua Refugee Learning Center, West Java, Indonesia also offered their solidarity with Pakistani students and offered sincerest condolences to families of crushed flowers.

The refugee students are from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Myanmar. All of the students, fled from violence in their countries and in search of peace, expressed their anger over this barbaric terrorists who unjustifiably killed school students. Some of the students from Pakistan said, “The situation of Pakistan is getting worse. Therefore we escaped from our country because our parents thought such incidents could take our lives”.

At the end, they observed a minute of silence in respect of those who fell victim of massacre.

http://kabulpress.org/my/spip.php?article223112

[Bengal_Tiger]

54 days since the Pekhawar massacre.

A tragedy that shocked the world.

Let us not forget, and let us all join hands in prayer for peace in the region.

[Bengal_Tiger]

101 days since the event that shook the world, the Pekhawar massacre.

First volume of poetry on APS tragedy launched





MARCH 25, 2015 BY WEBDESK

PESHAWAR:

Renowned Pashto poet Ameenullah Daudzai became the first bard to have versified the tragic incident of Army Public School.

His poetic volume ‘Da Gulonoo Marsiyah’ (Dirge of flowers) is the first regular collection of poetic pieces in free verse in Pashto literature on the tragedy.

This is his ninth edition, eight of his poetry collections have already been published while two more are in the press.

Poets and fiction writers have written and will continue to write about APS incident but Mr Daudzai emerged as the first Pashto poet to have launched his volume fully dedicated to APS incident.

Mr Daudzai got premature retirement in 1992 from radio Pakistan, Peshawar as a senior producer to devote himself to writing and reading. His poems have pictorial quality, drenched in his deep romantic and creative thought.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/03/25/national/first-volume-of-poetry-on-aps-tragedy-launched/

[Bengal_Tiger]

Etching out grief: Anthology on APS massacre released

By Hidayat KhanPublished: May 2, 2015



Cover of a book comprising poems paying tribute to victims of the APS massacre.

PESHAWAR: A new anthology of poems pays tribute to victims of the Army Public School (APS) massacre.

The collection, titled Fizagano ki di sandy (Mourning in the air), was released by the Pakhtunkhwa Study Centre at Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan. It has been edited by Asar Jan, a literary figure who is affiliated with the institute. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Jan said the collection includes poems written by renowned poets across the province.

The book comprises 53 poems—of which 52 are written in Pashto and one is written in English—which all highlight the gravity of grief left in the wake of the APS attack.

Although each poem depicts the memory of the attack, it also explores through powerful and emotional verse the constant tug of war which has left Pukhtuns in the lurch. A physical and personal battering which has continued for several decades.

“The APS attack is perhaps one of very few examples of a barbaric tragedy which left so many children dead,” said Humayun Huma, a former Urdu professor who is also a renowned poet. “Our nation cannot forget such a tragic incident.”

Barbaric attack

The poems in the collection strongly criticise the audacity with which a few militants destroyed the future of 132 children. Even though the poems have a common enemy, they strike an emotional chord through originality of style and thought-provoking imagery.

Israr Toru, a Pashto poet from Mardan, depicts these sentiments through the following verse:

The faith of our nation

that has already been surrounded

by the forces of darkness and ignorance,

why you are killing our innocent children

with whom we have associated our future?

There are also a number of poems which pay tribute to the people of Peshawar who have rendered sacrifices for years. Professor Salahuddin, another Pashto poet published in the anthology, has fleshed out this sacrificial spirit in the following verse:

The city of flower has been coloured

with the bloods of innocents,

there are sorrows and grief

that entrapped the heart of everyone in the city


Voice of reason

According to Huma, “poets are our voices of conscience” and every poet from across the country has written about APS massacre.

“This book is a historical document and a personal memoir of the emotional journey while coping with the tragedy,” he said. “This is the first-ever poetry compilation on the incident.”

“We can bring peace in society through our poems,” said Abdul Subhan, a poet whose work was also published in the collection. “As long as our youth have a pen in their hands, they will have the courage and determination to fight for peace in the country.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/879394/etching-out-grief-anthology-on-aps-massacre-released/