ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan assured the Supreme Court that elements involved in the APS attack will be brought to the book.
The prime minister gave the assurance during his appearance before the apex court after he was summoned earlier today by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed in a case filed by the parents of victims seeking action against the then leadership of the country and a transparent inquiry into the incident.
On December 16, 2014, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar and martyred over 140 people, mostly students.
When the apex court resumed hearing today, the CJP summoned the premier to appear before the bench in his personal capacity.
When the prime minister reached the court, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan said the parents of the martyred children sought action against the country’s leadership of the when the APS carnage occurred.
The premier told the court that his party was in power Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when the massacre occurred in Peshawar, adding: “I had visited the parents of the victim schoolchildren but it was not possible to talk to them since they were in great shcok”.
The chief justice said that the parents did not want compensation but they are questioning about the security system. He said that no action was taken despite court’s orders.
The premier told the chief justice that a National Action Plan (NAP) was introduced after deadly incident, adding that there is “no holy cow” in Pakistan.
The premier highlighted that Pakistan had won the war against terrorism.
The top court said the government should listen to the parents of the victims take action against the perpetrators. It also directed the premier to implement the court’s order issued on October 20.
The prime minister told the bench that he would meet the parents of the martyred schoolchildren again.
When he called for finding out why 80,000 people were killed and who is responsible for drone attacks in Pakistan, the court said: “You should answer these questions as you are the prime minister”.
At a point, Justice Qazi Amin said that Pakistan has the sixth largest army in the world.
Justice Amin said that the government had now brought the culprits [TTP] of the massacre to the negotiating table. “Are we going to sign another surrender document?” he questioned.
The court has given the attorney general four weeks to submit a report on the matter.
Later talking to the media, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the prime minister practically demonstrated that the PTI believes in the rule of law.
He said that the premier attended the hearing by setting aside all his official engagements.
Speaking on the occasion, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said all the elements involved in the massacre will be exposed in the report.
