Students of Army Public School, members of Civil Society, Pak Army staffs and large numbers of citizens held a candle light vigil to mourn the innocent victims. Image by ppiimages. Copyright Demotix (19/12/2014)
A group of Taliban gunmen dressed in military uniforms entered an Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, on December 16 and shot students and teachers walking from classroom to classroom. At least 148 people, 132 of them children, lost their lives in the attack and scores of the students were injured.
The following day, vigils were held in Karachi, Islamabad and other major cities throughout the country, which can be seen in these pictures.
There have also been numerous vigils across the world:
People at those vigils remembered the victims, protested against the barbarism, voiced their anger at the Taliban and echoed that children should be spared from such atrocities.
Here are images of some of those vigils:
A collection of candles and votives lit as part of a vigil in Trafalgar Square, London, to remember the dead school children and teachers killed by the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan. Image by Emma Durnford. Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
A Candlelight vigil for the children of Peshawar is held in Longsight, Manchester outside the Pakistani Community Centre. Image by Barbara Cook. Copyright Demotix (20/12/2014)
Two hundred people gathered in front of the CNN Center in Atlanta for a candlelight vigil to honor victims killed during a Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. Image by Steve Eberherdt Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
Columbia students and other members of the community joined a campus candlelight vigil to support the victims of the Peshawar attacks. Image by Mansura Khanam. Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
Indian congress workers and children pay tribute to those killed in the Taliban attack in Peshawar, Pakistan at a candle vigil in Allahabad, India. Image by Ritesh Shukla. Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
A candle light vigil and were held at the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh, this evening in remembrance of the innocent victims of the massacre at the Army public School peshawar.
Indian people lit candles as they took part in a candle-light vigil in memory of victims killed in a Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, in Amritsar. Image by Sanjeev Syal. Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
Childrens in Sivasagar, Assam lighting candles protesting the attack of Talibans in a school of Pakistan, image by Neelam Kakoty Majumdar. Copyright Demotix (18/12/2014)
Burdwan District Press Club organised a Candlelight Rally in At Burdwan, West Bengal, India, protesting against Taliban terror attack on Army Public School in Peshawar. Image by Sanjoy Karmaker (18/12/2014)
Children holding solidarity messages at the candle light vigil in Lahore, Pakistan. Image by Fatima Arif. Copyright Demotix (18/12/2014)
Students of Army Public School, members of Civil Society, Pak Army staffs and large numbers of citizens held a candle light vigil to mourn the innocent victims. Image by PPIImages. Copyright Demotix (19/12/2014)
Two days after the horrific Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, killed more than hundred and thirty students, controversial Islamabad-based cleric Abdul Aziz refused to condemn the massacre, sparking rare protests against radicalism in the country.
Abdul Aziz also said that use of force against the Taliban is not a “wise option”. Aziz is the chief cleric at Lal Mosque, one of the biggest in the capital. The mosque and its attached seminary have a reputation for radicalism and was the scene of a massive 10-day military crackdown in 2007, which left more than a hundred dead, many of whom were radical seminary students. Aziz's brother was the chief back then, and was killed in the operation. Abdul Aziz tried to flee the mosque in a burka, but was caught. He was released on bail two years later. And has since reopened the mosque and become the chief cleric.
On December 18, a large number of activists, politicians and students arrived at the Lal Masjid chanting slogans against Abdul Aziz. They wrote names of the students killed in Peshawar on a board and started an impromptu vigil.
The protest was organised by Jibran Nasir, an independent politician, lawyer and human rights activist from Karachi. He said:
I came to Islamabad for a conference, but then the Peshawar tragedy struck and everything changed. The next day, Lal Masjid cleric issued a statement that I couldn’t stomach and I decided that rather than going back to Karachi, we should protest. We want to reclaim our mosques, our communities, our cities, indeed our entire country from the extremists. We can no longer allow anyone to stand on at a pulpit and preach hatred. We will no longer stand by and watch people like Abdul Aziz use the name of our Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and our religion to perpetuate violence. I call upon the people of Islamabad to come out of their homes and reclaim their city.
The administration of Lal mosque filed a First Information report (FIR) against the participants of the protest. Police in riot gear arrived on the scene and asked protesters to disperse.
Nasir and the protesters held their ground and said they will hold the vigil for the next week in front of the Lal Mosque, and there after every Tuesday night.
Suddenly, the spontaneous protests that began on Thursday quickly spread across the country as a wider movement against Taliban apologists and extremists everywhere. There were protests after Friday prayers in several cities to condemn Lal Mosque's cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz's statement. A petition in Change.org to put Abdul Aziz on trial for treason and terrorism has more than 4000 supporters.
On December 19, an FIR (First Information Report) was lodged against Abdul Aziz at a police station and this Facebook video caught the moment.
If in tomorrow's jummah sermon your Imam wont condemn Peshawar Attack then stand up and ask him to. #ReclaimYourMosques
The foundation is laid. Think over, either are u going to be a silent spectator or would do ur part. If 141 children didn't shook u off ur slumber then be sure u are an apologist of the likes of #AbdulAziz.
Under pressure Maulana Aziz apologised on Sunday for not condemning the killing of children. A reader replied to the article at the Tribune.com:
Sorry too little too late, shame on him that he actually had to think so hard to apologize and only after all the pressure …… He lacks total decency and morals …..innocent kids died and he had to think about it. Shame on him and shame on us for listening to him, he needs to be behind bars permanently along with all his buddies.
Victims of militants, who attacked an army public school situated on Warsak Road, are moved for treatment at a local hospital in Peshawar. Image by ppiimages. Copyright Demotix (16/12/2014)
People from all over the world have offered their support and sympathy on social media for Pakistan as the country reels from a horrific attack on a school in Peshawar that has left 141 people dead, most of whom were children.
But one particular hashtag is worth noting -- Indians are putting aside their ardent rivalry with Pakistan and expressing solidarity with their neighbors at this difficult time under #IndiawithPakistan on Twitter.
Yes, I am Indian. So what? The pain of losing a child is universal. #IndiawithPakistan
At around 11 a.m. Pakistan time on December 16, six Taliban militants entered the Army-run school in the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and took around 500 students and teachers hostage. The attackers were dressed as soldiers and opened fire at random, also detonating an unknown number of suicide bombs. A teacher was reportedly burned alive in front of pupils and children were shot in the head. One hundred and forty-one people were killed, most of whom were children, and hundreds injured in the siege. According to police, all the militants were killed.
The Taliban, in a statement to Reuters, said that they targeted the school because the army targets their families in an ongoing military offensive against Taliban strongholds near Peshawar. “We want them to feel our pain,” the statement said.
Dr. Asif Sohrab described on Facebook the horror in Peshawar:
2,3 funerals in every Street of Peshawar. In my street there are 3! Peshawar bleeds, Pakistan cries.
In response to the attack, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced three days of mourning and has called an all party parliamentary meeting at the Governor House in Peshawar on Wednesday.
Men carry the casket of a victim of the Taliban shoot-out in a military-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan. Image by ppiimages. Copyright Demotix (16/12/2014)
Pakistani Twitter users have also taken to Twitter to express their anger and grief:
This is not my religion, not my politics. I would rather have no god than a god that justifies the mass murder of children. #PeshawarAttack
Mehr Tarar, a former op-ed editor for Pakistan's Daily Times, captured the heartbreak of many Pakistanis in a column for Indian news portal NDTV:
Today, I feel as if I have been punched in my stomach. In my heart. And in my soul. With an iron rod. As I hear of children who were killed in an Army school in Peshawar, I feel my heart stopping.
Children were shot in the face. Children were shot in the head. Children were dragged out from under the chairs, under the tables, and shot. At point blank. Methodically. Coldly. Clinically. They - who go by the name of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan - say it is to avenge the Army operation against them in the FATA. To avenge the deaths of militants who were wreaking havoc on innocent Pakistanis in myriad acts of terror. It's retribution, they say.
I have nothing to say here. You call yourself a Muslim, you call your fight a jihad, you call your way that of Allah. And yet you do what Allah forbids you to do: to perpetrate a war in His name where you kill children. Where you kill people who have never harmed you. You are not just Pakistan's enemy but you are also your own worst enemy.
Writing in independent Canadian news website Ricochet, journalist Jahanjeb Hussain offered his view on what good, if any, could come of the attack:
The best hope is that this attack would finally convince the country’s leadership that meaningful, concentrated, and long-term action needs to be taken across the board.
Spotted deers forage at the Kokilmoni forest in the Sundarbans, a UNESCO world heritage site. Bagerhat, Bangladesh. Image by Muhammad Mostafijur Rahman. Copyright Demotix
An oil tanker carrying 358,000 liters (almost 100,000 gallons) of furnace oil sank in the Shela river on December 7, spilling oil over more than 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) of the Sundarbans. Located on in southwest Bangladesh, the Sundarbans is the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world, covering approximately 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles), of which 60 percent is in Bangladesh. The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is also one of the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger, and provides sanctuary to many other species.
According to reports, the new oil spill threatens the Mrigmari-Nondabala-Andharmanik dolphin sanctuary. Mangrove trees are also highly susceptible to oil pollution—indeed, they are expected to start dying after the area's aquatic life, which is typically first to perish. Fahim Hassan has put together an infographic on Flickr explaining the details of the devastation.
According to images Mowgliz Elisabeth Rubaiyat posted on Facebook, the disaster is already killing some animals. Local authorities appear to be outside their depth, never before having confronted so large an oil spill, and lacking the necessary infrastructure to respond properly. Al Jazeera reports several local fishermen have resorted to cleaning up the spill using sponges and sacks.
Many on Twitter have questioned the authorities' response:
Talk to the org that worked after 2010 Gulf oil spill! Seriously guys ... "Authorities clueless in the Sundarbans" http://t.co/z7vZPqVSuf
To help in the relief effort, the government dispatched a ship to the area carrying oil dispersants. If such chemicals are released incorrectly, however, it can harm the local ecology still further. Four days later, the state's efforts seem to have had little effect, exacerbating fears of a lasting ecological disaster.
Bangladesh's Water Transport Minister says locals were able to stop the oil from entering the forrest, using nets, and they're also working to remove the oil from the water, to keep the situation from becoming worse. The national Forest Department is leading the operation with 100 boats and 200 fishermen.
The Forest Department has filed a lawsuit for 1 billion Bangladeshi taka (about $13 million) against the owners of the two cargo ships responsible for the spill.
Just a month ago, before the spill, the Sunderbans mangrove forest looked like this:
Blogger Ahmed Sharif criticizes the government's ill-planned disaster-management strategy, saying it misunderstands the issue:
দুর্যোগ ব্যবস্থাপনা বলতে কি শুধু বন্যা-জলোচ্ছ্বাস বোঝায়? গত দুই দশকে অর্থনৈতিক দিক থেকে দ্রুত অগ্রগতির সাথে সাথে যেসব ঝুঁকির সৃষ্টি হয়েছে, সেগুলির জন্যে আমরা নিজেদের তৈরি করতে পারিনি। নদীতে জাহাজের সংখ্যা আগের চেয়ে বহুগুণ বেড়ে গেছে, কিন্তু তার সাথে পাল্লা দিয়ে তৈরি হয়নি মনিটরিং এজেন্সিগুলি। জাহাজ তৈরি হচ্ছে যথেচ্ছভাবে, যাত্রী নেওয়া হচ্ছে অতিরিক্ত, ফিটনেসবিহীন জাহাজ চলছে, নদীর পানি দূষণ করছে জাহাজের বর্জ্য, নদীর মাঝে পার্ক করে রাখা হচ্ছে জাহাজ, সঠিক যন্ত্রপাতি ছাড়াই চলছে জাহাজ, চলাচলের সময় ঠিক করে দেয়ার পরেও কেউ মানছেনা – কেউ দেখার নেই। কাজেই দুর্ঘটনার সম্ভাবনা প্রতিদিন বেড়েই চলেছে। আর দুর্ঘটনার সম্ভাবনা বাড়লেও সেটার জন্যে প্রস্তুতি নেই আমাদের।
Is disaster-management confined to floods and cyclones? In past decades, the country has seen accelerated economic development and increased risks. But we could not keep pace to prepare ourselves for those added risks. The commercial ships in our waterways have multiplied, but our monitoring agencies couldn't keep up. Many ships are being built outside the proper guidelines, carrying passengers over their capacity. Many ships are unfit to operate, they dispose of waste improperly, they block waterways indiscriminately, they break schedules—nobody is monitors any of this. So there is an increased risk of accidents, and we are not prepared for these accidents and disasters.
YouTube user A. K. M. Wahiduzzaman uploaded a video capturing the devastation of the oil spill:
The body of the first dolphin, a rare Irrawadi dolphin, to die in this incident was discovered last Friday. According to reports, the Padma Oil Company has managed to remove about 10,000 liters (about 2,600 gallons) of oil in its cleanup efforts, so far. The company is offering to pay volunteer cleanup-workers 30 Bangladeshi taka (about 40 cents) for every liter (about 34 ounces) of oil recovered.
What is perplexing is the rudimentary cleaning operation. With offer of Taka 30/= per litre for furnace oil recovered, thousands have jumped in, not to save the Sundarbans but to eke an existence. Obviously for the poorest of the poor this is a windfall. However, have not heard anyone talk about the risk to human health from dangerous toxins in the furnace oil. Anywhere else in the world the Government would have faced public litigation suit for endangering citizens health. I see thousands of poor and ignorant people dying in the days ahead thanks to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation's myopic decision. Our focus should not only be for hunt of dead dolphins - but contaminated humans!
There have been protests demanding that the authorities ban merchant ships and cargo vessels from using the rivers and channels of the Sundarbans. Absent effective government measures, Bangladesh will have to keep relying on civil society and volunteers in this environmental crisis.
