ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan instructed the government on Friday to make public the judicial commission report on the Army Public School massacre that took place in Peshawar on December 16, 2014.
The attack happened when six Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants conducted a terrorist attack on a military-run education institute in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing 149 people including 132 schoolchildren.
Pakistan’s former chief justice, Saqib Nisar, formed the commission in 2018 since the parents of the martyred children wanted an investigation into the tragedy.
During the hearing, the court asked the attorney general to name those whose negligence made it easy for terrorists to take so many lives of innocent children and members of the school management.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed asked him to begin with those individuals were in power, adding that strict action should be taken against them to prevent such tragedies from taking place in the future.
According to Dawn, a local newspaper, the commission report maintained that the TTP militants had crossed Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and reached their destination after “befooling the security apparatus.”
The report also said they were assisted by the residents of the neighborhood where the school was located, adding: “When one’s own blood and flesh commit treachery and betrayal, the result would always be devastating.”
The hearing of the case has now been adjourned for a month.
Supreme Court orders government to make Peshawar school massacre report public
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Supreme Court orders government to make Peshawar school massacre report public
- The country’s top judiciary wants the government to take strict action against those whose negligence made the carnage possible
- Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed says it is important to prevent such future tragedies
Pakistan’s Mahnoor Omer named among TIME’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026
- Omer moved a Pakistani court against the so-called ‘period tax’ in Sept. 2025 which has since sparked a national debate
- Taxes on sanitary pads in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to retail price, UNICEF says only around 12 percent women use such products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer, who fought against taxes on menstrual products, has been named among the TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026.
Omer’s efforts have been recognized alongside 16 activists, artists, athletes and businesswomen in the TIME’s Women of the Year 2026 list, including Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Dissatisfied with the efforts to educate Pakistani girls about sexual violence, Omer founded the Noor Foundation at the age of 14 and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation, according to the TIME magazine.
Two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker about the price of pads made her realize that not everyone could afford these essentials. She moved a court against the so-called “period tax” in Sept. 2025 and the case has sparked a national debate on the subject, considered a taboo by many in Pakistan, since its first hearing late last year.
“A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity,” TIME wrote about Omer on its website.
Taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to the retail price. UNICEF estimates just 12 percent of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating.
Omer’s suit, which awaits the government response, has sparked a national discussion. She says she spoke about menstruation to her father and male cousins, who thanked her for standing up for their daughters.
The 25-year-old, who is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, sees this case as just the first of many.
“I’m not free until every woman is free,” she was quoted as saying by TIME. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades, as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.”
