ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan appeared before the country’s top court on Wednesday, promising to take action against negligent officials whose carelessness facilitated the massacre of young children at the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, said information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain after the court hearing.
A group of heavily armed militants belonging to the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction entered the APS building in a high security area of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on December 16, 2014, and killed about 130 children and 17 staff members.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan, which has been hearing a case related to the incident, summoned the prime minister to question if his government had acted against those involved in the attack and those responsible for providing security.
The prime minister during the court hearing said there was “no holy cow” in the country and said he would take action against anyone named by the court, reported the local media.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said action was taken against low-ranking individuals such as soldiers and watchmen while senior officials were still enjoying their perks and privileges.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan, another member of the bench, maintained the satisfaction of the parents who had lost their children in the attack was necessary.
“The main handlers [responsible for the attack] have already been eliminated,” the information minister told journalists after attending the court hearing. “The [Supreme Court] has now asked us to determine those who had moral obligations. We have a [judicial] commission’s report on this. So, we will complete [our inquiry] and present [its findings] to the court in four weeks.”
Pakistan’s former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar had appointed a judicial commission in October 2018 to determine the facts related to the massacre. After about two years, the commission submitted its report in July 2020 in the apex court which included the statements of victims’ families.
The country’s interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the prime minister had “explained the situation” to the top court.
“The Supreme Court has given us four weeks … The prime minister has assured [the judges] that the government will expose those who were responsible, be it an interior minister, people from higher [intelligence] agencies or anyone else,” he said.
In a previous court hearing regarding the case, bereaved families of APS children had complained that the country’s leadership had not taken serious steps against those who were responsible for security negligence.
The top court summoned the prime minister only days after the government announced it had reached a “complete cease-fire” agreement with the TTP.
Thousands of Pakistanis lost their lives in violence generated by TTP militants in the last two decades and the group has accepted responsibility for several high-profile attacks, including an assassination attempt on activist and now Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai and the attack on APS in Peshawar.
Pakistan top court questions PM over peace talks with militants behind 2014 school massacre
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Pakistan top court questions PM over peace talks with militants behind 2014 school massacre
- Pakistani Taliban killed 134 school children at the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014
- Parents of children tell court government had not taken serious steps to provide them justice
Pakistan accuses India of manipulating Chenab flows, seeks clarification under Indus Waters Treaty
- Foreign office spokesperson says sudden variations in river flows threaten agriculture, food security and livelihoods downstream
- He also condemns a hijab-removal incident in India, calling it part of a broader pattern of religious intolerance and Islamophobia
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it had observed abrupt variations in the flow of the River Chenab during the ongoing month, accusing India of manipulating river flows at a critical point in the agricultural cycle and saying it had written to New Delhi seeking clarification.
Local media reported quoted Pakistani officials as saying India released about 58,000 cusecs of water at Head Marala on Dec. 7–8 before sharply reducing flows to roughly 870–1,000 cusecs through Dec. 17, far below the 10-year historical average of 4,000–10,000 cusecs for this period.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Andrabi told a weekly media briefing in Islamabad India had failed to share prior information or operational data on the Chenab flows, a practice he said New Delhi had previously followed under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. New Delhi said earlier this year it had put the treaty “in abeyance” following a gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that it blamed on Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denied, calling instead for an impartial and transparent international investigation.
Pakistan also described India’s unilateral suspension of the treaty as a violation of international law and an “act of war.”
“Pakistan would like to reiterate that the Indus Waters Treaty is a binding international agreement, which has been an instrument of peace and security and stability in the region,” Andrabi said. “Its breach or violation, on one hand, threatens the inviolability of international treaties in compliance with international law, and on the other hand, it poses serious threats to regional peace, principles of good neighborliness, and norms governing interstate relations.”
Andrabi said Pakistan viewed the sudden variations in the Chenab’s flow with “extreme concern and seriousness,” saying the country’s Indus Waters Commissioner had written to his Indian counterpart seeking clarification in line with procedures outlined in the treaty.
“Any manipulation of river flow by India, especially at a critical time of our agricultural cycle, directly threatens the lives and livelihoods, as well as food and economic security of our citizens,” he continued. “We call upon India to respond to the queries raised by Pakistan.”
He said Pakistan had fulfilled its obligations under the Indus Waters Treaty and urged the international community to take note of India’s “continued disregard” of a bilateral treaty and to counsel New Delhi to act responsibly under international law.
Andrabi maintained Pakistan remained committed to peaceful resolution of disputes with India but would not compromise on its water rights.
In the same briefing, he also condemned an incident in which the chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar was seen in a video forcibly removing the hijab of a Muslim woman during a public interaction, followed by remarks by a minister in Uttar Pradesh who mocked the episode, saying it reflected a broader pattern of religious intolerance and Islamophobia and warranted strong condemnation.
