Court moved to seek financial help for APS victims

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) on Saturday moved the Peshawar High Court, requesting it to direct the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments and other relevant officials to extend all possible financial support to the injured students and other victims of the Army Public School (APS) tragedy so they could avail of the best available medical care.

The association filed a writ petition through its president Mohammad Issa Khan, requesting the court for making payment to the families of the victims and injured persons of the already announced pecuniary contribution without delay.

The petitioner also urged the court to direct the APS administration not to waste the money collected through donations on the construction of unnecessary monuments, blocks, etc inside or outside the school and they be ordered to spend the same for the welfare and well-being of the students, more particularly for the rehabilitation of the injured victims of the tragedy.

The respondents in the petition include the federal government through secretary interior; National Assembly through its speaker; Senate through its chairman; government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through home secretary; provincial assembly through its speaker; station commander XI Corps, Peshawar, and the APS principal.

PHCBA pleads money should not be wasted on monuments

The petitioner stated that over a hundred students were killed and a large number of others received critical injuries of which several had still been admitted in hospitals struggling for their lives. He stated that after the incident both the federal and provincial governments made tall claims of providing free treatment to the injured and adequate compensation to the bereaved families of the slain students. But now, the petitioner claimed, both had forgotten their promises though the affected families and civil society were on the roads demanding help for the injured students.

He stated that every year billions of rupees were withdrawn from the national exchequer for treatment of the members of parliament abroad. He said that members of the KP Assembly were also not an exception in this regard.

The petitioner claimed that after the APS tragedy huge funds had poured in the shape of donations which were paid to the APS administration by NGOs, individuals and civil society for the rehabilitation and welfare of the students, but till date nothing tangible had surfaced whether any portion thereof had been allocated for the rehabilitation of affected children.

He stated that recently the school’s administration had made announcement that the funds so raised should be spent on constructing a monument or some blocks, which was a misconceived idea particularly at a time when injured students and bereaved families were seeking financial help for proper treatment of their loved ones.

The petitioner contended that health facilities and medical relief were basic necessities of life and the state was bound under the Constitution to provide the same to the citizens.

Published in Kaka, February 22nd, 2015