Attack on Peshawar Army Public School Condemned
Los Angeles, CA: Council of Pakistan American Affairs condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, says a COPAA message. It adds:
Uniformed militants attacked a school, killing at least 126 people and taking hostages on Tuesday, an official said - an atrocity condemned by the White House as "heinous" and "horrific."
"The gunmen entered class by class and shot some kids one by one," a student who was in the school at the time told local media.
Provincial official Bahramand Khan said at least 126 people were killed and 122 injured. More than 100 of the dead were school children, he added. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, which appeared to be targeting the children of senior military officials.
Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and loved ones.
Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai
Washington, DC: These cowardly contemptible murders of 141 people, including 132 children, mostly under 16, in Peshawar, Pakistan are condemnable no matter what the motivation of the terrorists. This massacres is unmitigated evil, an earmark of barbarism contemptuous of civilization. We must understand that terrorism is never acceptable no matter how seemingly urgent the political objective or how evil the opposition. Terrorism at anytime, anyplace, and by anyone can never be and must not be tolerated in a civilized society. Terrorism invariably corrupts the culprits and the common human rights of mankind.
Terrorists must recognize that a nation's sovereignty gained by terrorism is not worth having. And a life that indulges terrorism is not worth living. That must be our shining creed for today, tomorrow, and forever.
We share President Obama’s vision, “to fight extremism and promote peace” in all parts of the world. The world powers, including the United States must cooperate with the Pakistani authorities in capturing, prosecuting, and punishing not only the villains who killed these innocent children, but every terrorist at all times and in all places. Punishment should be unforgiving, sufficient to deter would-be imitators.
