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Families of children killed or wounded in Pakistan’s worst militant attack accuse the local government of breaking its promises of medical treatment and justice, a year after Taliban gunmen massacred 134 students in a Peshawar school.
Victims’ relatives say they will attend the official anniversary commemoration on Wednesday, but vowed to pressure the authorities to deliver on their commitments.
The government promised it would help with medical expenses above an initial Rs400,000 ($3,800) grant, but only 22 of approximately 60 families who applied have received any funds, said Akbar Khan, who represents 124 families of those wounded.
“There are many children who were disfigured, or crippled, who need continuous long-term treatment. And above all, they need psychological rehabilitation,” said Khan, whose 17-year-old son Umar was shot in his left arm during the attack.
Muhammad Ibrahim, a provincial health official in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which Peshawar is the capital, said not all funds had been disbursed because of delays in families submitting receipts for the money they spent.
Khan is among the parents who have also asked the government to facilitate treatment of their children abroad, as it said it would, but have not heard back.
“I have been shot twice in my arm. I have had three or four surgeries, but still need further treatment. And we cannot get that treatment in Pakistan,” said Syed Ansar Ali Shah, 16, who has a metal plate holding his left hand together.
According to Khan, just two children, Ahmed Nawaz and Ibrahim Afridi, had received government assistance for treatment abroad so far.
Ibrahim disputed the figure, saying at least six people had been sent overseas with government funding.
ASKING FOR MONEY BACK
The provincial health department is now demanding that the unspent portion of the Rs400,000 grant people received be returned, some families of the wounded say.
“These parents say that their children are not recovered: they cannot sleep, they cannot move properly, and some of them even have bullets still lodged in them,” said Akbar Khan.
Health official Ibrahim confirmed that some families had been asked to return funds they had not used.
Azhar Mehmood, 15, was shot four times and has difficulty walking. He still attends the Army Public School where the massacre occurred, but says months of surgery have adversely affected his education.
Mehmood was among several students who complained that the government broke a promise to delay board exams for those children wounded in the attack. As a result, they say, they have lost a year of study.
The post A year on, Pakistan massacre survivors say waiting for aid, justice appeared first on News India Times.
