Awami National Party (ANP) president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said the wounds of the Army Public School (APS) tragedy are not healed despite the passage of four years and the nation is still mourning the loss of precious lives. “The murderer of innocent children is now a state guest while the victims still await justice,” he said while referring to Ehsanullah Ehsan, the former spokesperson for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who is currently in custody of law enforcers. “The real motives behind the tragedy are yet to be brought to fore,” he said in a message on the eve of fourth anniversary of the APS attack that killed around 150 people, mostly schoolchildren. The former TTP spokesperson, who was also a top leader of its Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction, surrendered to the security forces in April, 2017. Later, a petition was filed by Fazal Khan, father of an APS student through Barrister Amirullah Chamkani, highlighting that Ehsan had been under custody for a long time but not presented before any trial court. In April this year, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had directed the federal government not to grant clemency to Ehsan. In his statement, the ANP chief said that the APS attackers were not even worthy of being called humans. Asfandyar also urged the authorities to address the issue of terrorism and extremism with honesty and sincerity and protect the future of the country from being ruined. “Had the criminals been traced and punished, attacks like the ones in Mardan, Charsadda, Quetta and Peshawar Agriculture University would have been prevented,” said the ANP leader. He called for the state to address all reservations of the heirs of the victims and accept their demands. “Only a few points of the NAP were implemented while majority of these remained untouched,” he said while holding the federal and provincial governments responsible for the plan’s failure. “An atmosphere of confidence is building up and if advantage is not taken of the situation then even a larger threat than al Qaeda in the shape of Daesh will confront us. The Islamic State is being funded by 40 countries,” he said. Published in Daily Times, December 16th2018.