Daily Times

December 16, 2014 was a cold winter school day for the children of Army Public School (APS) Peshawar but soon it turned into a massacre as 149 people, mostly students, were killed by terrorists in their in indiscriminate firing after they stormed the school.

This attack changed the whole life of Ahmad Nawaz’s family as they lost their 9-year-old son Harris, while 14-year-old Ahmad Nawaz was critically injured.

Ahmad Nawaz, who lives in Birmingham with his family, in a conversation with Daily Times still had the memories of the sad day when he was in the school’s main auditorium talking and joking with his friends and but the next thing he could remember seeing was his friend being shot at by the terrorist and his teacher burnt in front of him. He was badly injured, but had to lie down on the floor for hours pretending to be killed. It was after 4 hours that he was taken to the hospital in an ambulance full of dead bodies.

According to Ahmad Nawaz, he was told by the doctors that they had to amputate his left arm, as his nerves in the hand were damaged. However, the family refused to give permission and he had to undergo 5 surgeries in Peshawar, but he was advised to go to the UK for further treatment. Ahmad Nawaz with his family arrived in Birmingham for the necessary medical treatment four years ago and had 6 more surgeries to save his arm. A metal plate has been placed in his arm and he remained in the hospital for three months.

Ahmad Nawaz, now 18, is in the last year of his sixth form education after being awarded scholarship to study at the Birmingham’ top school King Edward High School for boys, and he is hopeful to get a place at the Oxford University next year. This week, he went to the interview for admission in Oxford.

Ahmad Nawaz, a victim of terrorism himself, has been visiting the educational institutes across the UK to share his experience as a tool to educate the young people about the shocking realty of terrorism and deter them from being radicalise. He said that young generation listens and speaks to him, and he believes the strength of society lies in the education of the younger generation. According to him, to make this a more peaceful world, the only way to defeat terrorism is by creating the opportunities that all children need. In this regard, he said that he would continue his efforts to achieve these goals and hoped his voice would be listened globally.

Ahmad Nawaz has setup Ahmad Nawaz Foundation to promote peace and ensure quality education for everyone. He encourages young people from Pakistan, especially tribal areas, to go to school and empower them. He also wants to steer away the young Pakistanis from the ideas of radicalisation and extremism.

Sharing the details of his foundation’s work , Ahmad said they aim to reach the border areas of Pakistan near Afghanistan. “These are high-risk areas are being ignored by the government, and under the Empowerment project students from these tribal areas are being given sufficient amount of money to cover the cost of their higher educations.” He further said that through this project they have changed the life of many young students.

Ahmad Nawaz had received numerous global awards for his contribution to peace, education and efforts to empower youth and ensure quality education for everyone. Last month, he was awarded the Legacy Award 2019 for his global campaign by Prince William. He is appointed a member of National Counter Extremist Advisory Board by the UK Home Office as well as received Point of Light award from 10 Downing Street for his work done for youth awareness.

Ahmad praised the Pakistani people who according to him stood with them in their difficult time and asked the government to provide funds for his treatment in the UK. He vows to work for providing better education facilities to the Pakistani youth, as they are the future of the country.

Ahmad Nawaz still feels upset and sad for those killed on the day which he termed as an unforgettable one in his life, but said that the only way to tackle terrorism was to defeat the extremists’ agenda and ideology though education and creating awareness among the youth. “We want our voices to be heard at the global level to have greater impact,” Ahmad concluded.