By Aamir Latif with additional reporting from Sardar Hussein
PESHAWAR, Pakistan
Amid a crowd of dampened eyes and an air of melancholy, students at Peshawar Army Public School returned on Monday, almost a month after a mass shooting killed more than 100 of their classmates.
Dressed in their blue and green uniforms and amid tight security, the children paid tribute to the victims of the tragedy on December 16, since which the school has been closed.
Many flashed victory signs to TV cameras before entering the school, where they were welcomed by army chief General Raheel Sharif and his wife.
As they lined up in the sprawling school grounds, General Sharif led them in singing the national anthem. Some of the injured students were wore slings across their arms, a reminder that close to a hundred children are still being treated for their injuries.
“Our spirits are high. Terrorists cannot defeat our resolve,” General Sharif was quoted as saying by the military's media wing, Inter Services Public Relations.
Hugs and tears were shared as a young man recited from the Quran at the beginning of the school assembly. Another student led hundreds in chants of "Pakistan Zindabad" -- long live Pakistan.
“I will be sitting alone from today as Mustafa, who would sit next to me, is no more,” said a tearful Kamran Hussein.
Mustafa was one of 134 students killed by Taliban militants, in one of the most violent attacks in Pakistan's history.
“I just do not want to recall that day. The stench of death and blood has been settled in my mind. I do not know when will I get rid of that,” Hussein said, with his school bag clinging to his shoulder.
Another student, Shahzeb Khan, also appeared somber over the death of his classmates but said he is not scared of the militants.
“I am not scared of terrorists. I will continue my studies, which is the best way to pay tribute to my colleagues who embraced Shahadat (martyrdom),” Khan said.
Faisal and Usman reached school without their brother Ali, who was among the children killed in the mass shooting.
“We would sit on the rear seat but today his seat is vacant. We are badly missing him. He was our beloved,” said Faisal, the eldest brother, while fighting back tears. "We will go to the graveyard after the school to offer Fatihah [prayer] at his grave.”
The walls of the school auditorium and classes, which had been littered with human blood, have been repainted. Broken glass and benches have been repaired.
It appeared all signs of the tragedy had been scrubbed away.
Pulled out of school
Fearing further attacks, many parents have withdrawn their children from army-administered schools across the country.
Security around private and army schools has been bolstered in the aftermath of the Peshawar massacre. They have security cameras, private guards and new fences around their boundaries.
Scores of private and army schools were not opened on Monday after being found to have inadequate security measures. All the Christian Missionary schools in the Punjab province will remain closed due to security concerns.
Several army-administered and elite private schools have received requests from parents wanting to withdraw their children in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and other cities, officials confirmed.
“I am not in a frame of mind where I could send my children to a school that is on a terrorists’ hit-list,” said Mehmooda Hussein, a businesswoman whose three children studied at an army-run school in Karachi but are now moving to another school.
“I know I am compromising on the quality and environment of education but I have no choice. I just cannot forget the scenes of the Peshawar massacre,” she said.
Khalid Hussein, a Karachi-based real estate dealer, has also withdrawn his son from an army-run school.
“This is not a good decision, I know that. But I just don't have the nerve to even imagine about another Peshawar-like incident,” he said.
