Words from a grieved husband of a brave teacher saima tariq who was assasinated in peshawar attack.

"16th Dec was a sad day. The incident has hurt the nation deep inside which is evident from the response by the masses.

Saima Tariq , my beloved wife was one of victims of this tragedy. She had just joined the school on 5th Nov as teacher. She was an educationist and had taught for 16 years in APSACS. On my arrival at Peshawar, Pakistan I was strictly against her teaching job and wanted her to pursue her higher studies. In spite of my resistance she forced me change my decision and joined APS Peshawar in order to follow her passion of teaching and educating the next generation. She was a soft spoken lady with a very kind heart and extremely popular with her students.

Now coming to the incident on 16th Dec 14, I have seen a lot of stories circulating on the social media with different versions (some facts and some not) and based upon rumours. The fact is she embraced shahadat with courage and stood up against these perpetrators for her students. What happened and how it happened is painful to pen down but the fact is she was burned by the terrorists. Beyond this I believe we should not discuss anything as it is painful for me and my family.

I also saw people's remarks about the response being slow and all kind of criticism of security agencies. I want to clarify to every reader that there are 84 schools alone within the Cantt premises let alone hundreds of schools in Peshawar. It is not possible to protect each and every school by the security agencies due to the lack of human resource. I am an affectee of the incident and still salute the wonderful response placed by the security forces in general and Army in particular. While criticizing we tend to overlook one fact that there were approximately 1100 kids in the school and over 950 have walked out safe and alive. Had it not been for the courageous response by my brothers in arms (being an eye witness and present on the spot) the loss could have been much much more. The SSG fought valiantly and took out each culprit. My sincere thanks to all of them who stood like a wall between the terrorists and 950 students saved. Let us all stop condemning the forces response and stand by them and appreciate them.

If the aim of this attack was to terrorize us or scare us I must admit that then they (TTP) have chosen the wrong enemy. I may be grieved, as I am a human and have lost a dear one but I am not scared and my resolve to fight them has multiplied many folds. I am proud of my wife's sacrifice and courage. She has not only made her family but whole nation proud and sowed the seed for change.

Saima you have toiled your blood but become immortal (as stated in Holy Quran) but you have made us hold our heads high. You will always be missed and remembered by us all."

- Tariq Saeed