The air was heavy and the silence numbing as students from across Delhi gathered at Central Park in Connaught Place on Thursday to light candles and show solidarity with the aggrieved families of the Army Public School Peshawar attack in Pakistan.
Children, aged 14 to 18, were there to share condolences. They said that they empathised with those who suffered the gruesome bloodbath on Tuesday. Around 1,000 students from Government and Corporation-run schools had gathered at the venue. Another school in the Capital had also made a human chain in the Outer Circle of CP to show solidarity.
At 1 pm, students gathered at the monumental national flag at Central Park and paid tribute to the Pakistan terror attack victims by lighting candles and observing two minutes of silence to express their grief over the Peshawar massacre. The students present were angered by the incident. Vishal Kumar Singh, a Class XI student at Government Boys Senior Secondary School (GBSSS), Mata Sundri Road, said, “Those children were like us. We are shocked and sad.”
While students were not scared of going to school after this incident and even said that they feel “protected in India”, parents are not taking this incident well and are extremely wary of their children going to school. Nearly 70 per cent of students didn’t turn up to school on Wednesday at NP Bengali Girls Senior Secondary School, Gole Market as parents were worried.
“Parents are anxious. But I insisted on going to school, so they let me,” said Mohd Salman, a student of GBSSS, Kamla Market, Zeenat Mahal.
Meanwhile the Education Department along with North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) is planning on sprucing up the security systems in Government and Corporation-run schools. According NMC chairman Jalaj Shrivastava, there should be a siren system installed in schools and students should be trained about the siren system. “A secret siren system can work as an effective method. There are silent sirens which go to the police control room and different sirens mean different things. These sirens should be installed and children should be taught how to work the sirens so that the intensity of the problem can be gauged,” said Shrivastava.
Director of Education Padmini Singla added that the Department of Education is planning to now introduce mock drills for such attacks as well. “We never thought that a day would come where we will need to equip school children for these things but unfortunately we now have to. We will
definitely work together with police and increase preparedness of students,” said Singla.