Tahira Qazi
Educationists are core components of Pakistan’s building blocks, outstanding for the service they provide our youth and usually not recognized for their efforts. Tahira Qazi is Pakistan’s greatest educationalist, not only for imparting knowledge to young minds but also for the great tragedy and sacrifice that is associated with her name.
On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. In this horrific act of terrorism 149 people died, including 132 schoolchildren, ranging between eight and eighteen years of age making it the world’s fourth deadliest school massacre. The tragic deaths of children in an attack against an educational institute shook Pakistan to its core. Among the fallen was Tahira Qazi, a woman of great courage who sacrificed herself to save her students.
Tahira Qazi was born in Mardan, Pakistan. Education and literacy were an important cornerstone in her life, which is why after completing her Master’s degree from the University of Peshawar, Tahira became an educationist. She taught English and was the Principal of the Peshawar Army Public School. Tahira was active in her field for twenty years, and what makes her loss even more poignant is that she was just one year away from her retirement.
Now remembered as a valiant, unsung hero, Tahira has entered our nation’s history for her act of bravery. When the Taliban entered the school and launched an attack against the defenseless students, Tahira took a stance against them and was taken hostage. She helped to evacuate the students and even told the terrorists to take what they wanted but leave the children alone. According to the reports, she stood in front of her students and proclaimed:
“I am their mother. Talk to me.”
Tahira Qazi could have been evacuated from the building due to her age, but she chose to return in order to save her students and was martyred by an explosion in the building. She was a courageous woman who gave up her own life to ensure that the students under her protection would remain unharmed.
Her students remember her as being strict but always willing to encourage and give praise. The survivors of the tragedy recall her bravery in standing up to the terrorists and saving their lives in the face of danger. Her children describe her as being a powerhouse – committed to her work and her family, with an abundance of patience that she employed both at home and as the principal of an all boys’ school. There are no words to encapsulate the kind of woman Tahira Qazi was or the courage she exhibited during her final hours. She was a true heroine with a nerve of steel and her sacrifice will live on in the lives of the students she saved.
Tahira Qazi
Educationists are core components of Pakistan’s building blocks, outstanding for the service they provide our youth and usually not recognized for their efforts. Tahira Qazi is Pakistan’s greatest educationalist, not only for imparting knowledge to young minds but also for the great tragedy and sacrifice that is associated with her name.
On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. In this horrific act of terrorism 149 people died, including 132 schoolchildren, ranging between eight and eighteen years of age making it the world’s fourth deadliest school massacre. The tragic deaths of children in an attack against an educational institute shook Pakistan to its core. Among the fallen was Tahira Qazi, a woman of great courage who sacrificed herself to save her students.
Tahira Qazi was born in Mardan, Pakistan. Education and literacy were an important cornerstone in her life, which is why after completing her Master’s degree from the University of Peshawar, Tahira became an educationist. She taught English and was the Principal of the Peshawar Army Public School. Tahira was active in her field for twenty years, and what makes her loss even more poignant is that she was just one year away from her retirement.
Now remembered as a valiant, unsung hero, Tahira has entered our nation’s history for her act of bravery. When the Taliban entered the school and launched an attack against the defenseless students, Tahira took a stance against them and was taken hostage. She helped to evacuate the students and even told the terrorists to take what they wanted but leave the children alone. According to the reports, she stood in front of her students and proclaimed:
“I am their mother. Talk to me.”
Tahira Qazi could have been evacuated from the building due to her age, but she chose to return in order to save her students and was martyred by an explosion in the building. She was a courageous woman who gave up her own life to ensure that the students under her protection would remain unharmed.
Her students remember her as being strict but always willing to encourage and give praise. The survivors of the tragedy recall her bravery in standing up to the terrorists and saving their lives in the face of danger. Her children describe her as being a powerhouse – committed to her work and her family, with an abundance of patience that she employed both at home and as the principal of an all boys’ school. There are no words to encapsulate the kind of woman Tahira Qazi was or the courage she exhibited during her final hours. She was a true heroine with a nerve of steel and her sacrifice will live on in the lives of the students she saved.
