Peshawar massacre: Mumbai students reach out to victims’ kin

A pall of gloom descended over Mumbai schools. Grieving for their counterparts across the border, students are trying to reach out to the families of the victims by sending condolence messages and handmade cards.

“The numbers are what hit you the hardest. Children having to pay for sins that they did not commit... My heart goes out to the families shattered, but you are not alone. We are with you, now, more than ever,” wrote 16 year-old Ankita Mishra, a Class 11 student of RN Podar School, Santacruz.

Ankita’s message, along with hundreds of others, will be put up on social media as a tribute to 135 students, who were killed in the attack on Peshawar Army School on Tuesday.

A pall of gloom descended over Mumbai schools on Wednesday. Grieving for their counterparts across the border, students from the city are trying to reach out to the families of the victims by sending condolence messages and handmade cards.

Responding to the Prime Minister appeal, schools lit candles and observed a two-minute silence to pay tribute to the victims.

In some schools, teachers explained the magnitude of the massacre to the students. “We explained the incident to the students. We then paid tribute by maintaining a two-minute silence. We also asked students to write solidarity messages on their scrap books,” said Sudha Nair, principal, Vile Parle Mahila Sangh School.

“It was a savage and cowardly attack on school children... We feel sorry for those innocent kids, ruthlessly killed by the Taliban,” read one of the messages.

Going a step further, students of RN Podar School, will record a video-message for the families of the victims. This, along with other messages, will be conveyed to the families through the Friendship Across Borders: Aao Dosti Karein initiative by activist Chintan Girish Modi.

Avnita Bir, principal of the school, said, “We want to show our solidarity through these messages.”