Malala of Pakistan

Malala Yousufzai – It is the name of a tender age girl of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, and nowadays has rent the air the world over with reference to Pakistan. Her age is said to be 14 years. There was a news report on 9^th October that she was shot at while she along with other girls was getting into a school van. The attackers are reportedly the people belonging to the Taliban movement of Pakistan. They have enmity with Malala because, as the media is reporting, she not only insists on continuing her education but has also launched a movement for the rights of girls. In 2009, when (according to media) she was just 11 years old, the Taliban bombed her school but she did not give up education. Then she got worldwide fame after her statement was telecast by BBC. This is why the entire world including Pakistan cried when a fatal attack was made on her on October 9. Praise and bouquets for her and condemnation for her attackers outpoured from all quarters. The government of Pakistan sprang up in action immediately. Malala was admitted to a military hospital, a special plane was kept ready to fly her outside the country if need be, and she was flown to London on October 15.

Behind the curtain of sympathy

A teenage girl was shot; it was wrong. Everyone is condemning it and rightly so. May Allah bless her with health and life! Malala and all girls like her should get modern education; no one can contradict it. Those who are condemning it are worth condemning. And if this condemnation is being made in the name of Islam, it is all the more unfortunate. But in this international outpouring of sympathy for Malala it is observed that Islam and Islamic groups are being targeted. Islamic groups are directly under attack. This is the way the world media including Indian media is reporting it. It is being projected that the Taliban are against the education of girls; they want girls to live within the four-walls of home, oppress women and this act of theirs is in accordance with Islamic teachings. Now the situation is that 14-year-old Malala is being projected in the world as the symbol of women’s liberty and the greatest champion of girls’ right to education. The impression is being given that Malala has revolted against “Islamic fundamentalists”. Now the government of Pakistan is to confer on her the greatest national award.

A few questions

In this regard there are some questions: (1) Whether the Taliban who attacked Malala are real or floated? The fact remains that many groups of floated Taliban are active in Pakistan; most of them are floated by America. The agents of CIA and Mossad are among them and it is they who are responsible for the acts of terrorism in Pakistan. (2) Why do the international media not take notice of dozens of Malalas killed in American drone attacks in the North-West Frontier regions? (3) Even the government of Pakistan is also raising the issue of attack on Malala Yousufzai with much vigour but it never raised the issue of the Malalas killed in American drone attacks. (4) While condemning the attack on Malala by the so-called Taliban, certain Muslim sections and journalists are speaking in the same terms as the anti-Islam forces want them to. Do they believe that the attack on Malala was made by practising Muslims? The fact remains that the innocent girl and the attack on her are being exploited for anti-Islam propaganda and for providing an excuse for army action in Waziristan. Two leaders of that country, Qazi Husain Ahmad and Imran Khan have also made this statement.

22/ 10/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf