Law and order has never been a matter of pride for the establishment in Pakistan. So a bomb explosion or a shootout or an acid attack will not make the world sit up and take notice. However on October 9 the world did pause to take note.
A gunman in Mingora, in the Swat Valley, attacked 14-year-old Malala Yousfzai at her school. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan took responsibility for the attack and said that it was Malala’s work in promoting education among women and other social activities — which according to their skewed interpretation of the Quran is ‘un-Islamic’ — that prompted them to attack an innocent teenager at school.
General Ashfaq Kayani, on October 10, visited Malala at the Peshawar hospital where she was undergoing surgery. He condemned the attacks and vowed to fight the militants.
Hollow statements like this prove that Kayani is more politician than soldier. If the Pakistani Army, in true earnest, wanted to address the militancy problem, by now the once-famous Swat Valley would have regained its sobriquet ‘Switzerland of Pakistan’.
Is Islamabad Ready?
The attack on Malala has had both negative and positive effects. The most obvious negative is that an innocent teenager who only wanted to study and spread education is fighting for her life after a few cowards thought it better to silence her.
As is now being said the world over, the Taliban are not afraid of US missiles or stealth raids by Navy SEALs; what they really fear is a girl with a book. That is true. It was not anger that led the Taliban to attack the National Youth Peace Prize winner, but fear that the message of resistance, awakening and education she was spreading hit them harder than Obama’s Drones.
The other negative aspect is that the extremists — whatever label they come under — are in no mood to retreat. While Swat was once a stronghold of the Taliban, it no longer is and the attack can be seen as an attempt to regain that bastion and spread fear among the people. This should be stopped by all means — while it seems that the people are ready, is the Pakistani government ready?
Educate Her
Mainly there are two positives this attack has had.
First, the Taliban are desperate and are being pushed into a corner. The juggernaut of protests against the shooting is a sign that the people have had enough of the Taliban and value the progress and freedom they are enjoying. This is a positive sign.
The second is the lesson that changes on the ground, by empowering people through education, better facilities and freedom, will achieve greater results than Drone strikes and blitzkriegs. The ‘war on terror’ has been going on for more than a decade and relentless attacks and chases have not produced the desired results. The United States would love to think otherwise but even the killing of Osama bin Laden did not produce the desired results. Al-Qaeda has not ceased to exist and it has spread to such an extent that the loss of one leader is too small a blow.
Petty Politics
The Pakistani government can rout out the Taliban if it acts in right earnest. The wave of anti-Taliban protests being seen throughout Pakistan is proof that the Taliban’s wide support base in the country is but a shadow monster, a myth that conveniently suits political parties in Pakistan and adds fuel to a fear psychosis in the west. The civilian government in Pakistan and the west has got a real, tangible opportunity to channel this mass revolt against these forces of evil.
The question, however, is whether Islamabad will rise to the occasion. Past experiences have shown that it prefers to feed the monster in the hope that is can be used to its advantage in neighbouring Afghanistan and India. Islamabad fails to see that this Frankenstein’s monster is turning against its creator/nurturer.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on October 16 said that “the work that she (Malala) led was higher before god than what terrorists do in the name of religion. We will continue her shining cause.” These words are definitely reassuring but they loses their glow when one realises that they come from a person who has little popular support and is yet to show resolute action against the terror networks operating in the country. Moreover political leaders have taken up the issue to further their cause. Imran Khan, leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, after visiting Malala in the hospital, spoke in favour of the ‘jihad’ happening in Afghanistan.
It is disappointing to see Khan, who is riding on a popular wave of support, fish in muddy waters. In the politics of opportunism what is lost is the freedom the people of Pakistan deserve.
If this opportunity is not used to weed out the Taliban menace, posterity will not forgive these leaders and their name will be found in the gutters of Pakistan’s history. While most Pakistan leaders have a tainted past, the biggest loser now will be Imran Khan.
Until a few days back not many people around the world had heard about Malala Yousufzai.
After October 9 there are few who have not heard about her and the cause she represents.
The Taliban and apologists for the attack fail to remember that the Prophet had said: “If a daughter is born to a person and he brings her up, gives her a good education and trains her in the arts of life, I shall myself stand between him and hellfire.”