Controversies on MALALA YOUSAFZAI

Let there be no doubt that Malala and her friends are not child soldiers. They are youth icons. They did not wield guns or bombs but pen and microphone In Pakistan, an apparent national consensus followed the heinous attack on the three young girls Malala Yousafzai, Kainat and Shazia. It lasted for less than two days perhaps. What should have transformed into a national resolve to fight the Taliban terrorists degenerated quickly into a Malala and anti-Malala, or more accurately perhaps, a pro- and anti-Taliban Pakistan. The pro-Taliban forces could not keep up a pro-Malala pretence for too long. They went from a qualified denunciation of the dastardly act to oblique compliments to the child icon to a vicious campaign to undermine her standing, ultimately to unabashed apologetics for the Taliban terrorists. The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan, as is customary now, was leading the pro-Taliban pack and spent no time in muddying the waters by declaring the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan as (a perceived) jihad. That he made the comments right after visiting Malala, fighting for her life, was particularly callous. He could not bring himself to denounce squarely the Taliban for being the savages that they are, and of course, not by name. Not to be outdone by Mr Khan and his Internet ruffians, who act more and more like the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and its student wing, the original JI jumped into the fray as virtually the information wing of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The former JI ameer, Qazi Hussain Ahmed and his daughter, the ex-MNA Dr Samia Raheel Qazi, have unleashed an exceptionally morbid effort to malign Malala and her father Ziauddin Yousafzai. The jihadist cheerleaders in the media spent no time in projecting the Qazis and their drivel into every living room. The Qazis have alleged that Malala was groomed by her father as a virtual tool of the US policy in the region. In tandem with their tirade, the Internet was flooded with pictures of Malala and her family with the late US envoy Richard Holbrooke to suggest that the affected family was on some sort of subversive mission. A false dilemma was created to project Malala as a child soldier somehow comparable with the young suicide bombers deployed by the jihadists. In a most unfortunate manner, Malala’s father was first blamed for doctoring her diaries and then for putting the child in harm’s way. A whisper campaign has accompanied this vitriol about how is it possible for a young child of nine or 10 to actually display such maturity in her writings. One anchor took the campaign of drawing false binaries a step further in his show, ostensibly about journalistic ethics. A senior newspaper editor cut that anchor to size but framing the false narratives goes on in full swing. REFERENCE: COMMENT : Malala and anti-Malala Pakistan — Dr Mohammad Taqi Thursday, October 18, 2012  http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C10%5C18%5Cstory_18-10-2012_pg3_2

Excerpts from a Pashto interview of Malala Yusufzai with English subtitles. 

Zahid Buneri: Malala, let us go back when an operation was launched in Swat & people were displaced. You were also displaced?

 Malala: Yes, when Taliban started slitting throats of people, banned girls from going to school, then Pakistan Army (we are thankful to them) asked us to leave the area so we can have a successful operation. If we were there, the operation would never have been successful. So we sacrificed and left our homes for 3 months and migrated to Peshawar, Mardan. People here gave us so much love that we never felt that we were displaced. They treated us like guests for which we are thankful to them. When the operation was successful & we returned to our area, Swat had become the most peaceful place. Then we saw many schools destroyed which were destroyed either by Taliban or during the operation. We want those schools to be reconstructed, many schools have been rebuilt by Army & other organizations but we want all schools that were destroyed reconstructed. The children who are studying under tents should once again return to their schools. 

 Zahid Buneri: May ALLAH solve the problems of our Pakhtoon daughters & the Pakhtoon Nation. If all problems cannot be solved, at least we should be equal to other nations.

 Malala, we would want you to come to Bacha Khan Markaz to our studio so we can talk in detail about various issues. Any message for Pakhtoons?

Malala: I want to give my message to Pakhtoons, to educate their sons and daughters. Not just school, work on them so they treat every human being well. We do not tolerate a Hindu or Sikh in our society. This is no way, tomorrow people will not tolerate us. Teach them tolerance. Teach them how to tolerate the ideas of others and how to live in coexistence with others. Learn to live with each other. Try to build good relations with each other. This is my message to Pakhtoons.