Here is an article written by a Swati.
An assault on our future
Zubair Torwali
Thursday, October 11, 2012
My nerves failed me when I heard that one of the bravest girls of Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai, had been attacked by the same forces that are hell bent on dragging us back to an age of barbarism.
They are there to shun every voice that dares challenge their line of thinking. These philistines have already destroyed over 200 symbols of civilisation in Swat. They attacked dancing girls, and raped them, finally killing them mercilessly.
With faces often masked with black socks, and daggers drawn and waving, they terrorised the youth, men, women and children of Swat.
We, in Swat, try our best to forget the days of butchered bodies strung over poles and trees, and human heads scattered along roadsides. We struggle to forget when the busiest squares in our bazaars were renamed Khooni Chowks. We want to be lulled by much-trumpeted promises.
We wish to suspend our disbelief over the never-ending comedy being staged in Pakistan, particularly in the northwest. But tragedies like what happened in the biggest town of Swat, Mingora, on October 9, 2012 plunge us into that barbaric past! We cannot help but lose hope.
These strategic assets to some are so strong that a little girl can be a threat to them; video and audio tapes can shatter their strong faith even childrens schools and mosques of different sects terrify them. Shame on those who think of these forces as assets!
We have not yet decided whether this is a war from within or imposed. We have yet to decide whether Malalas assailants are home-born or brought in from America, India or Israel.
Why was Malala Yousafzai attacked? Was it only her dissenting views that challenged the obscurantist forces or it is a message to the people of Swat, particularly women?
First, the attack is a direct slap on the face of our security forces that sell the Swat operation to the world as their strong commitment to fighting the forces of darkness and death. The state is still confused about how to handle militants, with some outfits still in good books.
The state must now come forward to tell us whether it stands with the innocent girls and women of Pakistan.
Second, it is a message to the people of Swat who dare to challenge the militants. A few months back, an elderly civil society activist and businessman of Swat, Zahid Khan, survived a similar attack.
Zahid Khan was among the most vocal critics of the militants and the security forces of Pakistan. Earlier Afzal Khan, another businessman, was shot dead for working against the Taliban.
And now, with news of the cowardly attack on Malala, shockwaves reverberated across the whole valley. Fear has engulfed the valley once again, with everybody perceiving the attack on Malala as a comeback of the Taliban.
In the aftermath of the last military operation in Swat in the summer of 2009 peace, fragile as it is, was restored in the valley.
Life returned to normalcy and this summer Swat was the most jubilant. But the deadly attack on Malala Yousafzai shattered every bit of the buoyancy the people had felt after the military offensive.
Third, liberal views cannot be the reason behind the assault. Being still a child, Malala has yet to take sides. She never spoke against the militants.
She even had great hopes in the Peace Deal of February 2009 between the government of Pakistan and the Taliban. She is a child of merely 14 years with only one dream to get an education and live a decent life.
What she narrated during the days of the Swat crisis in her diaries to BBC Urdu were stories based on what she felt and dreamed as a school child.
Malala, this is not an attack on you alone; it is an assault on the future of Pakistan, particularly Swat. You are a symbol of girls education in a valley that was made infamous for rigidity, human rights violations and brutality. I have trust in the Almighty you will make it. I pray Allah to have you back with us.
The writer is a freelance contributor who heads IBT, an independent organisation dealing with education and development in Swat. Email:
ztorwali@gmail.com
An assault on our future - Zubair Torwali
P.S.
The article is a complete fabrication. Sufi Mohammeds Taliban were very good for the people of Swat. They did not do the evil things such as:
We, in Swat, try our best to forget the days of butchered bodies strung over poles and trees, and human heads scattered along roadsides. We struggle to forget when the busiest squares in our bazaars were renamed Khooni Chowks. We want to be lulled by much-trumpeted promises
All this is propaganda to malign good name of pious peace loving Muslims. Dont believe a word what you read in the media. Such acts were never committed by the Taliban. Swat under Taliban was a heaven which was destroyed by the evil liberals.
Instead of waiting for the replies, I have written what my Taliban loving compatriots would think of this article.
