Senators shower praise on ‘icon of courage’
The Senate on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the attack on Malala Yousafzai in Swat, and prayed for the well being of the 14-year education activist.
“This house strongly condemns the attack on Malala Yousafzai which has defamed the country and pushed it on the path of destruction,” stated the resolution moved by Senator Zahid Khan of Awami National Party (ANP) which received unanimous approval.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that Taliban should be declared ‘infidels’ since there was no justification to call them Muslims.
Speaking in Senate, the minister condemned the attack and said that Taliban should be referred to as ‘zaliman’ (cruel) because their actions completely negate the true essence of Islam.
The minister who had just returned from Peshawar said, “Let’s sit together and decide which school of thought they belong to as their activities are harming Islam to a great extent by creating confusion among people of different sects.”
Senators Saleh Shah and Mufti Abdul Sattar of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) were the only ones who did not condemn the attack, saying it should not be mixed with religion as ‘thousands of other Malalas’ were dying every day in US drone attacks in Waziristan.
Senator Sattar even demanded an apology from Senator Hasil Bizenjo when he accused clerics of exploiting religion, saying clerics had played an active role in the creation of Pakistan.
Bizenjo issued a swift rejoinder, reminding Sattar that the Deobandi school of thought had supported Congress rather than the Muslim League over the issue of Pakistan. “Since you belong to the same school of thought, so better correct your history instead of taking credit for the creation of Pakistan,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2012.
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