Disturbingly, however, amidst the general consensus that the shooting was an act of terrible cowardice, there were some dissenting voices. MNA Ataur Rehman, brother of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and a member of the house from Fata, stated that the real culprits were drone attacks and that young people should be counselled not to toe the line dictated from abroad. This comment by Rehman immediately brought a sharp rebuke from MNA Ayaz Ameer who suggested no effort should be made to confuse the issue or divert blame away from the Taliban. Many others agreed with his strong words.
As expected, the interior minister gave his usual assurances of the best possible treatment for the injured girl. Perhaps, what parliamentarians need to ask themselves is why 14-year-old Malala was left to raise her voice and stand up for girls’ education with only limited support from other quarters, including public representatives who sit in the National Assembly. It goes without saying that this responsibility should have been shouldered more fervently by them rather than exposing a small girl to such danger over the past few years. Unfortunately, nor was she joined by others in her cause. It is encouraging, however, that the chief of army staff, who visited Malala in the hospital, has been unequivocal in his condemnation of the incident, describing it as a ‘heinous’ crime which could not be defended. He promised to go after the culprits with all the might of the military forces of Pakistan. We must hope this will happen so that further incidents of similar nature are prevented and courage is allowed to live in a country which needs it in order to save itself.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2012.
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