From politicians to peace activists and celebrities, condemnation of the attack on 15-year-old girls’ education activist, Malala Yousafzai, and her friends Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz have been pouring in from all corners of the world.
Fifteen female US Senators wrote a letter to Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, expressing outrage over the Taliban attack on the girls. The Senators called upon the government to bring the attackers to justice and continue working to confront extremism and violence against Pakistani children.
The Senators, led by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, said in the letter that an “attack against Malala represented an attack against all women across the world, and must not be tolerated.”
“We hope that the Government of Pakistan will continue to work to confront extremism and heinous violence against its own children. We urge you to ensure that the perpetrators of this violence are brought to justice quickly, and that you might also redouble your own efforts to safeguard and advance girls’ access to education and opportunities for them to reach their full potential as contributing and productive citizens,” the letter read.
The letter added that the world was horrified by the “brazen nature of the attack”, carried out by Taliban militants who targeted Malala for advocating education for girls and herself. The Senators said that while they applauded the government and Pakistani citizens who have condemned the attack, they hoped that the Pakistani government will prosecute those responsible for the attack on Malala, Shazia and Kainat.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2012.
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The Malala incident clearly brings out the many faces of Pak society.
1) the confused majority who have their hearts in the right place but are brainwashed by years of indoctrination with intolerant and hate producing world views... believers of conspiracy theories which blame the entire world but themselves for their troubles.
2) a large and powerful minority of selfish, hypocritical, vicious feudal minded vested interests who have deliberately indoctrinated the populace.
3) a tiny minority like the remarkable Malala and her father, and part of the media - who are willing to risk their lives to foster a tolerant and scientific-thinking driven society.
4) another tiny minority (club) of elite, liberal thinkers and activists keen to impose occidental mores but who do not have the will and guts to reach out to the majority.
The only way out for Pak is to separate religion from the state. Secular ideology and secular democracy are really the only solutions. But the mess created is so great, these look like impossible to achieve goals in the near future.
A person like Malala will most likely return to Pak, against all well meaning advice, and pursue what she was doing.... and then she will certainly be killed because the state can't protect her. State actors are themselves scared of being on hit lists, how can they protect her?
@America Loves Malala: Well its not trade off. I just asked if shooter of Malala are to be punished then why not those who kill the innocents on the name of security. Just answer me one question Why USA is not the signatory of International Court Of Justice? I know nobody in USA will able to answer it satisfactorily.
Are these US senators living in Dreamland ? The killers of former PM Benazir Bhutto have still not been brought to Justice, neither has the killer of minister Shahbaz Bhatti, nor the executors of Mumbai 26/11 where citizens of ten nations were killed. Please keep hoping, better still start praying.
@Ghazanfar:
Shame, shame -- to talk about a trade off for punishing the attackers of a brave little girl. No wonder, people here in the US describe Pakistanis as the world's worst savages with an obsession for vulgar language, intolerance towards other religions, and a penchant to resolve everything by violence. The drone attacks, which you have unjustifiably brought into discussion, were, in fact, a way to curb violent extremism which has become Pakistan's most prolific industry, overtaking the once-flourishing textile industry. I hope and pray that the girl Malala is spared further pain and harassment. She is a brave girl who has earned our respect and love for standing up to the Taliban killers whose actions you are, obviously, trying to justify. I wish your country would return to stability and peace one day, though the general consensus worldwide is that it is on the road to disintegration and fragmentation, thanks to the religious extremism and violence against minorities and now even against children. Are your proud of it, Sir?
@khalid People like you are partly to blame for the condition in Pakistan. You contribute nothing but your insane conspiracy theories and offer nothing of substance. So now Malala is a CIA agent. Lol wah, kya baath hay.
These women in the US Senate should first come and visit Peshawar before they open their mouths they should checkout the of the University of Peshawar their eyes will pop out when they find our that more then 50% of all Phd students currently enrolled in all departments are girls. As for Malala she is a CIA agent, why has there been no hue and cry over the many thousand children babies and infants being killed daily by the US droan attacks both in Afghanistan and Pakistan since years now.
where was the outrage when the US just killed 8 school-going girls in afghanistan? selective feigned outrage is the work of low-lifes.
Pakistanis' logic :
News : Women of US Senate demand swift justice for Malala Pakistani : Told you she was a CIA agent !
How very strange! the attackers of Malalah are sitting in the laps of US senators, instead of writing letter to RAJA JI they should contacted next door to President Obama and asked him to Kill the Mullah Radio, residing in peace in Nooristan, Afghanistan.
We will bring them to justice but before that we want US to bring those people to justice who are responsible for the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and other countries by drone and military attacks. Simple, isn't it???