Nine-year-old feels Pakistan is called a terrorist country as it lacks good schools

Students from eight schools celebrate International Women’s Day at Beach Luxury Hotel.

KARACHI:

Students from eight schools situated in low-income localities came together to show off their singing and drama skills on Saturday.

The students also condemned the increasing violence in the country at an event organised by Pakistan Women’s Foundation for Peace to celebrate International Women’s Day at the Beach Luxury Hotel.

Naushaba Burney, one of representatives of the organisation, explained that the objective of the event was to hear what children and women from remote and often neglected areas had to say about the law and order situation.

Another representative, Nargis Rahman, added that students from a school in Abbas Town had not been able to participate in the event due to the blast. “We are here to express solidarity with the people who have lost their loved ones in incidents of terrorism and to cherish the talents of those who are have not been given opportunities,” she added.

Tehseen, a resident of Korangi who gave a beautiful rendition of Sajjad Ali’s song, Har Zulm, explained that she felt helpless in face of the increasing violence. “We can’t go to school when gunshots are fired in our area because of which we miss out on our studies,” she said.

“Pakistan is called a terrorist country because it doesn’t have any good schools,” explained nine-year-old Hamza from Kiran school, Lyari. “People become terrorists because they can’t get a good education.”

A representative from a government school in Sultanabad, Azmat Nawaz, explained that instead of roti [bread], kapra [clothing], makan [homes], the government had given them bullets, coffin and graves. “Instead of working day and night to become a prosperous nation, we are forced to ask our children to come home early so that they don’t get caught in gunfire.”

Playwright Haseena Moin pointed out that the conditions of women in the country were depressing regardless of the claims made by the government and the number of women holding seats in parliament. “Women should respect themselves and should be bold enough to fight any injustice against them but that is not happening,” she explained. While criticising the increasing portrayal of women as abused and battered souls in the media, she pointed out that she had never depicted women as weak characters in her dramas.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2013.