Malala – name of an ideology
Posted by Faheem Belharvi
The attack on Malala is an attack on liberalism and enlightenment in Pakistan. Her critical situation in ICU implies that liberalism and enlightenment are suffocating and breathing its last in Pakistan.
For the last one decade we are fighting against extremists but it seems that extremists might belong to the race of “Yajooj and ‘Majooj”. After every successful military operation against extremists we wait for their surrender but then they come out with more potential to destroy our institutes and people. The reason of our failure is that we are fighting against the extremists but the need is to fight against the curse of extremism. Suppose a person is throwing dirt into the mosque every day and we start cleaning that dirt is not the solution of the problem. The best way is to stop that person from doing this heinous act.
Reconciliation with Taliban will not lead towards cure for radicalism. Only few sections of Taliban will get a share in the government but will not shun the mentality of extremism. Actually reconciliation is just giving a nursery to extremists to cultivate new crops of fundamentalism. Now they are hiding in mountains and caves but reconciliation will give them an opportunity to mix-up with the young people. Reconciliation with Taliban without having a complete control on the minds of our youth is just paving way for destruction.
Our young people are already confused to hear about the distinction between good and Bad Taliban. Reconciliation will give them an impression that good Taliban has won the battle. They will consider Talibanization a process that can bow the heads of super powers. Weak support for anti terrorism is the success of all those forces which want the implementation of fundamentalism in our societies. Reconciliation with extremists is not the cure of terrorism. If some extremists want to spend a normal life then we must help them to become a part of the society. However accepting them as group of “Good” Taliban is creating an abyss for the new generation where they can only think positively about fundamentalism.
There is an urgent need of making changes in the syllabus of our educational institutions. The religious Madrassas should be no exemption in this respect. Media too will have to change its getup. Today unfortunately most of the journalists are still not playing positive role in eliminating extremism. Few years’ back civil society and lawyers sincerely struggled to compel the government to restore judges. Now civil society and lawyers will have to come out to protest against extremism otherwise people will remain in dark forever.
Politicians also worked side by side with civil society and lawyers in judges’ restoration movement but now on the question of terrorism only few parties like ANP, PPP and MQM are expressing their concerns. We see that other parties are not condemning the activities of terrorists. Mostly they label these terrorists attacks on Pakistani institutions and people as a reaction against American policies. Though educated youth refrain from terrorist activities but still they consider the mission of Taliban as the real effort against imperialism of the West. Still we have not convinced our youth about the dangers of fundamentalism and fanaticism.
The sacrifice of the bold and young Malala must not be wasted. She dared to come out against extremism and fundamentalism in her very young age. This is the age when girls only take interest in their dreams but she took the responsibility to work for the spread of education in an area where Taliban are destroying schools.
Now Malala is a name of an ideology. After this heinous act of Taliban the journalists, politicians, army and civil society must ask a question from themselves that do we have the courage to see Malala dieing.(Farman Nawaz)
