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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistanis Can't Decide: Is Malala Yousafzai a Heroine or Western Stooge? |
| 2013-10-12 |
| Imgine living in a culture where such a decision requires a second thought. [NY Times] The question for the class of 10th graders at an all-girls school here in this picturesque mountain valley was a simple one: How many of them, a district official wanted to know, had heard of Malala Yousafzai? The students stared at the official, Farrukh Atiq, in silence. Not a single hand was raised. "Everyone knows about Malala, but they do not want to affiliate with her," Mr. Atiq said on Thursday, as speculation grew that Ms. Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban a year ago, might win the Nobel Peace Prize. In the end, Ms. Yousafzai did not win the Nobel Prize. That went to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. But after a week of intense news coverage, during which she released her memoir and won a prestigious European award for human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... , Ms. Yousafzai's stature as an icon of peace and bravery has been established across the world -- everywhere, it seems, except at home. It is not just that the schoolchildren fear becoming targets, though that is certainly an element in their caution. "I am against Malala," said Muhammad Ayaz, 22, a trader who runs a small store beside Ms. Yousfazai's old school in Mingora, the main town in the Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... Valley. "The media has projected Malala as a heroine of the West. But what has she done for Swat?" That sense of smoldering animosity toward Ms. Yousafzai, 16, in the Swat Valley -- which she hurriedly left aboard a military helicopter for treatment last year after being shot -- seems to be animated in part by the tensions of a rural community still traumatized by conflict. Although the Pakistain Army forced the Taliban from Swat during a major military operation in 2009, pockets of snuffies still remain, occasionally striking against soldiers or activists like Ms. Yousafzai. Many residents fear the Islamists could one day return to power in the valley, an anxiety that, paradoxically, has stoked simmering hostility toward the Death Eaters' most famous victim. "What is her contribution?" said Khursheed Dada, a worker with the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... party that governs Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Province, which includes Swat. That cynicism was echoed across Pakistain this week, where conspiracy-minded citizens loudly branded Ms. Yousafzai a C.I.A. stooge, part of a nebulous Western plot to humiliate their country and pressure their government. Muhammad Asim, a student standing outside the gates of Punjab University in the eastern city of Lahore, dismissed the Taliban attack on Ms. Yousafzai as a made-for-TV drama. "How can a girl survive after being shot in the head?" he said. "It doesn't make sense." The backlash seemed to stem from different places: sensitivity at Western hectoring, a confused narrative about the Taliban, and a sense of resentment or downright jealousy. In Swat, some critics accused Ms. Yousafzai's father, Ziauddin, of using his precocious daughter to drum up publicity and of maligning Pashtun culture. Others said the intense publicity had cast their district in a negative light, overshadowing the good work of other Paks in education. Dilshad Begum, the district education officer for Swat, said that 14,000 girls and 17,000 boys had recently started school following an intensive door-to-door enrollment campaign led by local teachers. The threat from the Taliban was exaggerated, she added. "I have been working for female education for 25 years, and never received a threat," she said. Even fellow students seemed to resent the recognition Ms. Yousafzai has received. At another school, a group of female students, assembled by their headmaster, agreed that Ms. Yousafzai did not deserve a Nobel Prize. "Malala is not the only role model for Pak girls," said Kainat Ali, 16, who wore a black burqa. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 The students stared at the official, Farrukh Atiq, in silence. Not a single hand was raised. They all knew; they understandably don't want to be the next target. Same kinda crap Stalin, Saddam, et al used to pull. |
| Posted by: Dopey Sinatra 2013-10-12 19:04 |
| #3 Always the victim never their fault |
| Posted by: Paul D 2013-10-12 07:48 |
| #2 Might I suggest: Moslem Culture and Moslem Values. Even the little school children know all about what happens to bad little girls and boys who say the wrong thing and think the wrong thoughts. Ask Mohammed, he'll tell 'ya. |
| Posted by: Spereting Tingle4064 2013-10-12 04:23 |
| #1 The students stared at the official, Farrukh Atiq, in silence. Not a single hand was raised. They all knew; they understandably don't want to be the next target. |
| Posted by: Raj 2013-10-12 00:49 |