Since yesterday we are seeing pictures of Malala lying motionless in an intensive care unit in a Peshawar hospital while military doctors are standing around her with concern evident on their serious faces. National and international media, government officials, civilians, politicians, human rights activists have all condemned these acts in the strongest of words. But is this enough? Isn't she the one who became the face of a forward looking, moderate, progressive Swat and ultimately Pakistan during the Swat operation? And now, though she is out of danger (and may she out-live all the evil that put her there) she is the one in pain. Why should she suffer even for a day? Her suffering is a reminder of our own suffering? We have become used to this suffering, it has become a habit and now we have ceased to even be conscious of the pain. Why should we suffer? Why should some crazy, ill informed, ignorant group impose their twisted thinking on the rest of the population? It is an attack on our right to speak, to act, even to think. These attacks have put barriers on us in seeing progressiveness, tolerance, love for intellectual pursuit in our religion. We are forced to not see, not think and only follow dogma. Anyone who even dares to use their intellect is given the harshest of punishment. And we take it all in lying down.
Open the Holy Book. Read for yourself. See what message it has brought for us? Does the Quran say kill Malala? Is this the message? Is this Shariah? Why is the voice of ignorance so much louder than voice of reason? Why is the voice of innocence, reason, knowledge, tolerance so easily drowned and silenced?
The extremism that attacked Malala lies in all of us. It is an outlet of our intolerance and hatred. In an increasingly globalized world where people are forced to come together and form synergies and work together we are rejecting all kinds of openness and tolerance. When our television blatantly and proudly declares West Indies as the 'Kali Andhi' (Black Storm) we don't even think anything is amiss. Racism has seeped into our very core. It is either one thing or the other isn't it? Somewhere, some group is hated by us its either the Yahoodis, the Hindus, the Ahmedis, the Shias, the dancing and western clad modern girls in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, some such group must die. So somewhere there is a chord which is struck when the extremists attack. And we are silenced. Lets think about this. All these categories represent people. Human beings with aspirations, with hopes, with sorrows, joys, just like us. How can we kill them all just because we don't know them. We might not agree with them, so lets agree to disagree. Can you imagine a Pakistan with just one kind of people after all the rest of the different groups that we hate have been eliminated? What kind of a Pakistan will that be?
It is about time we all opened books and read! The Word started with 'Iqrah'(Read), so start reading. Don't let the Taliban, your local imam masjid, some wannabe religious quack tell you what Islam says. We live in the 21st century surely with the revolution in publishing and internet we can find out for ourselves. Lets start with educating ourselves!
Is it too much to hope that when Malala opens her eyes she would find awakening in all of us!
Open the Holy Book. Read for yourself. See what message it has brought for us? Does the Quran say kill Malala? Is this the message? Is this Shariah? Why is the voice of ignorance so much louder than voice of reason? Why is the voice of innocence, reason, knowledge, tolerance so easily drowned and silenced?
The extremism that attacked Malala lies in all of us. It is an outlet of our intolerance and hatred. In an increasingly globalized world where people are forced to come together and form synergies and work together we are rejecting all kinds of openness and tolerance. When our television blatantly and proudly declares West Indies as the 'Kali Andhi' (Black Storm) we don't even think anything is amiss. Racism has seeped into our very core. It is either one thing or the other isn't it? Somewhere, some group is hated by us its either the Yahoodis, the Hindus, the Ahmedis, the Shias, the dancing and western clad modern girls in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, some such group must die. So somewhere there is a chord which is struck when the extremists attack. And we are silenced. Lets think about this. All these categories represent people. Human beings with aspirations, with hopes, with sorrows, joys, just like us. How can we kill them all just because we don't know them. We might not agree with them, so lets agree to disagree. Can you imagine a Pakistan with just one kind of people after all the rest of the different groups that we hate have been eliminated? What kind of a Pakistan will that be?
It is about time we all opened books and read! The Word started with 'Iqrah'(Read), so start reading. Don't let the Taliban, your local imam masjid, some wannabe religious quack tell you what Islam says. We live in the 21st century surely with the revolution in publishing and internet we can find out for ourselves. Lets start with educating ourselves!
Is it too much to hope that when Malala opens her eyes she would find awakening in all of us!
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