Malala incident is one of those incidents that exposed how far Pakistan has fallen into the pit of illiteracy and self-destruction. I have been surprised at how calmly our society has absorbed the terrible accident and made a web of conspiracy theories around this event; therefore, we cannot be ashamed of ourselves and never learned from that dire accident, and we succeeded in avoiding ourselves from being ashamed. If there is any Noble Prize for conspiracy theories then it will always be won by Pakistanis because it is easier to believe the world is run by magic and conspiracies. Now, Malala is a hugely popular figure among the rest of the world but anathema in the eye of its own people.
There are rare moments in my life that bring tears into my eyes: Malala attack is one of them. This incident was a bolt from the blue for me because I didn’t anticipate that Taliban would have attacked the child. After that, I viewed the interviews and blogs to know more about her which made me more saddened and shattered. Many times, I felt ashamed to be a Pakistani. I asked myself that what we have provided to our next generation: bullet on the head. I want to see the faces of those who have been obsessively raising the drone argument that terrorism is a byproduct of the drone attacks. Whether they will say that people mutilated by the American drones decided to take on their greatest enemy: Malala. Due to malala incident, people immediately became socially agile and spoke against Taliban. This is the first time when people are speaking against them due to anger who usually keeps at bay from speaking on the issue of terrorism openly: I was one of them.
I have learned from the study of history that every good person was always insulated more by his or her own people then opponents: history repeats itself for Malala. Taliban only shot on her head but Pakistanis target her in every aspect: her father, mother, family and character. Pakistanis, who usually do not believe in the actual incident, they consider that all incidents in Pakistan are pre-planned, planned by Jews or Hindus to defame the image of Pakistan. In addition, they also considered this event as a pre-planned event and has declared Malala as a CIA agent and besmirched her character badly. I wish that Malala will never come to know about nasty word being used on social media for her otherwise it will be more hurting for her as compared to the pain of bullet.
Social media is the bailiwick of the extremists and extremist apologists. The Taliban’s haughty apologists always make sure of reminding the following: Cops are killed, soldiers are beheaded, worshipers are blown up in mosques and shrines, and innocent men, women and children are slaughtered in markets, hospitals and funerals because of drone attacks. This time, they are convinced that Malala accident was a drama to give a bad name to Pakistan and Islam, linked to the series of events planned for an existential thread for Pakistan. Moreover, they assumed that the Pakistan army had been involved in this drama to provide the reason for the war in Waziristan; however, the war was not triggered due to this incident and no actions have been taken against Taliban. I think 90% of Pakistani people are captivated by these conspiracy theories without reconnoiter. These all justifications only embolden the terrorist activities. In believing these conspiracy theories Pakistanis show their consolidation with Taliban in the similar manner the Muslims show their consolidation with poor by fasting.
Last month I was watching one movie titled “No one killed Jessica”. In this movie, one woman is shot on head by the son of the minister, later he get himself escaped due to corruption in judicial system that ignites a strong response from the media and public , due to people’s support all situation goes into the favor of victim’s family. When I was watching this movie, I was comparing that people are with the victim in India and people are with the terrorist in Pakistan in Malala case. Pakistanis are not only against the Malala but also openly abuse and curse her and her family on social media which rankle me. People of Pakistan like Dr Afia that helped terrorists and Al Qaida instead of Malala who speaks against terrorists. In Pakistan, murderers are not required to use judicial system because people are in favor of murderers. We can summarize the Pakistani attitude in one line: We love our murderers. We hate every person or action that speaks against or harms our murderers whether it is Malala or drone attacks respectively. If we combine the incident of Salman Taseer’s assassination with Malala incident then resultant is very scary: the illiterate murderer is more respectable in front of Pakistanis than the girl willing to pursue her study.
Her speech was classic, keeping in mind her age and the harrowing experience due to Taliban attack, and galvanized the image of Pakistan and Islam in front of the world. After the speech, many people demurred the content of speech and made a point that she did not mention about drone attacks. I replied that if they have some reservation on speech then they should express themselves in the front of the world by their own efforts and then speak in front of the United Nation whatever they want. In the reply, many of my jealous friends asked what Malala had done special that she is recognized in the world. These types of comments do not surprise me because the nation who can forget the Noble Prize winner Abdus Salam , Malala worth is nothing in front of them. I can only say to these people that at the age of 15 year of age she has clearer concept about Taliban, education and rights of children than the people who are two times older than her.
I sincerely apologise to young Malala because of our own people’s behavior. I apologise to Malala for a society that has forgotten to apologise. However, I thank to rest of the world for realizing the talent of this girl; to the UK who gave treatment to Malala; to the United Nation that know the importance of children; and for celebrating Malala Day and focusing on the child education. However, those who really deserve condemnation are we Pakistanis. Malala may be flotsam for Pakistanis but I have a great respect for her; therefore, I will pay tribute to her by naming my daughter as Malala even after anticipating the fact in my mind that my daughter might experience the same hatred in society, which Malala is experiencing, due to that name.