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pampango

(24,692 posts)
Thu Oct 11, 2012, 09:50 AM Oct 2012

CBC: The Pakistani girl who is taking on the Taliban


Pakistani women in Lahore hold a vigil for 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, shot by the Taliban.

As much of Pakistan, and most of the world, prays for 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai to recover from a vicious Taliban attack, the Islamists say that if she lives they will come after her again.It is a threat her family takes seriously, its members told CBC News, even as they look on their own child, recovering from a bullet wound to the head, as a potential martyr to a more progressive way of life.

When the Swat Valley, next door to Afghanistan, was overrun by the Taliban a few years ago, schools for girls were shut down. But spurred on by her father Ziauddin, himself a teacher and progressive activist in the region, Malala said that she would not back down, and one way or another she would get her education.


Malala Yousufzai, in happier circumstances.

Popular former cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, who has been leading an anti-U.S. drone campaign, has condemned "the brutal terrorists" who target young girls and offered to pay for Malala's medical treatments. But he has also been criticized for not doing enough to challenge the Taliban directly, and for wanting to "talk" with them, a notion that alienates many progressive Pakistanis.

According to Azizulhassan Yousafzai, another of Malala's cousins, "this is the basic flaw in our politicians, our system, our celebrities. They can't condemn the Taliban. Because they are afraid for their lives, and their families and their own children."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/10/10/f-vp-fatah-malala-taliban.html

Even sadder is that most Pakistanis agree with equality for women and do not support the Taliban.



http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/07/10/most-muslims-want-democracy-personal-freedoms-and-islam-in-political-life/
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CBC: The Pakistani girl who is taking on the Taliban (Original Post) pampango Oct 2012 OP
. n/t porphyrian Oct 2012 #1
Solidarity for the women Generic Other Oct 2012 #2
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