http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\15\story_15-10-2012_pg3_3
Monday, October 15, 2012
COMMENT : Malala! — Yasser Latif Hamdani
No more. Let us cry halt and let us now fight this battle not only for our
sake but also for generations yet to be born
In 1941, while encouraging Muslim women to become active socially,
educationally and politically, Mr Jinnah, the founder, maker and philosopher of
this country of ours, famously said, “There are two powers in the world: one is
the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry
between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.”
Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani girl barely 14 years of age, fighting a
valiant battle for life at the time that I am writing these lines, has proved
this statement to be true many times over. She has shown that a woman is indeed
more powerful than pens, swords, guns and rabid fanatics who seek to turn back
the clock on our progress. Her eyes are like shining lamps of truth that will
for generations to come light up our nation. As the heir of Hazrat Fatima tuz
Zahra (AS) and Hazrat Ayesha Siddiqa (RA), she will no doubt be remembered in
history as Pakistan’s Jeanne d’Arc. This is the beginning of the end of Taliban
tyranny in our northwest. From this point onwards, there is absolutely no
question of any compromise or negotiation. There must not be any surrender.
This valiant young girl has known since age 11 what an Oxford-educated
Pakistani hero, now nearing 60, who should know better, does not. The Taliban
espouse a bigoted and fanatical agenda that does not negotiate or compromise.
Americans, Pakistanis and Saudis created an army of militants to fight the
Soviets. Now that army seeks to gobble up its benefactors. How do you negotiate
with an army of fanatics? There is no point trying to distinguish between the
ideological Taliban and the foot soldiers as Imran Khan likes to say. These
man-eaters who have tasted blood are not likely to be rehabilitated. This is
the way it is. A history lesson is in order. When the world faced the Nazi
menace, there were many pacifists who wanted to ‘negotiate’ and find a
‘political solution’. One can only shudder at the thought of what would have
become of the world had their irrational and illogical advice been given any
serious consideration. Then too it was Anne Frank’s diary that moved the entire
world. Why does Khan want to let down Pakistan’s Anne Frank? This is as much
about you as it is about Malala. This is not what one expects from the maker of
the SKMT and Namal College. We expect better from you, Imran Khan.
Perhaps a more ideologically correct example is in order for the Islamic
bluebloods. Chach Nama records that it was the plight of a young girl that had
moved the stonehearted Hajjaj to send Muhammad bin Qasim to Sindh. Should he
have negotiated instead? If not why should we? Should we negotiate because the
Taliban, unlike Raja Dahir, claim to be the soldiers of Islam? Is being a
Muslim a license to kill in the name of Islam? What kind of double standards
are these? Kharijites also claimed to be Muslims. They assassinated Hazrat Ali
(AS). The good news is that we saw a determined General Kayani when he went to
visit Malala in Rawalpindi. May Kayani prove to be our Hajjaj bin Yousaf.
Then you have Qazi Hussain Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami. He had the audacity to
blame people who had praised Malala for her courage as being the reason for the
attack. His equally ignorant daughter, Samia Raheel Qazi, is calling the
Taliban “our brothers” despite the fact that they have accepted responsibility
for the attack. Jamaat-e-Islami — the more mainstreamed version of the Taliban
— is a curse for Pakistan. Throughout our 65 years, at every turn these
self-styled custodians of Islam have worked like termites eating away at the
very fabric of our state. In 1971, their jihadis murdered our fellow citizens
in East Pakistan and led to the separation of that province. Since 1972, every
educational policy in our country has been vetted by the Jamaat-e- Islami at
the behest of an unthinking establishment, thereby converting an entire
generation into paranoid reactionaries. Jamaat-e-Islami also aided and abetted
General Ziaul Haq in butchering our soul as a nation. Now while the entire
nation is coming to a much needed consensus and determination to fight the
Taliban menace, these jokers are putting a spanner in the works by coming up
with inane and idiotic conspiracy theories about the Malala incident.
There come many occasions in the lives of nations where they find themselves at
a fork in the road where one way leads to salvation and the other to
destruction. At every occasion, we as a nation have chosen to take the road
that leads to destruction and devastation at the behest of these mullahs and
their court followers. No more. Let us cry halt and let us now fight this
battle not only for our sake but also for generations yet to be born.
If you are still a fence sitter or a supporter of Imran Khan, ask yourself
this: what kind of a Pakistan do we want? A Pakistan where our daughters are
not allowed to go to school? Where they are shot in the head for asking for
their basic fundamental human rights? Or do we want a Pakistan that opens up
opportunities for all its citizens, regardless of their gender or religion or
ethnic origin.
As I started with a quote from Jinnah, I will end with one that underscored a
fundamental truth: “No nation can rise to the heights of glory unless your
women are side by side with you.”
Pakistan Zindabad.
The writer is a practicing lawyer. He blogs at
hhtp://globallegalforum.blogspot.com and his twitter handle is @therealylh
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
