ADEYEMI OSHUNRINADE
October 13, 2012
The shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai, is not only despicable it is barbaric and inhuman behavior demonstrating a lack of moral decency. It is a criminal act perpetrated in violation of the right of a child who has shown bravery by doing what many adults dare not do in a nation, where the Taliban, has set shop and continue to spread its tentacles in a campaign of fear and terror.
The 14-year-old Pakistani girl, from the Swat Valley, is in critical condition and airlifted to the UK to undergo medical care. Her dilemma began when she was stopped as she returned home from school in Mingora, in the North-Western Swat, and shot in the head by a gunman working on behalf of the Taliban. Malala’s sin according to the Taliban, was her support for Western ideology and for promoting “secularism,” in contradiction to what the Taliban stands for and its beliefs, to exert control and impose rule by Sharia on the entire region even at the expense of gross human rights violation.
Malala is now regarded as an international icon for showing courage in the midst of danger and for carrying herself as a champion willing and ready to sacrifice all to promote girls education. She is a promoter of children’ right to live peacefully, without fear of being violated and stripped of the pursuit of happiness by extremists, who view girls’ education and freedom as a threat to Islam.
It is no understatement to call Malala’s attack un-Islamic. To blame her attack on Islam is a generalization, which goes against what true Muslims and those who revered Islam as a peaceful religion believe. However, the barbaric act is a cancer of extremism, which has metastasized and continues to spread in a nation, where the government has lost the will and power to regress the growth of radical Islam within its borders.
The Pakistani government has lost total control. The nation is now under the rule of both the government on one side and extremists, who continue to make their presence known through suicide attacks and targeted assassinations. It is no doubt the Pakistani government lack the will and courage to end the scourge without foreign help, though, a part of its population led by Imran Khan, continue to protest the use of American Drones against extremists in the region.
The shooting of Malala is a wake up call. Perhaps, it is time for the Pakistani people to rise against extremism in their nation, if the government can’t stop the insurgency. The world saw the Arab uprising and the change it brought to the Arab world, it is a testimony of what people united can achieve and same is necessary to rid Pakistan of extremism and radical Islam.
Dr. Adeyemi Oshunrinade [E. JD] is the author of ‘Wills Law and Contests,’ ‘Constitutional Law-First Amendment,’ ‘Criminal Law-Homicide’ and ‘SAVING LOVE’ available at http://www.amazon.com/author/adeyemioshunrinade. Follow on Twitter @san0670.
Categories: Foreign Affairs, General misconduct, Hospitality, Human Rights & Abuse
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