MINGORA – Militants who tried to kill
Malala Yousafzai have strengthened the resolve of schoolgirls to attend school, her friends said.
Girls who saw a gunman shoot the 14-year-old pro-education activist
and two schoolmates on their bus in Mingora October 9, contrary to the
militants’ expectations, are not backing down on their hopes and dreams
of getting an education.
“The clear proof of our bravery is that – when the attackers asked us
'Who among you is Malala?' – none of us replied seconds before (the
shooter) began firing,” one of the other two injured girls, said
10th-grader Shazia, who is recovering from bullet wounds to her shoulder
and neck.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)’s claim of responsibility bears no meaning for us, she said.
“We know the Taliban militants 'execute' their opponents,” she said.
“We know that only the Taliban can do this uncivilised act of attacking
girls.”
They and their families remember the atrocities the Taliban committed
during the militants’ two-year reign of terror (2007-2009) in Swat.
Atrocities like killing women; bombing mosques, schools and funeral
ceremonies and displaying foes’ severed heads, she said.
“I was neither scared the moment when the gunmen approached us, nor
am I now, because we went to school (anyway) when Swat was under the
Taliban and thousands of students had opted to stay home,” she recalled.
“This (attack) cannot dent our determination, and the only weapon is
to arm girls with education and defeat guns with pens,” said Kanat, the
third girl injured in the shooting. “We will continue education to
accomplish Malala’s mission.”
There’s no looking back for her, she told Central Asia Online from her bed, adding she plans to become a doctor.
TTP tactics won’t deter girls
The TTP want to frighten students into abandoning school, but won’t
succeed, said Asma Ali, a physics teacher at Malala’s school. Students
showed their defiance when they turned up in droves for the October 12
morning assembly to pray for Malala.
The credit for that attitude belongs to Malala, she said, adding,
“Our students aren’t afraid.” The attempted murder of Malala, a
14-year-old Mingora resident who blogged in 2009 under a pen name for
the BBC Urdu service about the Taliban’s abuses, has aroused widespread
debate in Pakistan but has not shaken the resolve of girls in Mingora.
“If we feared the Taliban, we couldn’t get education; therefore, we
are totally oblivious to the Taliban’s attacks,” said Spogmay, a
7th-grade girl who was on Malala’s bus.
"It was like hell. For a moment, I thought we would not survive, the
way (the gunman) fired at us indiscriminately,” Spogmay said. Shazia
expressed hope for Malala’s recovery.
“I am sure that the scales of justice would tip in our favour and
ever-smiling, brave and intelligent Malala will regain health very
soon,” Shazia, Malala’s best friend, said, adding the students would
rally around Malala to ensure women’s education in the future. “I will
give my life in exchange for Malala’s. Losing a friend like her is
unbearable.” Shazia recalled how Malala persuaded the girls to attend
schools in the Taliban era.
“Malala used to tell us they should wear veils in compliance with the
Taliban’s directives ... but shouldn’t remain absent,” she said. “We
have promised Malala that we should fight the Taliban with pen and books
and I will keep that promise even at the cost of my life,” Saeeda, an
8th-grade student at the same school, said.
Malala told the girls on a daily basis that “The Taliban are the
enemy of humanity and Islam. We should stand up against them to thwart
their efforts aiming to bar women from schools,” Saeeda said. Malala’s
approach kept up the courage of all 500 girls at the school, Saeeda
said.
“My parents advised me to stay home during the Taliban’s rule, but I
had promised Malala that I will never miss school,” she said. “All the
people must pray for Malala. She is the beacon of hope for millions of
girls.”
Parents equally determined
Fathers of Malala’s schoolmates were determined not to let the Taliban chase their daughters from the schools.
“She is extremely concerned about education and has been asking
different questions,” Shazia’s father, Muhammad Ramzan, said. “But I
prevailed upon her that everything will be right, and they would be in
school again.” Ramzan said he worried over Malala’s condition as if she
were his own daughter. “I am a proud father because my daughter has
proved that she is not afraid of anyone,” he said.
Jamil Shah, Saeeda’s father, said he would stand by his daughter
through thick and thin and would spare no effort to ensure that she gets
an education.
3:10 AM
World news & wallpaperz
![A girl participating in a rally organised by the National Students Federation in Lahore October 15 holds a placard next to an image of Malala Yousafzai, who was shot October 9 by the Taliban. Female students in Swat and elsewhere in the country vowed to pursue their education more vigorously. [REUTERS/Mohsin Raza]](http://centralasiaonline.com/shared/images/2012/10/16/pakgirls.jpg)
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