243 37 106 0 PESHAWAR: The provincial government dominated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chose to remain indifferent on Friday when the United Nations celebrated the 16th birthday of Malala Yousafzai, a Swat girl shot in the head and critically wounded by Taliban last year. Many people saw this lack of interest another attempt by the Imran Khan-led PTI to please Taliban, and censured the party for being ‘afraid’ of the militants. “They [leaders of PTI] are afraid even to utter Taliban’s name in a condemnatory statement. And tribute to Malala would have been condemnation of Taliban,” said Nighat Orakzai, a Pakistan People’s Party lawmaker in the provincial assembly. “Taliban-fearing PTI KP government doesn’t have guts to celebrate Girls Education Day to praise a daughter of [the] soil, Malala,” tweeted one Asad Qureshi. The world leaders hailed Malala’s struggle and described her ‘the bravest girl in the world.’ British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that Malala delivered “a powerful message.” But, her countrymen and her province’s government led by PTI could not find a single word to praise this icon. The provincial government did not hold a single function to pay tribute to the young girl who was targetted for speaking up for girls’ education and opposing Taliban in the Taliban-ravaged Swat valley. The government functionaries did not even issue a statement in favour of Malala and her struggle as she received standing ovation from the Youth Assembly for her courage and the words she delivered there. “A strong and positive message should have gone to the world from this province in favour of the brave Malala,” Nighat Orakzai said. “But we sent a negative message that we are supporters of Taliban, that we will not talk against them and that we will not condemn them,” she added, describing Malala “our daughter.” She said PTI government was not serious in fighting terrorism. She recalled that a minister trivialised the terrorism threat that had taken lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians by saying that hepatitis was a bigger threat than terrorism. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government version could not be taken as spokesman Shuakat Yousazai’s cellphone was switched off. However, a minister who requested to stay anonymous said the government did not have any idea about the Malala Day as it had not been approached to mark the day. He said he was not mandated to offer official viewpoint of the government about its policy regarding Malala. To a question, he said the provincial government could not disown her as the national icon even if it would want to do so. The PTI government in KP was not alone in ignoring Malala Day. There was a complete blackout of Malala Day in Pakistan at the government level, which many said shamed them. The federal government in Islamabad is run by Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N which is also accused of having soft corner for militants. People through social media in Pakistan condemned the federal and provincial governments for blacking out Malala Day. A tweet from Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif said Malala’s speech was for ‘global consumption.’ He was criticised for the tweet, which forced him to delete it. Afrasiab Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president of the Awami National Party, tweeted that he couldn’t see the Pakistan delegation at the UN when Malala was speaking to the youth. “Interestingly, one couldn’t see any member of Pakistan’s diplomatic team at [the] UN yesterday. Had they boycotted the event? Any information on this?” his tweet said. Imran Khan might have realised that they had ignored Malala and tried to do some damage-control as he dropped a message on Twitter on Saturday evening to praise her. “Malala’s courage and commitment to the cause of education, especially girls, is admirable,” he said. The message was followed by rhetoric. “PTI government in KP is paying special attention to education needs of girls and extra facilities for women teachers.” ANP was the only political party that held ceremonies in Peshawar and in Malala’s hometown, Mingora, to mark the day. Malala was shot when ANP was in power, but it defended the teen and never showed reluctance in taking on the Taliban.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 09:24:08 +0000
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