Taliban Assassination Attempt Outrages
and Rattles Pakistan in Human Rights Battle
Taliban masked gunmen opened fire on a
school bus on Tuesday unleashing an attempt at revenge to silence
Malala Yousafzai, a fourteen year old Children's Rights activist.
Yousafzai has gained national as well as international recognition in
her fight against Islamist extremism undermining the right for girls
to have any form of education. The fourteen year old girl has been
awarded highly esteemed prizes for her work, and has become a
national icon in Pakistan after being awarded Pakistan's first
National Youth Peace Prize. But Yousafzai's ambitions contradict
Taliban extremist ideology which wishes to suppress woman's education
as it goes against Islamist religious doctrine. Their attempts in
her assassination were unsuccessful, although she is still in
critical condition after being hit by a bullet that passed through
her head and was lodged in her shoulder. The Taliban have expressed
and incited fear that another attack should be expected, as well as
Yousafzai's father becoming a new target of theirs. The attack is a
blow to Pakistan's time of progressives, infuriating fellow
countrymen as well as national politicians and prominent military
figures.
This event has sparked outrage and
might cause a new stir against Taliban extremism throughout Pakistan.
The last of such events galvanizing public opinion of the extremist
group happened after a video captured the flogging of a teenage girl
by a Taliban fighter in 2009. Yousafzai's attack has also invoked a
national convergence and unification and might be the cataclysm in
projecting a national shift in anti-terrorism of Taliban forces.
Both government and military have consolidated each other fearing
more retaliation by Taliban groups, but no action for opposition has
yet been put forth. Regardless, the country condemns these cowardice
actions and stand in full support of Malala Yousafzai as
demonstrations and vigils have been held in her honour. Perhaps the
attack will produce a major shift in this strict patriarchal society,promoting and granting equal rights among woman, specifically concerning the
education for young girls.
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