Malalai: Wounded Lioness! Wake up and Call

by Dr. M. Ashraf Adeel

Malalai!

Shining star

Of the valley of deep blue skies

Can you hear your mother’s cries?

Gurgling springs and lush green fields

Dancing harvests and golden yields

All are searching for your eyes

Shine the eternal truths on them

Rise up and meet these gems

Hands of destiny are your hands

History is your blackboard---write!

“Little girls and grown up women

More than equal are they all

To little men and oversize boys

Who walk the earth with wilderness in their souls

And never grow to see the truth.”

Malalai!

Wounded lioness

Hardly breathing

You have breathed life into matter

Deserts and hills have started trembling

Rivers have come to a thundering halt

Sky is making endless rounds

Breeze is en route to your home

Earth has turned into a wailing wall

You can never leave them all

Wounded lioness! Wake up and call

Cuckoos of swat and your doll!

- Dr. M. Ashraf Adeel is a poet and Professor of Philosophy

Shah Khisro of Bara Durushkhela, Swat

By Kalim Khan, with some edits & additions by Hafsa

None of us is alien to the happenings in Swat [1], dubbed Switzerland of Asia for its natural beauty and picturesque landscape. The destruction caused by Taliban who challenged the writ of state & tyrannized locals and subsequent army operations to rout them, have been given coverage by the media. While there are innumerable accounts of tragedy and untold sufferings, there are also the stories of great resilience in the face of adversity and courage in the face of fear. The story of Shah Khisro Habib of the village Bara Durushkhella, martyred by Taliban at the young age of 31, is one such account of bravery. I’d recount the story here, as narrated by his friend Kalim Khan.

Shah Khisro was a very good friend of mine. His liveliness and wit endeared him to all who knew him. A school teacher by profession, his talents ranged from playing rubab to sports commentary for cricket matches hosted by our village. His outgoing persona was complimented by a profoundness that was reflected in his love for literature and poetry, Ghalib & Ghani Khan being two of his favorite poets. One of his abiding passions was cricket. He used to organize inter-village cricket tournaments in our district, for which he’d also do the commentary, often mimicking famous cricket commentators. Often during the match, while doing live commentary, he’d regale us by impersonating famous cricket commentors like Geoffrey Boycot, Tony Greig and Michel Holding, among others. He was equally popular among the young & old of the village and was loved by his students. He had a way with jokes that never failed to elicit laughs, no matter how banal the joke. Once he set us all laughing during a cricket match by announcing the arrival of a friend, who wouldn’t play cricket anymore, thus: “Oh Look! we’ve been blessed with the company of the legend of our times; The Don! I mean the Don Bradman, who has played 5000 matches for us and so far his highest score has been zero not out.”

In early 2008, TNSM started taking the administrative control of Swat and imposed their myopic and unforgiving interpretation of Islamic laws on the local population. Their FM radio broadcasts, initially used as a propaganda tool, had earned them supporters in every village. They’d beguiled the people, who had genuine grievances against a system that had failed to deliver (PATA regulations & absence of state institutions), into believing that TNSM was a solution to all their problems. Taliban (of TNSM) established a network of informants in every village in Swat and started targeting and eliminating those who offered any resistance to them. They’d abduct and/or kill at will and often carry out brutal executions. These tactics permeated an atmosphere of fear among the local populace. No one dared criticize them, not even in front of their own relatives and in the safety of their own homes. You never knew who’d turn out to be the informant. Everyone in the village was afraid. Everyone, but Shah Khisro, who openly questioned and condemned Taliban’s tactics of terrorizing people in the name of Islam. When advised by friends to exercise some caution and avoid criticizing Taliban, he’d reply, “By killing me they will kill one more person but if I stay silent, I might avoid Taliban brutality but my soul will die inside my body and I will rot”. His indomitable spirit wouldn’t be subdued and he continued to uphold the truth, condemning and exposing the Taliban. Then one fateful day, on October 17 2008, the bad news struck our village that Shah Khisro has been abducted by the Taliban. Three days after his abduction he was blessed with a daughter. His immediate family and friends were very concerned for his safety and started searching for him by contacting the local Taliban. After a while, they heard rumors that he had been transferred from the local Taliban prison to the Taliban headquarters in Ghat Peuchaar. His elder brother Jan Sher searched for him for several months and appealed in every Taliban court. But he was not given any news about Shah Khisro’s whereabouts. His mother, an elderly woman, tried to approach the wives of the Taliban commanders. She pleaded with them to tell her if Shah Khisro was alive, and if not, then she should at least have the body of her son. The only reply she got was that Bibi’an (the term normally used for the wives of Prophet Muhammad PBUH) are busy and she should come another day. People back at the village were hopeful that some day he might return alive from the Taliban prison. Once the military operation against Taliban started in Swat, the army captured some of the Taliban who were involved in Shah Khisro’s abduction. They confessed to his murder and said that eleven days after his abduction, that is on October 28, 2008, they shot and killed him. His dead body was finally recovered on March 28, 2009. For almost six months, his family kept searching for him, hoping he might still be alive. Hard to explain the agony of his old mother, his elder brother Jan Sher and his wife with a newborn baby at this loss. His daughter no longer has a father because of the cruelty of Taliban. People in the village say that Allah blessed Shah Khisro with the status of shaheed (martyr) as his body was fresh as a normal living human being. Later on, we found what had befallen Shah Khisro while he was in Taliban’s custody. We heard that he was taken to a Taliban court where he was tortured and beaten for his criticism of Taliban. He was told to mend his ways and to stop being vocal against Taliban to which he had replied, “I will say what is right and if you want me to stop then prove me wrong in a public debate with your chief Maulana Fazlullah”. This made his tormentors more furious and ultimately they shot him in the chest with a burst of AK-47.

He was my dear friend, who now appears in flowers and shines in stars.

Na wo Mansoor laiwanaye

Sae kho lidalee wo zaka kho pa daar oukhato

Translation: Mansoor was not crazy; He must have seen something or he wouldn’t have walked to the gallows

[1] "The Battle for Pakistan: Swat Valley" by Daud Khan Khattak, April 19 2010
[2] Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (Accessed on Oct 14, 2012)

[3] Provincially Administered Tribal Areas, Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provincially_Administered_Tribal_Areas (Accessed on Oct 14, 2012)

The writer, Kalim Khan, belongs to Bara-Durushkhela in Swat

Obstacles to Pashtun Women's Leadership

The murder of Farida Afridi, a Pashtun women’s rights activist from FATA, in early July has left us all, especially Pashtuns, many questions about women's leadership in our society.  Although I do not have the answer to why she was murdered, it is frightening to know that the underlying explanation is partly our society’s immersion in an extremist interpretation of Islam and a lack of education.

Afridi’s death, as one of the very few Pashtun women leaders in any field, leaves a large gap and begs the question of why there aren't more like her. It is certainly not because Pashtun women are incapable of serving as leaders. They have historically repudiated this assumption when given the opportunity - or when they have created opportunities for themselves. Samar Minallah, Bushra Gohar, and Begum Nasim Wali Khan are among the most distinguished. But how many young Pashtun girls dream of becoming leaders of their society when they “grow up”? The answer is, very few. However, blaming extremism and a lack of education for this is far too simplistic.

Our society believes that leadership is a “male” job, and it is feared that if women become leaders, the family system will break down. While the popular African proverb teaches us, "It takes a village to raise a child," that lesson has been ignored in our society where women are the only ones responsible for raising children and hence, many are deprived of a chance to lead.  The same society views men as both domestic and public figures— but one cannot dare view the woman as both a mother and a "public" figure simultaneously. This means that even with quality education, there is a dearth of Pashtun female leaders due to societal norms and practices.

Honor, Pardah and Peghor

The norms and practices in Pashtun culture that are largely responsible for holding women back are very specific. Honor, although not an exclusively Pashtun notion, always comes first. A family’s—read: man's— honor depends almost entirely on a woman’s public behavior. This behavior entails the proper practice of the pardah, the seclusion of women from society at large. If anything she does brings shame to her family, then the family becomes the victim of other people’s peghor, taunting, which all families strive to avoid. The threat of peghor, which translates to ta’na in Persian/Urdu, or ridicule with the intention of reminding women and their families of their failure to maintain honor, is thus the single most important reason why Pashtun women are denied positions of leadership and, ultimately, why many of them fear leadership.

While a man rarely may be capable of bringing shame to the family, it is the woman who gets the constant reminders to "please take care of our honor." When a woman is raped, the family's major concern is seldom her personal dignity, her health, or the effect that the rape might have on her as a victim; their major concern is instead their own honor. This is where the idea of honor becomes both complex and oppressive. On the one hand, we do not want to get rid of it because, for many families, honor is all they have—and it would impractical and ludicrous to attempt to rid our society of it in the first place; but on the other hand, it is so oppressive to women that some of their own basic human rights are denied to them because of it. That explains much of the violence against women in the name of honor: we dishonor our women, our own flesh and blood, to respond to our own dishonor; we sometimes kill them when they "dishonor" us just to assure the rest of the society—people whose opinion should not matter at all—that we care more about what they think of us than of our own women. And, obviously, dishonoring and killing our own daughters, wives, and sisters help bring our honor back.

Clearly, a family's honor is so delicate that it can be stained by anything the girl does—talking to a male, falling in love, wearing “unacceptable” clothing, walking in an “unacceptable” manner, living on her own, driving, choosing her own husband, appearing in the public without a full body covering, or even appearing in public at all—and the list goes on. Needless to say, not all families immobilize their women in the same manner or to the same extent.  Nonetheless, the threat of peghor compels the family to take action against the family member who has "dishonored" its name. The action therefore does not seem to matter to them so much as other people's view of their honor. And this is why education does not necessarily help create more leaders who are women; it is not that the family is stupid or ignorant but that it has its honor to preserve –from other people's taunts.

Thus, when a young girl is made aware of these norms and the consequences of not upholding them, there is no questioning why she feels uncomfortable dreaming of doing something big for her people. When all her life she has been expected to be an invisible creature, hidden behind the parruney, the traditional full body covering required in many parts of Pakistan, it is no surprise when she is afraid of doing something that will make her stand out. It is hardly a lack of self-confidence. Rather, it is the desire to remain invisible for the sake of her family's good honor that keeps many women from becoming public leaders.

Avoiding Farida's Fate

The harassment and murder of female leaders is a universal plague, not exclusive to any one society. However, incidents like Farida Afridi's murder are the final straw in the hurdles that keep most Pashtun women from leading. When we hear of the assassinations of the women who are role models to us, we shudder—and some of us take a step back and wonder if we would want our lives and efforts to end that way, too. Some of us start to question ourselves, doubt ourselves; our dreams become hopeless and pointless; we reconsider our future, and we convince ourselves that "I'm just one individual; what can I do for so many people?" Some of us immediately slap ourselves for thinking this way, re-energize our sense of valor, and remind ourselves of our ambitions to help our people. This is why we still have some Pashtun women leaders among us. They, and perhaps their families as well, have grown past the threat of peghor: they know what their coming out into the public means, and they recognize the dangers they may face on the way. To many traditionalists, these women may appear as selfish women who just want attention from men and the public. And a large number also see them as a danger, a serious threat to the traditional roles designated for women "by God"; some also view them as a negative influence on their own women, which might explain Farida Afridi’s murder.

One could convincingly argue that women can be strong leaders inside their homes. However, the issue here is not of private leadership; it is of public service. It is of not permitting women to play a role in solving major social problems; it is of the lack of appreciation for female politicians, social activists, and other leaders whose roles and careers are not confined to their homes. Yet, if the positive outcomes of women's leadership are contrasted against its perceived repercussions, it is quite obvious that the former overshadows the latter. To decry women's leadership solely on the basis of what might happen, something "bad" that may lead to peghor, is a mistake on the family and society's part. At a point in history when women have literally reached the moon, the threat of peghor and ta'na are attacks on the humanity of those women who are denied equal access to positions of leadership.

As Farida Afridi proved, a Pashtun woman can respect her culture and religion and be of service to her people. She conformed to the practice of parruney, never showing her face to the public, while fighting for equality and working for peace among her people—but she was killed anyway. There would be no issue here if something as necessary and important as a woman's equal participation in her own society were not grounds to dishonor the family or to see a woman as a threat to the society.

---

The writer is a PhD student of Islamic Studies with emphasis on gender relations in Islamic law and the Pashtun society. She blogs at orbala.blogspot.com and tweets @qrratugai.

 

Originally published at Safe World for Women.

Taller than His Mountains: Afzal Khan of Swat

ed note: this interview was taken before the Military operation in Swat 

By Dr.M Taqi

Fit to govern!

No, not to live. O nation miserable,

With an untitled tyrant bloody-scepter'd,

When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,

Since that the truest issue of thy throne

By his own interdiction stands accursed …

Self-interdiction and then an abdication by the Awami National Party (ANP) in favor of its nemesis -the Taliban is obvious, but one ANP leader stands taller than the mountains of his native Swat, against the bloody scepters of the untitled Jihadist tyrants.

At the other end of my phone call today was an unmistakable deep voice, with an inimitable Pashto diction that many of us from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, would readily recognize.

Muhammad Afzal Khan of Droshkhela, Swat sounded calm, composed and firm in his resolve to deny a military or moral victory to the Taliban who have unleashed terror on our province. He expressed his resolve to remain in what he described as his fortified house. How I can leave my family spread over five villages and my people all over Swat, questioned Khan Lala, as the veteran Pashtun nationalist is called with affectionate reverence.

General Janjua, a military doctor, had recommended for Afzal Khan to be evacuated out of Swat for a medical condition, which he has had since 1994, but too proud to turn his back on his people, the Khan declined.

Afzal Khan talked about his meeting with the Pakistan Army Chief, General Ashfaq Kiyani with palpable skepticism. “I told the Army Chief that the Swatis feel that they are being killed by the Taliban and the Army both”.”Give me a reason to explain to the Swatis that this is not true”.”The Chief didn’t say anything”, said Afzal Khan.

Known for his moderate views towards the State of Pakistan, of which he has remained a Federal Minister, member of the National Assembly, deputy opposition leader and contestant of a presidential election, Afzal Khan sounded intrigued at the inaction of the Pakistan’s security apparatus.

He however reserved his deepest concerns for his own party, the ANP. Afzal Khan said that he has conveyed his displeasure at the so called peace agreement, to the Chief Minister of the NWFP, Amir Haider Hoti. “I asked Haider Khan Hoti, where are the Swatis in this whole deal”, “you never asked us about our opinion”, said Afzal Khan.

He went on to talk about how the Swatis, having elected the ANP candidates on all seven provincial assembly seats, feel disenfranchised after the deal. He relayed his fear that this lull is providing the Taliban the respite they required to rearm and regroup to extend their attacks outside Swat. “Look, all that the ANP deal has done is to give the Taliban a reprieve from fighting here and now they are in Buner and Shangla”, he lamented.

“Afrasiab Khattak and Iftikhar Hussain (ANP’s provincial president and information minister, respectively) came to see me, escorted by government security agencies”, said Afzal Khan. “I told them that the first priority of the state is to provide security to the citizenry, but you chose to remove the security away from the Swatis and yet have it for yourselves”, he concluded.

Last year, the ANP had rebuked its leaders like Latif Afridi, who had suggested a march to Swat and a show of strength, in support of Afzal Khan and the Swatis. Many in the ANP believe that the current leadership is wary of Afzal Khan because he has achieved a larger than life stature and probably ranks right up there with Mir Wais Hotak, Khushal Khattak and Ahmed Shah Durrani.

Afzal Khan, though cognizant of the symbolic nature of his stand, remains focused on the practical aspects of the struggle and its outcome for his people. He is the embodiment of Faiz’s thought about the course of the people’s struggle: when the times demand, it is the seasoned campaigner who walks and sets the momentum for the whole movement and when needed is firm like the mighty mountains; and in doing so he makes the journey proud and the path shining :

جو رکے تو کوہِ گراں تھے ہم , جو چلے تو جاں سے گزر گۓ
رہِ يار ہم نے قدم قدم , تجھے يادگار بنا ديا

jo rukay to koh e garan they hum, jo chalay to jaan se guzar gaiay
rah e yar hum ne qadam qadam, tujhey yadgaar bana diya

Originally published as Taller than His Mountains: Afzal Khan of Swat April 24, 2009

-Author practices and teaches medicine at the University of Florida and tweets as @mazdaki 

A Young Girl's Life Almost Stolen: On Malala Yousafzai's Shooting

By SesapZai

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, Malala Yousafzai – the lovely little 14-year-old Pashtun Peace Activist and promoter of girls’ education from Swat – was shot. And not only once, but twice: once in the head and the second time in the neck, while she was on her way back from school in Swat’s main town of Mingora. Very fortunately, though, the shots were not life-threatening and it is reported by her uncle that she would survive. Alongside her, two more girls were injured, though there is not enough detail about them and whether their gunshot wounds were life-threatening or not. I guess only time will tell as we all wait anxiously to hear more about this staggering news.

In case some of my readers are wondering about Malala Yousafzai and who she is exactly, she actually rose to international fame in 2009 – at only 11 years old – when she wrote bold poems and kept a blog/diary for BBC (Urdu), depicting in detail her life, while living under the Taliban militants who’d taken control of Swat during that bleak time. Her story was almost similar to that of Anne Frank’s — a brave young Jewish girl who lived in hiding with her family during the Second world war and legibly depicted her life, during those horrible times, in her diary, which was later discovered after her death and published all over the world.

Similarly, in her blog/diary, Malala, too, included stories of her life under the Taliban. She wrote about how her classmates had to hide their school books under their paruney (a shawl used by girls/women to cover their bodies and sometimes their faces), in fear of having acid thrown in their faces. And although her blog was anonymous (she actually used a pseudonym “Gul Makai”) when it first got published on BBC (Urdu). It wasn’t too long until Malala’s identity was revealed – and out came a bold, confident, articulate little girl whose campaign for girls’ education won her admirers and several peace awards at home and all around the world. She was also the first Pakistani child to be nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize. Hence, Malala has become the sweetheart of our nation – a child who would grow up to bring change; to create a difference. And this was further emphasized when she appeared on national and international television, and spoke of her dream of a future Pakistan where education, especially for women and girls, would prevail.

However, hearing about her shooting has not only left me utterly flabbergasted, but it also forces me to ask the burning question that many Pashtuns especially those who love, admire, and support her and her marvelous work, are wondering: Why? Why has this sweet little innocent girl become the recent victim of violence, which has deeply affected Pashtuns all over the nation? What did she do that was so bad; so horrendous; so licentious that she deserved to be killed? And as I read more into it, the revelations of why she was shot (and almost murdered) made absolutely no sense to me. Rather, it deeply angered and frustrated me at the sheer cowardice and obtuseness of certain individuals, who in this case are none other but members of the Taliban.

Yes, it’s true that she, at only 11 years old, back in 2009, openly and publicly criticized the Taliban; she was the only one who dared to speak out against the Taliban. And it was important that she had her voice heard against a group of tyrants who were not only ruining the lives of women and girls, physically (acid-throwing) and intellectually (banning education), but emotionally as well. And now, it appears, that her attempted murder is being justified by the notion that she is too “pro-West” and here’s a pathetic quote I came across in one of the news articles that explicated just that:

“We wanted to kill her as she was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban and more important she was calling President Obama as her ideal. She was young but was promoting a Western culture in the Pakhtun populated areas,” Ihsanullah Ihsan, who is the spokesman of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP had said.

As much as the above quote irks me, it has come to my realization that these men are nothing but filthy cowards; they realize Malala’s great potential and how influential she is at only 14 years of age, which is hence instilling hate and fear in them – fear that some day they will lose power to a woman (or women). So they kill. They kill because it’s convenient. And it’s convenient because they can get away with it, and maintain their despicable power and control over the region as well as the lives of women and girls.

I’ve also realized something else — something beyond just the fear of women — and that is the fear of progression. We all know how brave and influential Malala is; how she’s managed to speak up when no one else would. We also know how powerful children can be — how quickly they learn and get inspired. And when more and more young girls learn and get exposed to the bravery of iconic youths like Malala, they, too, will begin to wonder why they’re just sitting at home, when they could go out to discover the world, attain the knowledge that should be available to them, and make something of their selves. Of course, this is not to imply that older women are not influential, for example extremely courageous women like Farida Afridi who was also murdered through gun wounds just a few months ago; for women like Farida are, in fact, very influential. But children like Malala poses a greater threat because she is still a child — a child that knows too much for her own good.

Hence, there is now what I like to call a shift from war on women to war on female children. And according to our Pashtun culture, children are supposed to be obedient; they should listen to their elders; they shouldn’t talk back or talk ill of anyone, otherwise they suffer dire consequences. Yet, here was Malala — a child prodigy, speaking against the Taliban, exposing them for the horrible beasts that they are, and telling the whole world about the atrocities that they were putting the girls under. And this is bothersome to the likes of Talib madmen, because what they deem as normal is abnormal to a child who shouldn’t be allowed to question and shun common norms and beliefs. So, while they claim that they wanted to kill her because she was promoting “western culture” (whatever the heck that means), there is more to this than meets the eye. It’s a war on children and women alike.

However, my greatest fear now that is that she most probably will be targeted again, now that she’s on her way to recovery. These murderers are ruthless barbarians. Their mission in life is to eradicate anything and anyone who becomes a threat to their beliefs; their rules; and worst of all; their authority. They are petrified of women – a gender that is supposed to be “inferior” in every possible way, as well as children (especially female children). They can’t handle the fact that women, like men, are intelligent; capable; out-spoken; can think and act for themselves; and most importantly of all, expose these cowardly men for the smutty goons that they are!
Yet, I hope that Malala will overcome this misfortune that has befallen her and that she will not get discouraged from pissing off these mindless thugs by doing what she does best: working for women and girls; and promoting their education in a world that views women as nothing more than sex slaves, child bearers, and inferior, both intellectually and physically, to men.

Nevertheless, all that’s about to change now. Too bad these hooligans are unaware of what’s about to come their way. They actually believe that by killing someone, it will all stop? That women will suddenly become discouraged from criticizing the wrongs that they are enforcing, and further be discouraged from working towards women’s empowerment and educational development? Well, then they are nothing but fools to think that way. For bullets are weak and it can only stop so much.

So, long live Malala! We are proud of brave young women like you! You are the light to a nation that has been enveloped in darkness for far, far too long! And these madmen may do anything and everything in their power to put out this light — this fiery flame — but they’ll only end up burning themselves.



The author is a PhD Candidate, a visual artist, and the co-founder of Heela Foundation. Her personal blog can be read at sesapzai.wordpress.com. Follow her on Twitter @sesapzai.

Praying for Malala Yusufzai, a Pashtun Symbol of Hope and Courage

It has been almost 12 hours since I was first informed about the attack on Swat’s fearless angelic soul, Malala Yusufzai. I cannot remember how exactly I came across her the first time I did, but I do remember being so impressed with her words, her ability to speak and to challenge the violence of the Taliban at a time when few dared to do so the same, that I immediately started asking on Pashtun forums if anyone knew how I could contact her. I still have the email I sent her and her father, an email in which I thanked her father wholeheartedly for his support for Malala and for encouraging her to pursue a path that is sure to brighten the future of Pashtun women, and congratulated him for having a daughter as brilliant-minded and as brave as Malala. My emails to both of them were very long, very much from the heart, and I confessed in them that Malala’s achievements put me, a Swati Pashtun female twice her age, put me to shame. I shared with her a poem I had recently written and reminded her that she was truly an angel, one whose presence was more than a blessing for Pashtuns at a time when oppression and tyranny were the norm of the day, a time when young children commonly set their gazes on beheaded bodies hanging by poles in Malala’s town of Mingora, a time when, as the people of Swat prepared to escape their once-beautiful Swat for other districts to protect their lives, tripping over dead human bodies lying all over the roads and streets of Swat was a common sight, as my relatives in Swat tell me when narrating to me dreadful stories and anecdotes about time during the Taliban. This was a time, they inform me, when people had to be careful about what they said even in the confines of their home because anything they said could be heard by the Taliban who were roaming their streets, knocking on the doors of anyone they suspected were harboring “criminals,” and this was indeed a time when Mullah Fazlullah, the Swat Taliban leader at the time, would victoriously and shamelessly announce how many people his men had beheaded that day and who was next. And this was a time when virtually all Swatis had left the region, many of them returning to destroyed homes and families, a time when the streets of Swat had become so quiet that no one believed it'd ever recover from its tragedies--and perhaps they were right.

What exactly happened at that time, why, and what legacy it has left remains to be told.

Seeing things from that perspective, then, we cannot deny that what Malala was doing back in 2009 was truly the most courageous thing any human in such a situation could do. In fact, she was more than courageous: she fearlessly and publicly stated that she was going to continue her education no matter where she were being educated, she showed her face—and her father stood and sat right by her side as she would talk—being fully aware of the deathly reprecussions of her intense valor. So she did not just speak against the violence of the time: she did it openly, she wrote about it, she brought it to the spotlight in Western media so that it became internationally known and not just a secret harbored by the mountains of Swat. (For more on the tragedy of Malala's shooting, why it took place, and what this means for Pashtun women, please click here.)

And then I hear that she has been shot. It’s been over 12 hours, and I am still in shock, but I think it is finally hitting me that it’s real, that she’s really seen as a threat, that those who shot her actually intended to kill her (it hurts to use this word while talking about her – may God bless her with a long, healthy, and safe life, one in which she accomplishes many, many more of her dreams, and one in which her struggles for bringing peace and justice will eventually be accepted by everyone around her regardless of their religious, political, and personal beliefs, aameen).

Fortunately, however, we can express our infinite gratitude at the attention that this tragedy has received thus far and continues to receive from all across the world. In fact, when I heard about it this morning, it was from my non-Muslim, non-Pakistani, non-Pashtun friends who called me, texted me, tweeted me, Facebooked me, and emailed me to ask me if I had heard about the attack yet. Moreover, I have just been informed that all private (non-governmental) schools in Swat are closed, since the attacked van in which Malala was riding in was a private school van. There are also headlines coming out of the Pakistani media like "The Nation Prays for Malalai"; a positively overwhelming number of people are talking about it on Twitter (with hashtags like #Malala #PrayingForMalala #MalalaiYusufzai #MalalaMustLive, and many others), Facebook, and other social media, and everyone so far has condemned the attack. At times like these, one can't help but be grateful for social media and for the global village we all share as humans who, despite our many differences, all ultimately just want peace and justice in our world, a world in which an attack on one individual among us is an attack on all of us.

But as we sit here to praise her fearless initiatives and her angelic beauty (mashaAllah), let us not forget that she is also as human as the rest of us. She therefore needs prayers, comfort, and well wishes from friends of peace and justice. I request anyone who has contact with her family, friends, or anyone else who knows her personally to please contact them, share your sympathy, and let them you are praying for her and that you condemn the attacks on her. The attack on Malala is not just an attack on Malala: it is an attack, however cowardly, on the face of humanity; on all friends of love, peace, and justice; on the potential of a stable and more peaceful future for Pashtuns; on all humans but especially women who refuse to submit to the threats and the violence to which they are subjected upon standing up against violence and injustice.

What happens now? Well, we are first going to continue praying for her recovery, and while we are waiting and praying and being hopeful, we need to do everything necessary to ensure that her attackers are caught.  If we can reach them to speak with them about the matter, we can also reach them to catch them and get justice for an innocent victim. Otherwise, we are going to continue living in fear, restless and uncertain about our safety and the safety of our children and others around us, retaining the restrictions against women and girls, such as not educating them, not allowing them to work, not allowing them to participate as equal and full members of a society shared by both women and men. Protests, mass demonstrations, petitions, more blogs, more articles, and even more awareness to ensure that enough pressure is put on Pakistani authorities to get justice--and to ensure that such attacks are reduced and eventually hopefully completely stopped.

Malalai! Always looking hopeful and bright, nazara ma she!

Our Dear Malalai, you are a true champion of justice for fighting for it in a land where you know you are unsafe doing so but do it anyway! Thank you for existing! We are all praying for your recovery, and you will soon, inshaAllah, be back to us all, mesmerizing us all with your intelligence, strength, and boldness. Swat is currently in a chaotic mode in response to the injustice that has been committed against you, which tells us all that you are indeed admired, respected, and appreciated for all of your efforts. We are expecting you back with good health, your passion, and your energy.

I will end with a Qur'anic verse on justice to remind ourselves to always stand up for justice, even if it means losing people we would hate to lose in the process--and that those who have attacked her have indeed committed a wrong: "Oh you who believe, stand up firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even if it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be against rich or poor; for God can best protect both. Do not follow any passion, lest you not be just. And if you distort or decline to do justice, verily God is well-acquainted with all that you do." (Quran 4:135)

Prayers and well wishes for Malala are requested and sincerely appreciated.

Qrratugai is an Islamic Studies student with emphasis on gender relations in Islamic law and Muslim societies. She blogs at orbala.blogspot.com and tweets at @qrratugai.

Social Networking and Pashtun Women's Empowerment

For a detailed abstract of this study, please click here.

In August-September 2011, after reading some articles on women’s blogging activities and the overall role of the internet in women’s lives in certain parts of the world (e.g., Egypt, Iran), I decided that I wanted to do something with Pashtun women’s blogs. Indeed, the mere idea of the Pashtun diaspora fascinates me—their issues, their concerns, their identity politics, their traditions—and the blogosphere and virtual communities, the focus of the study below (and a major research interest of mine) arguably fall under discourses on the diaspora. So I regularly tweeted about these blogs and asked if anyone knew (of) other bloggers who identified themselves as Pashtun who were not included in my list, and I was introduced to several amazing blogs by Pashtun women all over the world but mostly in the West, although it does not matter to me where they are based or where they are from so long as they self identify as Pashtun women. I’m still looking for more, and I suppose I’ll be looking for more for as long as I am interested in the idea of women’s empowerment through the Internet, so if you know of more Pashtun women bloggers, please feel free to share them with me. 

Then in a course I took in the Spring of 2012, I was having a conversation with a professor on this idea of blogging and the whole phenomenon of the Internet forums (virtual communities) among Pashtuns, and he seemed more excited about this whole thing than I was. He encouraged me to write about for the term paper for our class, which I thought was an excellent idea. And so, below is a partial result of that study—partial because 1) I share here only excerpts from the paper, and 2) this study is not complete as of yet, as I’m still seeking more bloggeres and I’m still surveying the Internet forums looking for how exactly gender is performed in the members’ conversations with each other, or just how gender interaction works online among Pashtuns.

Although I focused only on Pashtun women’s blogs for the paper below, I understand that, especially because of the lack of Pashtun women bloggers as well as because of the importance of our men bloggers, it is important to highlight the men’s role on the Internet as well. In the study below, when noting gendered conversations, I focused on both women and men, but for the blogs, I did not. However, I am still looking for Pashtun blogs, whether women or men, young or old, Pakistani or Afghan (nationally), no matter where they are located or what they do. I still need more bloggers (men or women) to answer some questions I have on empowerment, gender interactions online, their blogs, etc.  The list of bloggers I have developed so far can be accessed here.

Thanks in advance for your participation – and for reading! :) Feedback is always welcomed and deeply appreciated!

P.S. The symbol […] means that that the original version of this paper continues to say more at that instance, but I have excluded that from this version.