When a Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) gunman stopped a school bus in the Swat valley last week and shot 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai in the head and neck - and two other girls as well - it marked perhaps the TTP's biggest strategic error so far. Their intention was to make Malala a victim for her courageous advocacy of education for girls; what they did instead was transform her into a potent national symbol of resistance against their extremist creed. Proponents of the moderate point of view she espoused, when she first blogged for BBC about life under the Taliban as an 11-year-old in 2009, are readying themselves for a fight.
So far, they have been a silent majority. The TTP's extremist creed and the military's insistence - despite occasional statements to the contrary - of looking outwards rather than inwards for the chief threat to Pakistan have shaped public discourse. But the brutality of the TTP's attack on Malala - and the callousness of statements made by spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan calling her "the symbol of the infidels and obscenity" and vowing to target her again if she survived - have prompted a widespread backlash. Fifty clerics of Pakistan's Sunni Ittehad Council have issued a fatwa against the gunmen. Demonstrations have been held in several cities. Political parties and the military have both been swept along by the tide of public opinion. Several suspects have been arrested and army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has been unequivocal in his condemnation of both the attack and the extremism that spawned it. It will not be easy to change institutional structures that have seen extremist groups as useful tools, not threats. But Malala's courage has provided the opportunity to do so.
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I thought this story was pretty interesting considering that there is a backlash against the attackers and even people that view women education wrong consider this as a cowardly attack. I didn't really know how to approach this story for this site but I wanted to talk about it. The Taliban are almost impossible to kill by normal war methods. However, this incident could spring a movement that people finally "wake up". I can't speak for this side of the world considering it is so different but it is pretty obvious that a young girl that is promoting education among females doesn't deserve to be shot. The USA could drop as many bombs in the world and not stop the Taliban movement but the Taliban could ruin their movement with a few shots. Anyone else have any take on this story or implications?
