Shocked.
That was what I felt when I read the news 3 days ago. I am just...shocked.
The news? A 14-year old girl (Malala Yousafzai) was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban in the Swat region of Pakistan. She is now in a hospital, struggling to live, but chillingly, the spokesperson of the Taliban, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said they'd finish the job if she survived this attack.
Her crime? She wanted to learn. Malala came into prominence in 2009 when she wrote a blog in the BBC of her fears of the Taliban destroying her homeland in the Swat valley. Being the daughter of an educator, she would have been taught the value of an education, something the Taliban, during its tyrannical rule of Afghanistan (if there is any condemnation by any Muslim country of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, I have yet to hear about it), denied to their own women (read 'Chapter 8: A Vanished Gender' in Ahmed Rashid's insightful book, 'Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia' (published 2001)).
The Taliban in the news provided a different reason, blaming her 'Western-influence' and her speaking out against the Taliban ('using dirty language against us'). If this is the case, the Taliban is more despicable than I thought. 'Of course, how dare this GIRL speak up against us? I mean, we kill anyone that speaks bad of us, anyway, but a GIRL? It's just too much...'
I didn't think this news would affect me that much. After all, the violence the people in Afghanistan and Pakistan suffered, caused by the Taliban, the Pakistani military, and American presence, is in the news all the time. There's even a joke in my old debate team that you don't really need to update material on topics related to the two regions. But for some reason, this news disturbed me greatly. Just a day before the news, I bought 'Keududukan Wanita dalam Islam' by HAMKA, and though his arguments are not new to me, I am fascinated by his flow of language, arguing for equality of women in Islam (even in matters of politics). Studying history, I am also reminded of the struggle of the 19th and early 20th century Muslim reformers, of Afghani and Abduh, and especially the Kaum Muda of Malaya (led by Syed Syeikh al-Hadi) that argued for the equality of women, which could only be achieved if they were given EDUCATION. A professor of mine said once that the legacy of the Kaum Muda is the women in universities today studying for their PhDs, becoming doctors, scientists, teachers, etc.
Which is why this news is just shocking. I thought this whole issue of women's right to education should be done by now.
I've been looking through Facebook, seeing if anyone felt the same indignation as I did. I was hoping the same people that voiced outrage over the silly film insulting the Prophet Muhammad would also protest against this violence against a girl (by extension, violence against women). This is done in the name of Islam, which I would argue is a much greater insult to Islam. I don't see it. In fact, the only other FB page that bothered to post this news (DrMAZA) is answered by commenters that are still deciding whether or not this is one of those 'Jewish, American infidel lies'.
Where is the outrage? Pakistan voiced some protest over the shooting, with the Sunni Ittehad Council issued a fatwa condemning the gunman and the Taliban. But where is the proper outrage? Shouldn't you follow the example of the Muslims of Benghazi, that united to drive militias out of their city following the murder of US Ambassador Chris Stevens just a month ago?
The Muslims in this country love to protest for issues related to Islam after Friday prayers, like the situation in Palestine, in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Chechnya, in Afghanistan, in Iraq. We protest against the Prophet Muhammad cartoons and the recent film issue. We even had the cheeck to issue death threats against cartoonists for this. I ask you Muslims, where is your sense of indignation now? I dare you to march out and demonstrate against the Taliban. I dare you to organise a demonstration against this great insult to Islam. I dare you to condemn the Taliban treating women like dirt, when God and the Prophet himself declared men and women as equals.
Links to the news:
