Peshawar authorities block the presentation of Malala’s book. Activists: "Shame"
Peshawar, January 30, 2014: " Shame, shame , shame!": The Pakistani activist Tahir
Anjum does not mince words in reacting to the decision by the provincial authorities
of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to block the presentation of an autobiography by Malala Yousafzai.
Last night at the the launch of "I am Malala" was scheduled to take place at the University
of Peshawar's Area Study Centre. The book was written by the young Pakistani girl
who has become a symbol in the struggle for women's education and the resistance against
the Taliban and Islamist violence. However, the previous day first the provincial
authorities - two ministers (Shah Farman and Siraj ul Haq) then police approached
the director of the study center, succeeding in forcing him to cancel the event for
unspecified reasons of "public order and security." The University attempted to put
up a stiff resistance, but mafia-style threats and warnings finally prevailed.
Pro
human rights organizations and members of civil society promise that the event will
be rescheduled in the next few days, but the bitterness remains for the abuse committed
by the authorities and the blatant violation of freedom of thought. "Is this our democracy?"
questioned Tahir Anjum, a reality in which "a book written by a girl cannot be presented?”
He adds that the episode "dwarfs the acts of even the most ruthless dictators" and
reflects "the progressive Talibanisation” of the country.
The incident has
aroused great indignation in Pakistan and raised a fierce debate on freedom of expression
and the progressive violation of the most elementary rights. The controversy has also
touched the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e - Insaf Party (PTI), founded by former
cricketer Imran Khan. Organizers claim the "direct intervention” of the provincial
government is behind the cancellation. The PTI leader responded to the charges via
twitter yesterday: "I am at a loss 2 understand why Malala's book launch stopped in
Peshawar. PTI believes in freedom of speech/debate, not censorship of ideas".
However
his response has failed to convince civil society and activists, furious at what had
happened. Mohammad Tahseen , Executive Director of the South Asia Partnership - Pakistan
(SAP -PK), told AsiaNews that it was "a clear attitude of politicians, who never take
responsibility for their crimes." Before tweeting, the activist adds, he "should have
consulted his ministers" and spare making himself look like a "fool". I have tried
to contact the leaders of Piti on January 27 to get the go-ahead for the event, "but
without success, and nobody listened to me.”
Malala Yousafzai - award winning
national youth - October 9, 2012 was the victim of a Taliban attack in the Swat Valley,
a mountainous area in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , bordering Afghanistan ,
a stronghold of Islamic extremists . She was shot while on board the school bus that
would take her home, at the end of her morning school lessons. The young girl, saved
thanks to a an outpouring of international solidarity, became famous in 2009 at the
age of 11, for a blog on the local language site of the BBC denouncing the attacks
by Pakistani Islamists against girls and educational institutions for women.
The
north-western border is considered a stronghold of the Taliban, so that in some areas
Shariah and the Islamic Courts are active, called in to judge disputes, as well as
social behaviours and morality. There are hundreds of schools - even Christian - that
have been closed in the Swat Valley, jeopardizing the education of tens of thousands
of students and the work of about 8 thousand female teachers. (Source: AsiaNews)