WAS MALALA CASE A CONSPIRACY Outline

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Short Background Present Situation

conspiracy theories

American Propaganda Behind Malala Attack To Blur Anti-Islamic Film Media Hype A few serious questions Conclusion

Malala Yousufzai It is the name of a tender age girl of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, and nowadays has rent the air the world over with reference to Pakistan. Her age is said to be 14 years. There was a news report on 9th October that she was shot at while she along with other girls was getting into a school van. The attackers are reportedly the people belonging to the Taliban movement of Pakistan. They have enmity with Malala because, as the media is reporting, she not only insists on continuing her education but has also launched a movement for the rights of girls. In 2009, when (according to media) she was just 11 years old, the Taliban bombed her school but she did not give up education. Then she got worldwide fame after her statement was telecast by BBC. This is why the entire world including Pakistan cried when a fatal attack was made on her on October 9. Praise and bouquets for her and condemnation for her attackers outpoured from all quarters. The government of Pakistan sprang up in action immediately. Malala was admitted to a military hospital, a special plane was kept ready to fly her outside the country if need be, and she was flown to London on October 15

A gravely serious event like the shooting of Malala is a simple wakeup call for Pakistanis to realise the intensity of violence and extremism persisting in our society Undoubtedly, everyone in Pakistan and in international media for Asians and Europeans are covering the only Malala Yousafzai the girl of the Pakistan Nation. After the attack of Taliban on her, she becomes the star in nations eye, and uses as the symbol for Pakistani women. It appears the media only have one thing to cover these days, every time you stumble the media outlets; you will only find articles and news-bulletin targeting the Malala news for the general public. Every third person get involved in this media, but it appears; there is some shady thing happening in the world regarding the expressions of Muslims and Pakistanis. It was a very tragic event when Malala Yousafzai, a peace harbinger, was brutally shot along with other girls in Swat and is currently in a critical condition undergoing intense treatment in

the UK. The Taliban were blatant enough to accept the responsibility for the attack, citing that the 14-year-old girl was a US agent and hence deserved the treatment. A hugely fallacious theory on the part of the Taliban, but Pakistanis are now sensitised enough to expect any level of cowardice from these militants.

Soon after the attack, the rumour mills started churning various conspiracy theories, again something very common in Pakistan considering the untamed nature of the media and the conservative thinking among some sections of society.

First, the media set all guns blazing on Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf (PTI) and its chairman, Imran Khan, who, just a few days before the incident, concluded a peace march towards the FATA region against US drone attacks. Media and the opposition leaders were of the opinion that Khan had indirectly supported the Taliban and al Qaeda by voicing against the drone attacks, and the same militants attacked an innocent child, Malala, who was promoting education for females. The PTI came with the counter-argument that the anti-PTI forces were responsible for this attack in order to bring a bad name to Khan and the party. The premise of the attack by media on Mr Khan was based on faulty foundations, as it was imminent that the only aim of the Amn (peace) March was to highlight the innocent civilian casualties in drone attacks, in which he succeeded as many major world media outlets highlighted the event.

The second, and the most talked upon theory is a possible military operation in North Waziristan. This much-hyped operation, according to media, has long been on the cards with the army waiting for an appropriate incident to launch the offensive. A few self-proclaimed online analysts also started saying that the army may have carried out the attack on Malala in order to provide a ground for their North Waziristan offensive. Again, this theory is nothing more than a raw assumption as the North Waziristan operation is one of the most comlex decisions the army has to take. The terrain and difficulty in judging the region, especially in winter, is something that would take an intensive consultation among the military circles before launching such an offensive. The US, the major ally and donor of Pakistan, has been, time and again, pushing for this offensive in recent months, but the army is still far from committing to the endeavour. In this perspective, if the army is hesitant about an offensive even when the US is pushing, how can a 14-year-old girl be made a reason to carry out the operation?

Here, the general perception of Pakistanis with a narrow mindset is really disappointing as many educated people have started an anti-Malala campaign on the Internet. Many have stared sharing

posts and images asking why the army and government stood behind Malala and gave her all the required facilities while ignoring thousands of other girls shot in the past. A few naive fanatics also shared false information against her stating that in one of her interviews to the BBC, she commented that the burqa (veil) reminded her of the Stone Age, whereas a beard reminded her of Firaun (Pharaoh). No such statement has so far been published on BBC with reference to Malala. Nowhere in her diary has she criticised religion; rather, her only dream and aim was to work towards promotion of education for girls in the suppressed regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

As pointed out above, a few have also started raising doubts as why the army was in the forefront in taking care of Malala and her treatment. For the army, it had no option but to ensure her treatment as she belonged to the region that was recently subject to an intensive military operation against the Taliban and hence the security forces, currently present in the area, are primarily responsible for local security. Before the attack on Malala, everyone was cruising the image of America in Pakistan, and around the world for indirectly supporting the anti-Islamic film. Everyone was busy in protesting against the America in Pakistan, but interestingly everything stopped right after the attack on Malala. There comes the question, why she was attacked soon after the release of an anti-Islamic movie. Does Talibans are so free to attack the children, and not taking any actions against the anti-Islamic film? In this regard there are some questions: (1) Whether the Taliban who attacked Malala are real or floated? The fact remains that many groups of floated Taliban are active in Pakistan; most of them are floated by America. The agents of CIA and Mossad are among them and it is they who are responsible for the acts of terrorism in Pakistan. (2) Why do the international media not take notice of dozens of Malalas killed in American drone attacks in the North-West Frontier regions? (3) Even the government of Pakistan is also raising the issue of attack on Malala Yousufzai with much vigour but it never raised the issue of the Malalas killed in American drone attacks. (4) While condemning the attack on Malala by the so-called Taliban, certain Muslim sections and journalists are speaking in the same terms as the anti-Islam forces want them to. Do they believe that the attack on Malala was made by practising Muslims? The fact remains that the innocent girl and the attack on her are being exploited for anti-Islam propaganda and for providing an excuse for army action in Waziristan. Two leaders of that country, Qazi Husain Ahmad and Imran Khan have also made this statement. There is another point, why media is not highlighting the other girls who were attacked by Taliban along Malala. However, the television media is not answering the real questions, instead it appears, they are pushing the only single point of the whole story. But, the media over the social media website is not silent nor sleeping. There is a solid point comes into our views this

morning by the folks of PakMuZone.info. We checked out there provided staff, and allegations on this propaganda. Protests, street banners, news bulletins and newspapers articles and editorials, even a mere street hawker was concerned about Malala quick recovery abusing the attackers. At work place or even at home discussions continue to surround the same topic. In this backdrop, the media just forgot that there were other issues haunting the nation at that time whether it was target killing in Quetta, Peace March by Imran Khan or rumours about the expected change in PPPs provincial leadership in Punjab. Ironically, Pakistanis have forgotten the numerous accolades Malala won both on national and international levels. Her efforts at least brought hope for girls of her region who were in the past not allowed to pursue education.

In short, Pakistanis and the media need to realise the fact that whosoever was behind the attack, serious damage has been inflicted on Pakistan, irrespective of the different theories that various analysts are putting forward. The way the electronic media is blasting the event out of proportion is also not doing any good to the country. Complicating the issue and making it a conspiracy theory would not help to uproot militancy. A gravely serious event like the shooting of Malala is a simple wakeup call for Pakistanis to realise the intensity of violence and extremism persisting in our society, coupled with the level of intolerance towards the female gender. We have to unite on the fact that this was an inhumane act that needs to be condemned at every level. Coupled with that, we must also hope that the government, security agencies and policy makers formulate an effective mechanism to counter militancy and avoid such incidents in future.