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Thursday, July 18, 2013

A letter to Malala Attackers

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST MERCIFUL AND BENEFICENT
From a brother of Malala to Adnan Rasheed

Mr. Adnan Rasheed
I am writing to you in my personal capacity, as I'm shocked by what you have written to Malala Yousafzai, my sister by religion.
Whether Islam permits attacking a girl, that too in her early teens, or not; I'm surprised you do not want to argue about it. And yet you have the audacity to say your emotions for Malala were brotherly. In Islam, and in our culture (and I suppose in your culture too), we do not have very nice words for a brother whose sister is attacked, and he sides with attackers. 
In BBC Urdu, as far as I have read, Malala had only written about woes for not being able to go to school, because Taliban were blowing them. 
So you guys have a bullet for every dissenting voice. Couldn't they JUST WRITE A LETTER explaining their reasons to blow schools (just as you did in your letter)?
You say education being imparted by these schools is wrong, therefore blowing them up is right; so why don't Taliban open their own schools to impart the RIGHT education. Why can't they offer an alternative, and let people adopt it by their own free will? Why can't they let PEOPLE decide if they want admission in Madrassas or Schools?
For justification of attacks on anti-polio teams, you quote Bertrand Russell, "diet, injections, and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character, and sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable."
If this means polio vaccine is bad, and attacking anti-polio teams is right, then why don't Taliban INVENT an Islamic polio vaccine, to produce the sort of character that they desire? And till that Islamic polio vaccine is made, please advice what nation should meanwhile to avoid being crippled by the disease?
And let me make it very clear, I'm against killings of innocent people, whether these killings are carried out by Americans or by Taliban (that includes drone attacks and suicide bombings). I am sure you also have some justification of killing 40,000 Pakistanis (most of them Muslims) and crippling hundreds and thousands of others. 

And lastly, please do not kill me for writing this letter.