Innocent queries of an innocent Child
(Sidra is an 8th grader in a remote area of Swat. Her school has been burnt to ashes in the recent turbulence Her intelligent and inquisitive mind has posed this question to all of us. The following is a translation of her article.)
Is the gloomy and distressing atmosphere generated by Taliban and our own government in Swat reversible?
This is a question if not on their lips then in the hearts of the parents and the children have become the fuel of this blazing conflagration.
Children who have lost their parents need support and sustenance, is the government or the Taliban ready to assist or take care of these orphans that their indiscriminate targeting has produced?
It is inconceivable that these unfortunate children will ever receive any help or support from either the Taliban or the government. What do they care? If they ever cared for the education and upbringing of children, they would have never commenced this senseless and aimless war. Nobody really knows how many innocent people have lost their lives or yet how many more will fall victim.
Has anyone ever troubled to think about the lives of the unfortunate people who lost theirs directly or indirectly, or was their death simply a wasted life?
Most of the Schools have been blown up and the children have no where to go to receive education. If there are no Schools, then there will be no education and no doctors and no teachers. It there are no doctors, then who will cure the sick and ailing. It is impossible to become a doctor without a formal education.
The Prophet (PBUH) has said that acquiring knowledge is the obligation of every Muslim man and woman. If you are true believers then why are you blowing up the beacons of enlightenment?
It is undoubtedly true that the girls should receive education according to the principles of Islam about proper dress and covering for the body. We have and will conform to these rules if our schools are spared. Women have lost the exalted status which is given to them by Islam, in the society today. Education is in dispensable for girls because it enables them to become a good citizen and a good mother.
The daughters of the President and Prime Minster are receiving education in foreign universities. The daughters of religious party leaders contested and won the election, they became members of the National Assembly in the MMA government.
Then WHYthis harsh discrimination against us?
In this war of Islam and infidels why are girls being deprived of their education?
Why do they not care about our education are we not their daughters too?
Why are innocent children being ground between the grinding stones of a war which is aimless and endless?
It is not only I who ask you these questions, but you are also answerable to the thousands of children and their helpless parents, who have been forced to leave their homes, with tears in their eyes and with nowhere to go due to a plight that has no end in sight.
By: Sidra (living as an IDPs)