Editors Introduction | a conversations series Two weeks ago, the New York Times asked six writers to comment on what Pakistan and its allies can do to stop the Taliban and support women’s rights. In the wake of the Tehreek-e-Taliban’s (TTP) attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, the question was timely. Titled, “Supporting Pakistanis, Stopping the Taliban,”...
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Pakistan and the world needs to change its approach to secure women rights. What happened to Malala Yousafzai was a horrific act that shows that the Taliban will not hesitate to use terror as a weapon to create fear amongst the population. While the world has the option to choose its stories, we, in...
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Critics are exploiting Malala’s attack either to prove a point about drones or to “prove” Muslim barbarity. Many analysts and critics across a spectrum are exploiting Malala’s attack to justify their own political ambitions whether it’s a position on drones or a moment to allegedly prove the barbarity of the Muslim world. Those who...
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The invocation of women’s rights by the apologists for war helps obscurantist criminals like the TTP elevate misogyny to anti-imperial expression. For advocacy to be successful, it has to come from a place of empathy rather than superiority. Many of the most vocal advocates of women’s rights in Pakistan today are also known for...
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The question posed by the NYT erases the role played by the U.S. and the Pakistani army in creating the Taliban. The dastardly attempt by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan to assassinate the young firebrand schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, has once again resurrected the tired arguments about the U.S.A.’s alleged responsibility to protect women’s rights in “Af-Pak.”...
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We must ask complex questions and be willing to handle equally complicated answers. As sad and horrific as it is, when the media exploits the tragic shooting of a child to rally support for an overly simplified political position, you know something is wrong. Reality is always more complex—and loathing the Taliban is fast...
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The struggle against patriarchy and other oppressive structures has been sacrificed to the imperatives of a propaganda war. It is easy to forget now that through much of the 20th century it was not the “Taliban” or “al-Qaeda” that imperiled “civilization” and “freedom.” Until only two decades ago, communism rather than terrorism constituted an...
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