With the burning down of two more girls’ school in Quetta on Sunday, there are fears that this trend might be spreading at a rapid pace
ISLAMABAD: Hell-bent on foisting their brand of Islam on the Pakistani society, the militants in the Swat district of the NWFP, which is often described as the Switzerland of Pakistan, have burnt down over 50 of the 150-plus girls’ schools in their ongoing violent campaign to discourage female education, which they think is un-Islamic.
With the burning down of two more girls’ school in Quetta on Sunday, there are fears that this trend might be spreading at a rapid pace, with almost no action being taken.
According to the NWFP government sources, the actual figure for girls’ schools that are no longer functioning in Swat ever since the Taliban started destroying them, has crossed 100 and keeps rising with every passing day.
Militancy of this sort can be cited as one of the main reasons behind the growing crisis in women’s education in the NWFP where the 10-plus female literacy rate in 2006-07 was 25% as opposed to 30% the previous year. It is actually Maulana Fazalullah-led Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), which is challenging the writ of the government in NWFP by burning down government schools in Swat, saying imparting education to girls was simply un-Islamic.
Popularly known as Maulana Radio for the illegal FM radio stations he operates to instigate people to prepare for jihad, Fazlullah has become a house hold name in the Swat district of the NWFP.
Critics point out that Swat is crucial from the point of view of a larger front that al-Qaeda is in the process of creating in Pakistan. The valley spread out over 1,772 sq. kms with a population of 1.5 million, is just 160 kms from Islamabad.
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