I can’t help thinking that there may be some vested interests in all the press coverage and attention given to the Pakistani girl who got shot for speaking up against Taliban. While it’s definitely unfortunate for anybody to get shot, and much more when the victim is a child, this is not the only incident in recent history where this has happened. In this particular case, the victim is an activist (and an aspiring politician as per some reports that I read) who had the guts to stand her ground against a group that is known to be violent and quite influential in her region. It is not unexpected for her enemies to retaliate in a mode that is most natural for them. That possibility followed from a choice that she made – a conscious decision to risk her life for what she believed in, which is without doubt a very noble way to live in this world. It’s like a soldier who dies in a counter-insurgency operation. For all the respect we have for them, we don’t cry over it because to die in the line of action is a part of the duty that he willingly accepted. I don’t think she was targetted for supporting girls’ education as is being made out, as much as for opposing the Taliban.

There are countless attacks on helpless children happening every day aroud the world. Several children died or were seriously injured in careless bombing by US military drones in tribal Afghanistan and Pakistan. For these victims, there was no choice involved, nor any glory. For their pain and suffering, there is little media coverage, no solace from the different corners of the world. If Taliban was still the militia created by the US to further its interests, and still fighting on the same side as US, I doubt if the Malala Yousafzai incident would have cornered so much media space or generated as much interest in the west. After all, we don’t hear about the fate of human rights crusaders from Saudi Arabia and other repressive (and regressive, should we say?) states supported by the US.

The point I am trying to make is not to undermine the courage and steadfastness of the Pakistani girl, but to remind ourselves that in the world where what we hear and know is often controlled by those in power, we would do well to rely on our own reason and analysis rather than blindly and emotionally be carried away by spirited and concerted media campaigns based on half-truths.