Education in Swat: So What?

"Yet another captivating shot from the Swiss Alps", I thought to myself when I first saw pictures of the Swat Valley, northwest Pakistan. Like the region of Kashmir (pic below), this scenic region of Swat is racked by violence and overran by [the Taliban] insurgents - bent on creating their dream utopia; one fashioned after their chauvinistic minds and based on warped logic.

In and around this picturesque area, I realized that life isn't as beautiful as the biome pictured above. Education is prohibited for girls, after primary four. Juxtapose the pictures above with that of burned books/schools and you'd see how cruel human can be and how unfortunate life is for the (female) students.

"I thought I was destined for the stars but they are pushing me to the caves"

-Malala Yousafzai
Sunday Star, January 25, 2009

Education promotes Western values and culture of obscenity they said. This is eerily similar to the group of people protesting against the concerts of Avril Lavigne and Rihanna here in Saudi A--, I meant to say Malaysia. My simple reasoning: Tell me about Non-Western/Eastern culture then. Don't we have honour killings? Life, I perceive, isn't of much value over here. Look at the Rwandan genocide and the era of the Khmer Rouge. What's with culture when we have people eating all sorts of things - dogs, cats, bear, and virtually anything with its back facing the sky. Poor tortoise.

Glue sniffing, extortions, sex orgies; both planned and organized, aren't new in the newspapers. Do we have to learn it from concerts or the television? Even if it's a resounding yes by such people, what happened then to moral and religious teachings? If the upbringing is sound and excellent, would parents worry that their children be thrown off the right path? We speak as if the bad and the ugly comes from a certain part of the world when it's the nature in us all that gives way to these things. How then, can we blame the West for eroded moral in our society when we have rape and incest in this part of the world? And where, sometimes, the victim gets death besides the the humiliation of being raped.

I'm not an apologist for the West but am hoping people would at least view things in a neutral way - to put things in perspective. Getting back to Swat, if it's for personal gains or if it's religious in essence, then call it by its name instead of coming up with flawed logic and reasoning. I'm not a Muslim but I remembered while learning Islamic History during History lessons that the first wahyu (I think it's called revelation in English) from Allah to his prophet began with "Bacalah...", literally Read.

I'll leave this here and go no further. I could get into trouble for saying the wrong things and it's true when it comes to religion or government. Guess it's the [Non-Western] culture here that's sensitive to criticism, dissent, and discourse. Question not the status quo, eh? Whoever said we're perfect? I could only shake my head. I'd rather dwell on the good things and yes, the only thing I think of now is the sumptuous meal for reunion dinner tonight.