Schools across Afghanistan began Saturday with prayers for the recovery of Paksitani teenager Malala Yousafzai who was shot for campaigning against extremism and her right to an education.
In a notable show of solidarity with Pakistan on combating extremism and defending girls’ education, the Afghan Education Ministry had decreed that all schools in Afghanistan should hold a prayer before lessons begin Saturday for Malala’s health.
“More than 16 thousand schools in Afghanistan at about 09:00 AM prayed for Malala and condemned the attack,” Deputy Education Minister Asif Nang told TOLOnews on Saturday.
It comes the same day that Pakistan authorities said multiple arrests had been made over the Tuesday shooting of Malala, 14, who is still in intensive care after being shot in the head and the neck by Taliban insurgents who claimed she had opposed Shariah law and promoted Western ideas.
Malala was shot at point blank range outside her school in Mingora, the main town of the Swat valley in Pakistan’s northwest, where she had written and campaigned about the right to an education since she was 11 years old.
Afghan Minister of Education Farouq Wardak compared Malala to the female Afghan hero Malalai Maiwand who rallied the army against the British troops at the 1880 Battle of Maiwand.
“The heroism of Malalai Yousafzai in reality is the continuation of the struggles of Malalai Maiwand and hundreds of other freedom loving dear Malalais of our country who raised their voice against cruelty and those acting against education and educators,” Wardak said Saturday at the ceremony on the lawn of Rabia Balkh High School of Kabul.
Paksitani police have arrested at least three people, possibly more, in relation to the case, multiple media outlets reported Saturday.
President Hamid Karzai telephoned Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday night to add his voice to the worldwide condemnation of the shooting and assured Zardari of cooperation to end the insurgent threat.
Malala received international recognition for highlighting Taliban atrocities via a blog she wrote under a pseudonym for the BBC when she was 11 years old, when the Islamist militants burned girls’ schools and terrorised the valley before the army intervened.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) claimed responsibility for the shooting, and following the worldwide condemnation, released a statement saying that she was a legitimate target because she opposed Shariah law.
“It’s a clear command of Shariah that any female, that by any means plays a role in war against the Mujahideen, should be killed,” the TTP statement from spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.
Two of her fellow students who were wounded in the attack are said to be in a stable condition.
Tags: Afghan, ceremonies, for, hold, Malala, Pakhtonkhwas's, Prayer, schools
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