Friday, October 12, 2012

Blog 7: Gunmen in Pakistan shoot teenage advocate for girls' education

           This week a girl named Yousafzai was brutally attacked this week. Yousafzai is a well-known advocate for girl’s education. She spoke out against Taliban destruction of girls’ schools in Swat and atrocities committed by the insurgent group’s fighters and in December the Prime Minster awarded her the country’s National Peace Award for Youth. Local witnesses said she was inside a school bus that was taking her and other girls home from their school in Mingora, when a gunmen approached on a motorcycle. They stopped the bus and began to fire at Yousafzai, injuring her in the head and neck, and then sped off; the little girl beside her also sustained gunshot wounds. She was rushed to hospital where doctors initially said her injuries were not life threating but later when she was taken to Peshawar’s military hospital where the doctors said was in crucial condition. A military official who had to speak on the situation anonymously said the bullet went through her temple and struck her shoulder. A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban took full responsibility for the attack on Yousafzai it was said that she was targeted because she was speaking out against the group and encouraging girls to adopt Western norms.  The President Asif Ali Zardari also released a prepared statement about the attack. “Young girls like Malala Yousafzai symbolize the quest for knowledge of the girls of Swat,” Zardari said in the statement, adding that militants “would never be able to shake the resolve of the nation through such dastardly acts.”
            I think this is a sad situation a little girl gets attacked just for promoting education for girls. Yousafzai was simply trying to get a good education and help other little girls be able to get one and she gets shot in her temple and shoulder. This situation needs to get investigated more and the person/people responsible should be held accountable for their actions. Just because they don’t support girls getting an education doesn't mean they need to attempt to kill a young girl. Even if she survives there is a possibly that she could still have some type of brain injury or other serious side effects from getting shot in her temple; that’s why the person should not get away with this.




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