Once again, the strong hold of militants in the tribal belt, a region ravaged by long militancy and insurgency, threatens educational institutions, especially girls’ education.
A heinous and despicable act of terrorism took place in Tehsil Shewa of North Waziristan district. A private girls’ school named Aafia Islamic Girls Model School was blown up, destroyed, and the chairs and whiteboards were broken by militants on Wednesday night.
According to a news report, first unidentified militants tortured the school watchmen and then blew up two rooms of the school. No loss of life was reported from the incident as per the news report.
No one yet takes responsibility for the terror attack on the girls’ school, but the Islamic militants were the prime suspects in such attacks because they strongly opposed girl education, saying that
“Women should not be educated.”
Rising militants attacks on schools
Such cowardly terrorist attacks were not new to the region; extremist militants targeted hundreds of girls in schools in the tribal belt and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for decades.
Last year, a group of unidentified suspected to be militants, burned down a government-run girls’ higher secondary school in Bannu and left a note on the main gate of the school.
“Keep this school shut otherwise be ready for serious consequences”
Similarly, in May last year, militants blew up the classrooms of two government girls schools in the tribal region, one at the Government Girls Middle School, Hafizabad, in Hassukhel village. Another is in the Musakki villages of the Mir Ali sub-division.
Why does it matter?
The recent terrorist attacks on girls’ schools are a grievous blow because rising militancy and terrorism can take away the right to basic education from girls and women in the region. A region already suffers from a low 7.8% female literacy rate compared to other parts of the country. Such security issues can further contribute to the decline in girls’ education and deprive a number of girls of their basic right to education in the region.
Further the rising militancy and terrorism can restrict women’s movement, empowerment and progress and it will be heartbreaking to watch thousands of girls from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s tribal belt have to sacrifice their dreams and ambitions for education and progress.
The terrorist attacks on the girls’ school were condemned by PM Shahbaz Sharif, who ordered the immediate reconstruction of the girls’ school.
The heinous act was also condemned by UNICEF. In a statement by Abdullah Fadil, a representative of UNICEF,
“Destruction of a girls’ school in a remote and underserved area is a heinous crime detrimental to national progress.”
Further, he said that schools must always remain safe learning environments to protect the growth and healthy development of children, adolescents, and young people.
National Democratic Movement (NDM) leader Mohsin Dawar also condemned the attack by saying
“The future of our children is under attack. Education scares terrorists.”
“Taliban banned girls from getting an education in Afghanistan, and their affiliates are attacking girls schools in our areas,” he added.
The school owner expressed their feelings by saying that
“They stopped our girls from education, but we will continue our struggle for the promotion of girls’ education until death.”
After three days of the attack, female students from various schools in North Waziristan district staged a protest against the militants‘ attack on a private girls’ school in the area. The girls were holding banners in their hands bearing slogans like promoting female education and demanding protection of girls’ schools.