Failing Malala

S­o we learn that Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel laureate and schoolgirl shot and nearly killed in 2010 by the bullets of a Taliban backed assailant, has been failed once again by her country. Not only Malala but all of us have been let down as well. We were apparently deceived in order to calm international pressure and show the world that we did really care about the young brave activist. It has now been revealed that the account we were told late April this year – that 10 persons had been sentenced to 25 years each in jail by an Anti Terrorism Court for the attack on Malala – was in fact a piece of fiction. The story, it seems, was concocted by authorities to take away some of the heat coming in from around the world as Malala, now based in Birmingham, gained increasing recognition. Eight of the men that we were told had been convicted actually walked away free. Police now say there was lack of evidence against them and deny there was any deal involved or any secrecy in the whole affair. This is hard to believe. A set of facts was put out before the public; they turned out to be untrue. Someone should pay the price for this.
The whole affair involving the arrest of the 10 men was indeed a little mysterious. We never quite knew who they were or when they had been apprehended. All that emerged was that they had been sentenced to a life term by the court. The problem is that this incident simply illustrates that we are not really committed to going after killers. The purpose behind the punishment meted out to men involved in any attempt to kill a defenceless girl should also have been to send out a message deterring others from attempting the same. Instead, the opposite effect has been achieved. The freeing of the men will only encourage those who see violence as a means to deal with opposition. It is also a fact we have been unable to bring ourselves to embrace Malala as a hero, with many continuing to insist the whole affair was somehow a conspiracy or a concoction. It seems we are unable to tell truth from lies and our authorities do nothing to help by creating whatever accounts they wish to for their own purposes.