Hina Khan, another Malala, God forbid

Hina Khan now in Islamabad but basically from Swat valley is scared of her life at the hands of Taleban who threatened her and her family members some years back while they were in Swat and since they were nit provided any security despite their requests the entire family had to to move to the capital of the country believing that they could live here peacefully but Talebans are very much after their blood here too.

Hina is also a school going girl like Malala and it was 2009 when she had raised her voice against Taleban atrocities particularly against women and thus she had been threatened to pay very heavy price for her such outburst against Taleban and consequently her parents had no choice but to quit their home land and live in Islamabad but this place too is not safe for them. Her mother Farhat who had been a social worker is also on the hit list of Talebans simply because she had very successfully arranged an exhibition in Swat in 2006 displaying the hand works of Swati ladies which was not appreciated by Talebans and they had threatened Farhat to settle their account with her. They shifted to Islamabad but still they are being threatened and just to save their lives they have frequently changed their houses in Islamabad but still they are very much under the cruel crutches of Talebans who are continually threatening Hina and her family members. Lately a big red cross was painted at the front gate of her house in Islamabad and her father Raithullah Khan removed it believing that a child may have written but next day he found it again painted at the entrance which undoubtedly proves that none but Talebans are blood hungry.

The worst part is that her family has approached Interior Minister Malik Rehman to give them police protection but practically nothing has been done except that the minister has asked for a report from the concerned police officers but it is not enough. The parents are no more sending Hina and others to school because Talebans have threatened to either kill or abduct her which is very much worrying to be honest.

Who will protect Hina and her family if not our most honorable Interior Minister? How can Hina and her family members or for that matter any other family can live under continual threats? What else they could do except first shifting from Swat to Islamabad and then very frequently changing their house in Islamabad? Are we waiting for repetition of Malala like scene again so far as Hina is concerned? Isn’t the basic right of Hina family to live as peacefully as anyone else lives in Pakistan? What laurels, if any, Pakistan earned when Malala was attacked so savagely in Swat a couple of weeks before?

Who will ensure that there is no more Malala like to be attacked in the Islamic Repubkic of Pakistan where none but its constitution gives a guarantee that life and property of each and every citizen of Pakistan?

Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait