Malala sets a rare example

Malala Yousafzai, 14, is fighting for her life having been shot in her head in Mingora, the main town of the Swat Valley in Pakistan's northwest, by the extremist Taliban. The teenager campaigner for the right to girls' education during two-year long Taliban insurgency which the army claimed it had crushed in 2009 faced the violent act of reprisal Wednesday last.
Not just Pakistan the world is outraged by this heinous attack on a school-going girl who made bold to champion the cause of girls' education undeterred by resistance from obscurantist elements. We condemn the act and express our solidarity with her and her family members.
The reactions in Pakistan have been those of instantaneous condemnation and shock at the barbaric act. From the lower house of the parliament to the governor of the province and top leaders of the country, all were unified in their expression of revulsion. The school children throughout Pakistan offered prayers for her recovery.
For a girl of her age, Malala has had the rare distinction of highlighting burning of girls' schools and terrorisation of Swat Valley with a blog for the BBC three years ago. She won international acclaim on that occasion, received peace award from Pakistan government and was nominated for children's peace prize by advocacy group KidsRights Foundation in 2011. Her saga of fight for a cause is amply summed up by her exemplary track record.
The attack has raised concern whether 'the policy of appeasement' towards the Taliban in terms of engaging them in peace talks has any leg to stand on. The Pakistan Human Rights Commission actually sees it as 'a wakeup call, if another one was needed, ... for those going out of their way to advocate making peace with the Taliban'.
Just on the eve of the International Day of Girl Child such a dastardly attack took place on Malala. That makes the incident so very poignant and instructive.
Let us all join hands to defend the rights of the Malalas of the world.