Another grim event has made it clear that the war on terror is far from over. A schoolteacher has been shot and killed in the town of Jamrud, located in Khyber Agency. That the schoolteacher was female should serve as another reminder that the biggest casualties in this war are women and education. The teacher’s crime seems to be a firm commitment to her profession of imparting knowledge, which is the only hope for progress and uplift for the people in the tribal areas — a concept the militants are against the most. The teacher, Shehnaz Ishtiaq, was on her way to the school where she taught when she was gunned down. So far, some 25 suspects have been arrested but one doubts anything will come of these arrests, which usually serve as cosmetic measures to placate an increasingly alarmed public. That this is not the first female schoolteacher to be murdered in Jamrud is another indicator that this is a war on minds and the intellect. In October last year, Malala Yousafzai, a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl was shot point blank in Swat by the militants. While no direct claim has been made by the Taliban in Shehnaz’s shooting, it takes no imagination to ascertain that the Taliban are responsible, seeing that they have blown to smithereens girls schools and have targeted female students and teachers indiscriminately for wanting their basic right to an education.
This is a clear pattern and it does not look as if it is about to stop. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are looking to fill a void created by the absence of knowledge and welfare; they do not want to see the masses educated because they will be without recruits and willing believers in their cause when the people of the tribal areas have a shot at a better life; they will then shun militant ideology. The first step is to encase women in the tomb of the four walls of their homes. If their goal is reached by killing them, whether adult or child, they will see their mission carried out. It is vital that everyone at the helm of this country’s affairs deal with this murderous menace, from the military to the civilian authorities. The state of education, even without militant ire, is appalling in this country and to see what little we have destroyed by these terrorists is truly heartbreaking. These noble professionals and their students deserve a chance at a decent life. *