Daily Times

Swat’s students are not strangers to the insurgency. The area first gained notoriety when Malala Yousafzai was abruptly catapulted to the global stage after getting shot in the head by the Taliban– an image that is burnt into the Pakistani consciousness forever. Another strikingly similar attack by insurgents on a school bus almost a decade later claimed one life and injured two students. But this time, the culprit wasn’t an insurgent or militant with ideological ties to a terrorist group. Rather, it was the police guard entrusted with taking care of the school that he eventually opened fire on, killing an eight-year-old girl and injuring seven others. The Sangota-based school, managed by the Sisters of the Preservation of the Blessed Virgin, was once bombed by the Taliban for providing an English education.

Now, tragedy strikes again, but the worst part is that this time, the perpetrator is someone meant to be looking after these girls. He was appointed specifically to assuage concerns about possible militant attacks. Instead, he succumbed to his most primal impulses, not thinking of the consequences, perhaps because he believed there wouldn’t be any. Even if we assume that this was an isolated incident, it is crucial to investigate why this happened in the first place.

It is also important to question whether there is something fundamentally flawed about the way people are profiled before being allowed to assume important positions, such as security guard in a school full of kids. In fact, it’s highly likely that he wasn’t profiled at all. It goes without saying that it is highly irresponsible to hand someone a gun without a background check or, at the very least, some knowledge of their personal history. Aside from terrorist attacks, gun violence targeting children is still rare in Pakistan. If this incident has taught us anything, it is that we simply cannot afford to be indifferent when the cost of our negligence is so colossal and the implications so far-reaching. This isn’t just a tragedy for those who were in the direct line of fire-every student at that school will be traumatized for months to come, and we only have ourselves to blame. *