Daily Times

In the heart of Mingora city is Khushal Public School. This is where Malala was studying in a classroom of 9th grade. In the second row to the extreme right is a chair of Malala Yousafzai but mind you it is not vacant, a school bag represents Malala’s presence. Her closest friend, Tehmina in whose gentle hands Malala’s bleeding head dropped after Malala was hit by a bullet on that very unfortunate day, is back in her class having been through a traumatic experience, with a renewed resolve to continue her studies.

The whole class of around 40 girls dressed in the school uniform of blue kameez and white shalwar with black chador to cover their heads, stands up to show respect for the head teacher when she takes me to the class. After introduction, when she signals to Tehmina as the closest friend of Malala, she reluctantly stands up exhibiting great pain like the imposing mountains of Swat had been thrown on her tender shoulders. With tearful eyes and in a choked voice, Tehmina asks me in fluent English why ‘they’ want to kill them. Is it such a big crime to educate ourselves, she asks. The environment in the class suddenly became somber. I had no answer but vain assurances that things would get better and Malala would be back among them very soon.

As an active speaker, Malala always believed in debate, her teacher Ayesha said. Her usual rival in debates, Sania dried her eyes with her chador as the teacher introduced her. Sania wanted to say something but could not and tears made their way hastily down her rosy cheeks. Ayesha took control and moderated well. The situation normalised and an impressive and healthy debate ensued covering a range of issues from the Waziristan operation to internal politics. One student rationalised Malala’s praise for President Obama saying Malala also said she liked Benazir Bhutto and Bacha Khan. Ayesha like a good moderator said that it was not a crime to like President Obama, as everybody was free in his or her choices.

Militancy was understandably the focus of the debate and I was wondering how in their tender age they had matured enough to voice their views on hard stances like situation in Waziristan, militancy and political motivations. Perhaps because they themselves had witnessed and suffered when their city was besieged by militants and military action taken against them was still fresh in their memories. One student, however, pleaded, that the attack on Malala must not be politicised and linked with the need for drones or a military attack. However, the message in unison from Malala’s classroom and teachers was clear and straightforward. That every day of Malala’s life is revenge and a message to her attackers that goodness will prevail no matter how much they try to contain it.

“I didn’t notice the beauty of Malala’s eyes here but when I held her head in my arms at the hospital and she opened one eye, I realised how beautiful Malala’s clear brown eyes were. We thought the bullet just crossed her forehead as there was no apparent exit point.” Maryam Khalique, the principal of the Khushal Public School in her early 30s, told me later in her office.

Mrs Khalique dressed in traditional shalwar kameez with an evident tired look said that Saira was traumatied but we thought it would be good for her to attend school and mingle with her class fellows to lessen her pain. She said the other two wounded students would soon be back in the school. She refuted the stories of students dropping out after Malala incident. “Not a single student dropped out of around 900 students from our school and the school was open two days after Malala’s shooting incident. That shows resilience of our students”, Maryam Khalique said proudly.

Narrating the story of the shooting incident, Tehmina, Malala’s class fellow said that she was sitting next to her and when the shooter asked for Malala, she suddenly looked at her and saw that Malala froze with a pale look on her face with no reaction at all. “Her head fell in my arms after she was hit in the head”, Tehmina said in a chocked voice with a flurry of tears rolling down her face.

“I will never forget the incident and neither will I forgive the shooter who tried to snatch Malala from us,” said Tehmina, recovering herself. “But my gift to my best friend Malala, thousands of miles away from us in a hospital in Britain will be that I complete my studies and thus take revenge on her enemies”, Tina said sounding very determined and resilient. “Malala’s every breath is revenge. Her would be assassins thought they had brought her life to an end but she is valiantly fighting for her life in hospital and we will fight here for our education”, Tehmina said.

During the recess hour, a flurry of activity could be seen among the kids in the school. The somber mood slightly changed. Every student I came across confidently said “Salam.” Things were slowly coming back to normal and that was making Maryam Khalique very happy who keeps her office door open and students come and share their problems with her freely and confidently.

Generally, the students and teachers of Malala’s school were not happy with the propaganda that students were dropping from her school. “As I told you earlier that not a single student dropped after the incident of October 09. You notice any fear or sense of insecurity among the students here? Yes Malala is one of our brightest students but individuals are not indispensable for institutions.” She also showed me a letter sent by Malala’s father and the owner of the school that he sent from Rawalpindi hospital urging the school staff to continue with the mission of educating girls of Swat irrespective of what happens to Malala.

“She will attend her class again as her class fellows are eagerly awaiting and praying for her recovery. Right now, she may not be physically present but her spirit lives on. This school will keep on imparting quality education. We will not close it. We will keep it open for many more Malalas. We will not be scared”, her visibly tearful teacher and principal of the school, Maryam Khalique said with a firm resolve.

It was a partially cloudy day. The general mood in Mingora was normal but apprehensive. Children were playing cricket near the spot Malala was hit. Only a well-trained operative could shoot and run, a local reporter said to me when we looked around.

Thousands of miles away, comes a weak but determined voice, “Where am I?” as Malala asked after recovering her consciousness. She may not be aware of the place where she is staying but her friends, class fellow, teachers and all those who love her and pray for her speedy recovery know she resides in their hearts.

Writer’s note: Names of students and teachers have been changed for security reasons.

The writer can be reached at kaharzalmay@yahoo.com