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Subscribe to RSSAs doctors debated whether to send Malala Yousafzai abroad for care, thousands rallied in her name, including hundreds of schoolgirls who gathered in Afghanistan. NBC's Amna Nawaz reports.
KARACHI, Pakistan -- Tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan's largest city Sunday in support of a 14-year-old girl who was shot and critically wounded by the Taliban for promoting girls' education and criticizing the militant group.
The demonstration in the southern city of Karachi was by far the largest since Malala Yousufzai and two of her classmates were shot on Oct. 9 while returning home from school in Pakistan's northwest.
The attack horrified people inside and outside Pakistan and sparked hope among some that it would prompt the government to intensify its fight against the Taliban and their allies.
But protests against the shooting have been relatively small until now, usually attracting no more than a few hundred people. That response pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of people who held violent protests in Pakistan last month against a film produced in the United States that denigrated Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Demonstrations in support of Yousufzai — and against rampant militant violence in the country in general — have also been fairly small compared with those focused on issues such as U.S. drone attacks and the NATO supply route to Afghanistan that runs through Pakistan.
Rizwan Tabassum / AFP - Getty Images
A Pakistani woman shouts slogans during a protest march against the assassination attempt by the Taliban on 14-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai, in Karachi on Sunday. Malala is making "slow and steady progress" in her recovery, the military said.
Right-wing Islamic parties and organizations in Pakistan that regularly pull thousands of supporters into the streets to protest against the U.S. have less of an incentive to speak out against the Taliban, who share their desire to impose Islamic law in the country — even if they may disagree with some of the militant group's violent tactics.
Pakistan's mainstream political parties are often also more willing to harangue the U.S. than direct their people power against Islamist militants shedding blood across the country — partly out of fear and partly because they rely on Islamist parties for electoral support.
One of the exceptions is the political party that organized Sunday's rally in Karachi, the Muttahida Quami Movement. The party's chief, Altaf Hussain, criticized both Islamic and other mainstream political parties for failing to organize rallies to protest the attack against Yousufzai.
Positive developments have been reported regarding the recovery of 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban near her school on Tuesday. NBC'S Amna Nawaz reports.
He called the Taliban gunmen who shot the girl "beasts" and said the shooting was an attack on "the ideology of Pakistan."
"Malala Yousufzai is a beacon of knowledge. She is the daughter of the nation," Hussain told the audience by telephone from London, where he is in self-imposed exile because of legal cases pending against him in Pakistan. His party is the strongest in Karachi.
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Many of the demonstrators carried the young girl's picture and banners praising her bravery and expressing solidarity.
Yousufzai earned the enmity of the Taliban for publicizing their behavior when they took over the northwestern Swat Valley, where she lived, and for speaking about the importance of education for girls.
The group first started to exert its influence in Swat in 2007 and quickly extended its reach to much of the valley by the next year. They set about imposing their will on residents by forcing men to grow beards, preventing women from going to the market and blowing up many schools — the majority for girls.
Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.
Yousufzai wrote about these practices in a journal for the BBC under a pseudonym when she was just 11. After the Taliban were pushed out of the valley in 2009 by the Pakistani military, she became even more outspoken in advocating for girls' education. She appeared frequently in the media and was given one of the country's highest honors for civilians for her bravery.
The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the shooting because Yousufzai was promoting "Western thinking." Police have arrested at least three suspects in connection with the attack, but the two gunmen who carried out the shooting remain at large.
The young girl was shot in the neck, and the bullet headed toward her spine. Doctors at a military hospital operated on her to remove the bullet from her neck, and she was put on a ventilator. Her condition improved somewhat on Saturday when she was able to move her legs and hands after her sedatives were reduced.
On Sunday, she was successfully taken off the ventilator for a short period and later reconnected to avoid fatigue, the military said. Doctors said she is making slow and steady progress.
The possibility of transferring Malala overseas for continued treatment was still being considered, a military spokesman said. Pakistan has arranged a specially equipped air ambulance with the United Arab Emirates that will be used if doctors decide to move her abroad.
Visas are being finalized for the air ambulance crew and six doctors who will accompany the flight, the Pakistani ambassador to the country, Jamil Ahmed Khan, told Pakistan's Geo TV. Arrangements have been made to treat the girl at three hospitals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, he said.
The UAE Embassy in Islamabad could not immediately be reached for comment.
No decision has yet been taken to send the girl abroad, but the air ambulance is part of the contingency plan, the Pakistani military said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has written letters to top political and religious leaders in Pakistan denouncing the attack on Yousufzai and asking them to help battle extremism in both countries, the president's office said in a statement issued late Saturday. Karzai wrote that he views the shooting as an attack on Afghanistan's girls as well.
NBC News’ Fakhar Rehman in Pakistan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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One of the constant comments on this thread is that Muslims never take a stand against violence and religious intolerance.
I wonder if they note cases such as this one, or that in Pakistan and Yemen or Afghanistan is damn dangerous to open one's mouth and criticize the mullah with ak47. Occasionally such shooting occur here; but at least here the police arrest the perpetrators.
The people don't seem to get too worked up when crimes are commited against young girls and older women. If they don't protest then it must mean that they agree with the Taliban. How can these countries be so damned backwards.
Hi Tarzan,
Let's look homeward for an answer. How can the Republican party put "elected" politicians like Todd Akin and Georgia's fantastic Paul Brown on the Science and Technology Committee? Why do people elect these knuckle draggers anyway. Talk about backwards, and parents wonder why the US is so far behind in math, science and reading. And women only now discover the wonders of their vaginas....
I suspect most don't protest out of fear. Look at North Korea. And we keep feeding North Korea to make sure it stays that way.
You, Tarzan. You no read headline. Not see big headline, say "Thousands rally in Karachi for Malala, 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot by Taliban".
You, Tarzan, swing on vine good. Not think much.
Ask Cheetah. He explain.
Brave girl, it is too bad it takes such an extreme thing to unite the better half.
The Bible encourages us to take the 'mote' out of our eyes before attempting to take the "beam" out of others eyes. So it is with this case. There are many sins in America that need attending without getting caught up in every international incident. Although this is extremely heinous act it happened within a country whose own President has said nothing.
It is good that FINALLY there is an incident that will make some Arab peoples rise up against the Taliban, a bunch of thugs who hide behind Religious utterances but have no religion themselves. It is time for Arab peoples the world over to throw off the so called religious kooks that are keeping them in the dark ages. Russia spent millions in Afghanistan and now America have done the same is leaving and still the people hide and assist these thugs. so let them deal with their own internal problems and stop getting young people from other countries killed for naught. Hopefully this young girl will not have put herself in harms way for a people who can find time and energy to protest violently against the USA over a film but condone shootings of school girls for wanting an education. Let's see how many Arab countries riot over this! this will probably not even make it out of Karachi!
Meanwhile back in the good ole USA some fired a shot in to the Obama campaign HQ in Denver. There have been few comments if any on these pages condemning that act. Someone could have been killed. A real act of Terrorism at home and it passes with merely a whimper.
Yes, there is not much difference between the attack on Malala and the attack on Sandra Fluke by Rush Limbaugh. The intent was the same.
Please Stevie, let's keep the Bible out of it and just use common sense and intelligence not some book of stories that is thousands of years old.
Wow, now you people are pissed? Rise up Paki's, Arabs, Persians... where you all at? Rise up and wipe these bottom feeding terrorists off the face of the planet.
Have to love the rest of the world. Everyone wants to hate us and yet they all want our money and for us to do their dirty work. Wankers... all of them.
One of these days we just need to tell the world to go @!$%# off and tend to our own...
Wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery to Malala.
I'm proud that thousands are out protesting, it takes guts in a country like Pakistan, now if the government and local leaders while join in, for real change and let the female children get the education they need and desire, so they can grow up and teach and lead their country out of the darkness...
Please send address of Taliban for drone strikes!
I am glad that the girl is receiveing proper medical care. It was a horrific act from horrific animals that put here and her 2 classmates in the hospital. If the people in 'Stans could get their respective courage up and running, and seek religious freedom, to live, think, and worship as they choose for themselve and not be forced or coerced into how they will do such things, then progress out of their dark ages may commence.
The dark ages are centuries long, and many have and will suffer. The church
used it power, in the past, and now in the present, to keep the people in-check,
ignorant, and poor. The church elders took/take their tithes, their enforced ten
percent, and put it in their pockets for political profit, and propound their
power. They used their collective education and intellect to keep that control
and they make sure that the uneducated stay that way. Where ever they went in
the new world, they would burn, rape and destroy the collected wisdom of those
they found. They would subjugate their new flocks with 'new ignorance' and made
them believers and reciters of information that only the church fathers control
and disseminate with disturbing dissonance. The church fathers would flail their
flock should they disobey, disagree, or show disdain. Indoctrination was the
ideal form of control, and often used the threat of death to deter detractors.
They made believers, and didn't want thinkers. They would put the thinkers in
prison until the thinker gave up on their contrary thoughts, rules of logic, and
any remembrance of relevant facts from their former lives. The thinkers could
only know what the church fathers wanted them to know. Real Truths were
irrelevant. Change the “facts” and you change the truth. Believers were made to
believe the “facts” until the “facts” became their truth. If they didn't believe
there was always death, as the final truth.
Since the beginnings of human existence there has always been dark ages,
however, interspersed between those ages are times of enlightenment, learning,
experiment, and empowerment for the populous as a whole. There was a sharing of
information, of art, of culture, of science, and the knowledge gained from the
endeavors of individuals. Humor from the co-experienced foibles of family and
friends, became the foundation of wisdom. The ability to laugh at oneself, and
collectively at one's civilization, and getting past serious dealings with
others lead to a better understanding and further the features of that
foundation of wisdom. The preservation of the present-past, for the fervent
future of those yet to come, to reduce their failings and produce a progressive
populous that would become even more profound the world around and produce and
proliferate progress in the care of the people in the present-past and into the
present-future.
That girl has guts and I pray for her. Sad for all women in that country run by bearded baboons with the IQ of a grape. They should be put in a zoo.
are - - - How dare you insult grapes !!!
Awe but grapes are meant to be tread upon to make wine. Stomp baby stomp!
It's good that so many showed up to protest, but it should have been millions. Until these people stand up to the religious extremists, even at the point of violence, nothing will change. These people deserve to live free from oppression, even (or maybe especially) when that oppression is coming from the extremes of the religion they practice. Stand up, take back what is yours. You are the one's that are losing here.
The taliban same as the klu klux klan. If pakistan protects them, tne U.S. money stops immediately as in now.
Taliban victim is an oxymoron, lol
Hey Overlord--you're not lord over anything except a bucket of your own vomit.
These degenerates wear sheets and sandals, they live in the stone age. They have NO desire to progress and come into the 21st century, Screw em all. The protests are small because these nuts JUST DON'T care (overall).
We should give these and others like them ZERO US DOLLARS !! NO MORE MONEY to Pakistan !!
I am very impressed both by this young girl's courage and the courage of the women who are protesting in her name. Their words and actions speak well for the future of Pakistan. There is hope after all.
long live malala! death to taliban! free pakistan! no more terrorism!
The Taliban are filthy little cowards. If they were real men, they'd bring an army and meet us on the field of honor but all they are capable of is killing/intimidating women, children, the elderly, and hiding behind civilians. Sub-human trash that needs to be eliminated from the planet.
You are getting too emotional there, do you know anything about guerilla warfare and military tactics. im sure you dont. Going head to head with marines on an open feild would mean certain death for them. Its called hit and run. Guerilla armies have been doing that for centuries. Che guevara fidel castro all used gureilla warfare. You can just go toe to toe with a superior enemy. Leave your childish comments out of the forum.
You people in pakistan are a bunch of idiots.
You invite, support and hide these terrorist islamic scumbags into your country, give them military protection and then have the gaull to get upset when they start doing what they are well known for, that being, murdering helpless and defenceless women and children while your entire country stands by and condones these types of murder.
You, the government and the people of pakistan support, love and condone what these pig eating excuses for a human being do in your country and stand by, because you are too stupid to do anything, and watch these horrific acts of murder happen everyday in front of you and to your family members.
Maybe it is time the very stupid pakistani people got their heads out of their rear ends and smelled the coffee.
Yes, I was very encouraged to see that Muslims were actually protesting against the Ultra-Evil Taliban and in support of a brave Taliban victim. I thought it was some great news. Until I saw the sentence that said "the numbers who attended this protest were miniscule compared to the numbers that turned out to protest a FILM."
Yeah so what we have is a culture who cares more about a stupid film saying things about their invisible God than about real human beings. Just when I begin to think there may be some sane people 'over there'.
Please give Malala the Nobel Peace Prize. Whoever else they had in mind, they can wait another year. Malala deserves it.
The Taliban hasn't discovered fire and the wheel yet. They still have a "donkey and cart" mentality.
The religion of peace expresses itself yet again. What cowards.
Chicken @!$%# Bastards, Your so cool killing Children. We have the same @!$%# going on over here they call it Gang Banging. Chick @!$%# still the same. I remember back when You got in to a fist fight. Just a bunch of chicken @!$%# punks. Shoting Kids so they can put another notch on their guns. That makes You a very brave man.
There just no room in this world for low lifers.
I hope she is alright.
It sound like she's going to recover. Her voice will have incredible power when she does.
Rally? Start shooting every known Taliban member, they don't respect life. They think they arm strong men because they can kill a little girl. The world should declare war on these inhuman bastards. Kill them all, the world will be aa much safer and saner place. They dont deserve to breathe!
Our thoughts and prayers for Malala, a true heroine. Someone needs to speak out against these criminal stone age terrorist lunatics. Hopefully now it will be far more than one courageous girl. The only thing that ignorant religious fanatics offer is hatred, violance, and intimidation. They abuse religion by making it a power tool to justify any criminal activity they do to subjugate people. No real religion justifies murdering school girls, and no real religion requires or justifies keeping girls or boys ignorant. We can only hope that Malala gives other people the courage to stand up to these monsters. We have seen what they would do in power in Afghanistan. Only the people of Pakistan can eliminate the Taliban, by making it clear that their behavior is not tolerable in Pakistani society.
All the Abrahamic religions are really quite bloody. Violence is very much condoned in multiple places in their respective "holy books." It is high time that we grow up, accept our temporary, insignificant existences and simply try to create a better world for the people of the future.