Newspapers and television news channels have recently been carrying images of rather scared-looking little girls assembling once more in classes as schools re-open in Swat. The question is how long they can stay on in school. The already precarious truce worked out in Swat by desperate government officials seems unlikely to last. Even Sufi Muhammad Khan, who has now said he wants Islamic law across the world rather than in Swat alone, seems uncertain he can persuade militants there to do his bidding. Worse still, nobody seems to quite know what the terms of the accord are. The central government's attitude is, at best, ambiguous -- not saying quite what it seeks to achieve.
These realities mean that, sadly, Swat's girls are unlikely to remain safely in school. Many have already missed over a year of education. Hundreds of teachers too are said to have fled the Valley. Many classes then have no one to teach them; others lack buildings. The danger is that the militants will, as they have in the past, resort once more to the attacks that saw 200 schools being burnt or destroyed in the Valley. The government has for all these months failed to protect the rights of children who seek only to learn. The whimsical approach to the peace deal shows there is still a lack of earnest desire to ensure they and others who live in the area are protected. As they gathered for morning assembly, many pupils offered special prayers for safety and peace. This was wise. For as things stand at the moment, prayer is all they can bank on.
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