Karachi says yes to Malala, no to Taliban

Tens of thousands of Pakistanis held a demonstration in Karachi on Sunday in support of a 14-year-old human rights campaigner and peace activist shot and critically wounded by the Taliban for promoting girls' education and criticizing the extremist group. The demonstration was the largest by far since Malala Yousufzai and two classmates were shot on October 9 while returning home from school, The Associated Press reported. The demonstration was organized by the most powerful political party in Karachi, the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM). The party's chief, Altaf Hussain, addressed the audience by telephone from London, where is he in self-imposed exile. Hussain called the Taliban gunmen who attacked Yousufzai "beasts" and said the shooting was an attack on "the ideology of Pakistan." Hussain addressed the audience by telephone from London, where is he in self-imposed exile. “Malala Yousufzai is a beacon of knowledge. She is the daughter of the nation,” he added. The demonstrators carried the young girl's picture and banners praising her bravery. Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said that the militants attacked Malala because she was anti-Taliban, adding that she would not be spared. "She was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban," Ehsan said by telephone from a secret location. "She was young but she was promoting Western culture in Pashtun areas," he said, referring to the main ethnic group in northwest Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. Most members of the Afghan Taliban and the TTP come from the Pashtun community. It is a society where there is great opposition to education for females and a very low level of literacy. On Saturday, a Pakistani military spokesman said the 14-year-old had shown signs of improvement by moving her limbs. "The sedation given to Malala was reduced today so that neurosurgeons could do their clinical assessment and as a result of it Malala responded and moved her hands and feet," Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa told reporters in Rawalpindi, where Malala is being treated in a military hospital. "It is a positive development," Bajwa added. "As per doctors, (the) condition of Malala is stable." Two other young girls, who were also injured when the militants attacked Malala’s school bus, were "also being taken care of at places where they can get best treatment,” he stated. Earlier on Saturday, doctors treating Malala said they were hopeful because the 14-year-old felt pain, a sign of recovery for someone who is on a ventilator. The United Arab Emirates plans to send a specialized aircraft to serve as an ambulance for the 14-year-old in case doctors decide to send her abroad for treatment, a Pakistani official said Sunday. The UAE Embassy in Islamabad could not immediately be reached for comment. On Friday, at mosques, churches, and schools across the country, Pakistanis observed a day of prayers for the speedy recovery of the young activist. In 2008 and 2009, the TTP banned female education in the Swat Valley, depriving more than 40,000 girls of education. TTP militants destroyed hundreds of schools in the valley during a campaign of violence over the course of the two years, which led to a dramatic decline in the number of girls enrolled in schools in the region. In 2009, Malala Yousufzai rose to fame for writing about life in the Swat Valley under the TTP. She later received Pakistan’s National Peace Award for bravery and was also nominated for an international children's peace award.