Can You Imagine...

Disembowelled, then torn apart - for teaching girls:

The gunmen came at night to drag Mohammed Halim away from his home, in front of his crying children and his wife begging for mercy. The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely. But his life was over. He was partly disembowelled and then torn apart with his arms and legs tied to motorbikes. The remains were put on display as a warning to others against defying Taleban orders to stop educating girls. Halim is one of four teachers killed in rapid succession by the Islamists at Ghazni, a strategic point on the routes from Kabul to the south and east which has become the scene of fierce clashes between the Taleban and United States and Afghan forces....

At the village of Qara Bagh, Halim's family is distraught and terrified. His cousin, Ahmed Gul, shook his head. "They killed him like an animal. No, no. We do not kill animals like that. They took away a father and a husband, they had no pity. We are all very worried. Please go now, you see those men standing over there? They are watching. It is dangerous for you, and for us."

Fatima Mustaq, the director of education at Ghazni, has had repeated death threats, the notorious 'night letters'. Her gender, as well as her refusal to send girls home from school, has made her a hate figure for Islamist zealots. "I think they killed him that way to frighten us, otherwise why make a man suffer so much? Mohammed Halim and his family were good friends of ours and we are very, very upset by what has happened. He came to me when the threats first began and asked what he should do. I told him to move somewhere safe. I think he was trying to arrange that when they came and took him."

The threats against Mushtaq also extend to her husband Sayyid Abdul and their eight children. "When the first letters arrived, I tried to hide them from my husband. But then he found the next few. He said we must stand together. We talked, and we decided that we must tell the children, so that they can be prepared. But it is not a good way for them to grow up."

During the Taleban's rule she and her sister ran secret schools for girls at their home. "They found out and raided us. We managed to persuade them that we were only teaching the Koran. But they spied and found out we were teaching algebra. So they came and beat us. Can you imagine, beating someone for teaching algebra."

Comments

[P. Froward]

Well, it's easy enough to blame the victim, isn't it? In this case, the Taliban, who are merely striking back at their tormentors with the only weapons at their disposal. We may perhaps not fully understand or countenance their methods, but we must at the same time applaud their zeal, indefatigability, and courage. We must not let racism blind us to the many sterling qualities of these dedicated men.

While these events could indeed be seen to be regrettable, in a sense, they are nevertheless also inevitable, as long as the situation in Palestine remains unresolved.

And isn't it shamefully hypocritical, to criticise, while in our own society there are still inequalities in education?

[DaninVan]

P. Froward; I've printed out your comment and pinned it up next to my computer. It's to remind me of the depths of depravity humanity will endorse in order to validate their own prejudices.

I'd recommend 'Bed of Red Flowers' by Nelofer Pazira http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-05-12/books_reviews2.php
but I'm sure it'd be a waste of time.

There is of course, the possibility that your post was a bitter satire, in which case I apologize for what I'm thinking of your morality.

[Mick H]

DaninVan - yes, he was being satirical.

[DaninVan]

*Whew!* Again, my apologies, P. Froward.
Unfortunately there's a huge segment of the population that, in fact, would agree wholeheartedly with your post (my neighbor comes to mind).
The most disturbing thing about a piece of harsh satire is that it CAN be taken literally! Blog comments all over the 'net are littered with similar posts written in earnest.
Maybe I live in an unusual neighborhood, but I'm surrounded by Left wing surrender monkies, obsessed with the whole neocon/Zionist/ 9/11 conspiracy shtick; I've become a caricature of Clouseau's boss, Chief Inspector Dreyfus, nervous eye tic and all.