Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - Hina Khan is a teenager threatened by the Taliban as Malala Yousafzai, the girl hit by a bomb attack in the Swat Valley and now in hospital in the UK. Even Hina, a 17-year-old Muslim, who lives in the Swat Valley and has been active in a campaign for girls' education since she was 13 years old. Hina has received a number of warnings and found a red "X" painted on the front door of her residence in Islamabad. According to observers, she is the n. 1 goal on the list of the organization "Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan" (TTP), the one that hit Malala. Today Hina cannot leave the house or go to school and her family has asked the government for protection. In 2007, Hina had publicly denounced, with courage, the "Talibanisation" of Pakistan: militants have destroyed hundreds of schools (400 only in the Swat Valley) and has deprived education to thousands of girls. According to the report published by UNESCO last week, more than three million children in Pakistan do not have access to education.
"Intolerance has penetrated the social fabric slowly. Pakistan in 2012 has become more intolerant, in fact, compared to what the Pakistani media shows," said Peter Jacob, Secretary of the Commission" Justice and Peace "of the Pakistani Bishops in a statement sent to Fides. Jacob does not have too much faith in political action: "Although the political rhetoric is full of sermons on peace and harmony, in the higher levels of politics extremism is believed to be too difficult to deal with. In addition, the blasphemy cases are difficult to treat, because the elections are around the corner. " "This means - Jacob continues - that vulnerable groups, such as minorities, women and children are doomed. Intolerance has penetrated the social fabric and is now fed by a genuine economic subsystem. What is worrying is the increasing violence against the most vulnerable, which remains unpunished." The hope, according to the Secretary, is in those segments of the civil society in Pakistan that, beyond all religious beliefs, "actively resist the brutalization of society." (PA) (Agenzia Fides 24/10/2012)
