Young Shooting Victims: Malala, Parkland and Sandy Hook

What common experience have Malala Yousufzai and some of the young shooting victims of Parkland and Sandy Hook schools shared? After being at the receiving end of life-threatening shootings, they became targets of the slings and arrows of conspiracy theorists alleging the attacks were staged. Malala acknowledged this fact in her video message to American student marchers recently.

Malala Yousufzai:

Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head by Pakistani Taliban in Swat Valley in 2012. She luckily survived after being airlifted to a hospital in Pakistan where the doctors operated on her to save her life. Later, she went through additional surgery and rehab in England where she is now a student at Oxford University. 

As if her physical ordeal was not enough, some anti-West right-wing conspiracy theorists attacked her for being a willing participant in a "staged" shooting to defame Pakistan. The fact that Malala was given multiple awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, only added to the anger of such groups. 

Parkland School Shooting Survivors:  

The students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, saw a mass shooting in February, 2018. Seventeen people were killed and seventeen more were wounded, making it one of the world's deadliest school massacres.

Michael Kugelman, an American analyst at Woodrow Wilson Center, sees some parallels between Malala and Parkland school shooting survivors.  Here's what he wrote in a op ed for Pakistan's Dawn newspaper about those attacking Parkland shooting survivors:

" A similar story is playing out now in the United States......These haters say the grieving victims (of Parkland mass shooting) attract attention they don’t deserve, come off as sanctimonious and self-righteous, are frauds, and are “being funded” and “given scripts.” The gun massacre survivors are branded as Nazis, targeted in doctored photo campaigns, and even mocked for college rejection letters..."

Sandy Hook Mass Shooting:

Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children of ages 6-7 years and six adult staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States.

As the parents grieved for their lost babies, they were subjected to conspiracy theories branding their tragedy an elaborate hoax. They were accused of being hired actors in a performance staged to bring down the National Rifle Association to kill the Second Amendment.

March For Our Lives:

Students across the United States organized a protest they called March for our lives to demand gun control laws.  At the marches, Malala Yousufzai spoke live via video link  to acknowledge similarities between her shooting and the Parkland shooting. Malala explained what she and the Parkland survivors share in common: They experienced violence and injustice, and they decided to speak out.

School Mass Shootings: 

The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida has brought back the horrible memory of the tragic mass shooting at Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan on December 16, 2014.  The Peshawar school mass shooting claimed 149 lives, making it the world's second deadliest mass shooting at Beslan school in Russia where 334 people were killed.

Source: bkayy

The Parkland, Florida school shooting was the world's 10th worst with 17 dead. Five of the world's 10 worst mass shootings have occurred in the United States. The rest of them were one each in Russia, Pakistan, Kenya, Israel and the United Kingdom.

Peshawar School Shooting:

On the morning of December 16, 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) entered the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar and started shooting. All  six were foreign nationals, included one Chechen, three Arabs and two Afghans.

By the time the Pakistani Army commandos arrived and killed the attackers, 149 people including 132 students, ranging in age between eight and eighteen years, lay dead.

The Peshawar attack galvanized the Pakistani people to take on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist groups. The Pakistani military launched a nation-wide operation Zarb e Azb to bring about a dramatic reduction in terrorist violence in the country.

Parkland School Shooting:

On the afternoon of February 14, 2018, a lone gunman entered and started shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  Seventeen people were killed and fourteen more were taken to hospitals, making it the world's 10th deadliest school massacre. The suspected,  19-year-old Nikolas Jacob Cruz, was arrested shortly afterward and confessed, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

The suspect was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He had been expelled and was angry. He used an AR-15 assault rifle to quickly kill over a dozen of his fellow students.

AR-15 is easily available in the United States, It has become a weapon of choice for mass shootings in America. 2017 Las Vegas mass shooter who killed 58 people also used a modified AR-15 rifle.

Summary:

Conspiracy theorists' attacks on survivors of Parkland school shootings in US state of Florida are no different than similar attacks on Malala Yousufzai in Swat Valley, Pakistan. They have all been accused of being part of staged attacks for political purposes.

While school shootings have occurred in many countries around the world, no other country has seen as many and as frequently as those in the United States. New York Times analysis of the Gun Violence Archive found that there have been 239 school shootings since 2014, including those on college campuses, resulting in 138 deaths. The biggest reason accounting for it is the ease of access to the deadliest of assault weapons in America. Will the US Congress act this time in defiance of the gun lobby? Given the track record of US legislators after worse massacres than Parkland, I wouldn't hold my breath. However, the response of the students has been much stronger and more sustained than in the past. I hope that they succeed where others have failed.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Yet Another Award for Malala

Gun Violence, Islamophobia and Terrorism

Gun Violence in America

Peshawar School Attack

Is US Gun Lobby Empowering Terrorists? 

Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel

PakAlumni Social Network

Terror in Peshawar; Obama in India; Tillerson Exit?

Who was behind the terror attack at Peshawar Agriculture University? Is it the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that claimed responsibility? Will this attack harden Pakistan's position vis-a-vis TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan? Will it make less likely for Pakistan to cooperate with the US and Afghanistan? Are Pakistani security forces getting better in dealing with such attacks?

Why is former US President Obama in India? What did he say about Pakistan and its alleged role in hiding Osama Bin Laden? Why is Obama advising Indian Prime Minister Modi to abandon Hindu Nationalists' politics of hate and division along religious lines?

Is the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson really on his way out? If so, why? How is the uncertainty impacting American diplomacy abroad? Is President Trump too focussed on building up and funding the military at the expense of diplomacy? Will it backfire?

Viewpoint From Overseas host Faraz Darvesh discusses these questions with Misbah Azam and Riaz Haq (www.riazhaq.com)

https://youtu.be/Em8-PX2WAJY




Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Wave of Terror in Pakistan

Seeing Bin Laden's Death in Wider Perspective

India is Lynching Capital of the World

Tillerson in South Asia

Talk4Pak Youtube Channel

Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel

Pakistani Students Win Silver in International Genetic Engineering Competition

A team of undergraduate students representing Peshawar has won a silver medal in a genetic engineering competition organized recently by the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts.

Source: iGEM Peshawar Facebook Page

iGEM Team:

The team was made up of students from several cities and towns across Pakistan including Lahore, Attock, Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Khyber Agency, Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar, Swabi and Mardan.

The team was hosted by Institute of Integrative Biosciences of CECOS University of IT and Emerging Sciences Peshawar. It was sponsored by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP)’s Directorate of Science and Technology, according to media reports.

The team's silver-medal-winning 2017 entry is a genetically engineered fish called "Reporter Fish" that can detect five different heavy metals and change color to indicate the presence of metal contamination in the water. It used an Arduino electronic circuit board with bacterial-human interface device that enables bacteria to detect and report contamination.

The Peshawar team also participated in iGEM 2016 competition and won a Bronze medal. The 12-member team last year was made of 5 female and 7 male students.

Stanford Challenge:

Earlier this year, a 3-person team of Pakistani students, including a female student from Islamabad's National University of Science and Technology (NUST), won first place in a contest organized by Stanford Center of Longevity. The team's entry is a device they designed and prototyped that enables tremor patients to perform daily routine tasks.

Higher Education in Pakistan:

Wins such as the iGEM silver medal and the first place in Stanford Challenge are the result of improvements in higher education in Pakistan since the year 2000.

There are over 3 million students enrolled in grades 13 through 16 in Pakistan's 1,086 degree colleges and 161 universities, according to Pakistan Higher Education Commission report for 2013-14.  The 3 million enrollment is 15% of the 20 million Pakistanis in the eligible age group of 18-24 years.  In addition, there are over 255,000 Pakistanis enrolled in vocational training schools, according to Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA).

Graduation Day at NED Engineering University For 1300 Graduates in 2013

Pakistani universities have been producing over half a million graduates, including over 10,000 IT graduates, every year since 2010, according to HEC data. The number of university graduates in Pakistan increased from 380,773 in 2005-6 to 493,993 in 2008-09. This figure is growing with rising enrollment and contributing to Pakistan's growing human capital.

Source: UNESCO's Global Education Digest 2009

Higher education in Pakistan has come a long way since its independence in 1947 when there was only one university, the University of Punjab. By 1997, the number of universities had risen to 35, of which 3 were federally administered and 22 were under the provincial governments, with a combined enrollment of 71,819 students. A big spending boost by President Pervez Musharraf helped establish 51 new universities and awarding institutions during 2002-2008. This helped triple university enrollment from 135,000 in 2003 to about 400,000 in 2008, according to Dr. Ata ur Rehman who led the charge for expanding higher education during Musharraf years. There are 161 universities with 1.5 million students enrolled in Pakistan as of 2014.

R&D Investment: 

Rise of research and publications at Pakistani universities began during Musharraf years when the annual budget for higher education increased from only Rs 500 million in 2000 to Rs 28 billion in 2008, to lay the foundations of the development of a strong knowledge economy, according to former education minister Dr. Ata ur Rehman. Student enrollment in universities increased from 270,000 to 900,000 and the number of universities and degree awarding institutions increased from 57 in 2000 to 137 by 2008. Government R&D spending jumped seven-fold as percentage of GDP from 0.1% of GDP in 1999 to 0.7% of GDP in 2007. It has since declined as percentage of GDP.

Summary:

Pakistani students, scientists and researchers are continuing to produce highly recognized and cited research in spite of serious economic and security challenges. Enrollment in higher education is rising and giving a boost to innovation. With better policy focus and more investment in higher education, Pakistan  can make an even greater impact with its young demographics.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan Beats BRICS in Highly Cited Research

Pakistan Becomes CERN Member

Pakistani Scientists at CERN

Rising College Enrollment in Pakistan

10 Pakistani Universities Among Asia's Top 300

Genomics and Biotech Research in Pakistan

Human Capital Growth in Pakistan

Educational Attainment in Pakistan

Pakistan Human Development in Musharraf Years

Robotics Growth in Pakistan 

Pakistan's Political, Military Policy Actions in Response to Peshawar Tragedy

How are Pakistani leaders and society responding to the worst-ever mass-casualty terrorist attack on school children in Pakistan since 911? 

Will Pakistani political leaders finally come together to fight the Taliban menace? How will the government and the society at large deal with terrorist sympathizers and apologists present in all walks of life in society? 

Will the Pakistani media continue to offer a platform to the apologists and sympathizers of terrorists to rationalize murders of innocent civilians, including women and children? 

Will Pakistanis finally own this war against the Taliban as their own war?

ViewPoint from Overseas host Faraz Darvesh discusses these questions with panelists Ali H Cemendtaur, Sabahat Ashraf (iFaqeer) and Riaz Haq(www.riazhaq.com)

http://vimeo.com/115035660


Pakistan's Political, Military Policy Actions in Response to Peshawar Tragedy from WBT TV on Vimeo.

http://youtu.be/ECar5jRiTrg




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Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's Story as Undercover RAW Agent in Pakistan

Viewpoint From Overseas-Vimeo 

Viewpoint From Overseas-Youtube 

Why is America Losing in Afghanistan?

American counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan has come under a lot of criticism recently as the resurgent Taliban have made significant gains. Not only are the Taliban controlling over 70% of the territory in Afghanistan, but they have also recently demonstrated their ability to strike at will in the heart of Kabul, the heavily fortified capital of the nation comparable to the Green Zone in Baghdad.

The latest reports indicate that there is a lot to worry about not just the failing strategy, but how badly the war is being executed on the ground. A lot of civilian casualties and lack of security have turned the population against the US forces. And now, according to the Batimore Sun, the Pentagon has reportedly lost track of some 87,000 weapons handed out without proper accounting to Afghan army and police units.

The weapons included rifles, pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, shotguns, mortars and other weapons, the Government Accountability Office said. The GAO is the investigations arm of Congress.

The weapons are among about 240,000 small arms and other sensitive items, including 2,410 highly prized night vision devices that were given to Afghan security forces being trained by the U.S. military. The shipments included about 79,000 AK-47 assault rifles, the standard weapon used by the Taliban and other insurgents.

The U.S. command also failed to keep serial numbers or other records on about 135,000 weapons donated by allies and handed over to Afghan security forces, the GAO said.

Some of the lost or stolen US military equipment is starting to turn up for sale in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, according to Shahan Mufti of GlobalPost. Mufti describes Peshawar as a Silk Road town near the Afghan border where the black market has thrived and the military spoils of empires hawked openly throughout history.

Mufti recently purchased a U.S. military laptop for $650 from a small shop, which is known as the “Sitara Market,” on the western edge of the sprawling open-air markets on the edge of Peshawar.

The laptop, which Mufti says has clear U.S. military markings and serial numbers, contained restricted U.S. military information, as well as software for military platforms, the identities of numerous military personnel and information about weaknesses and flaws in American military vehicles being employed in the war in Afghanistan.

The leaks of the U.S. military’s electronic information on hard disks has occurred in the past. In April, 2006, the Los Angeles Times uncovered the story of confidential military information being smuggled off Bagram air base in Afghanistan on miniature hard drives and sold in markets no more than two hundred yards away.

Instead of accepting responsibility for bad US strategy and continual bungling, the response by the American military in Afghanistan is to shift the entire blame for their failures on Afghan leaders or Pakistani military. President Obama has spoken with over a dozen world leaders since taking office, and he finally called and spoke with Pakistan's President Zardari yesterday. While he continues to say Afghanistan is his top priority, the new president has yet to speak directly with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He has delegated that job to Richard Holbrooke, who is not even a member of his cabinet.

It is clear from the developments over the last several months that the US needs a complete overhaul of both its overall strategy and tactics. Just the planned troops surge alone will not suffice. There has to be a comprehensive new strategy for political dialog, reconstruction and smart counterinsurgency tactics in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Related Links:

WorldFocus on Afghanistan

Pakistan's Prospects

Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Obama's South Asia Policy

Military Occupation of Kashmir

Bruce Riedel Interview

Clues to Obama's South Asia Policy

Resurgent Taliban Threaten Kandahar, Peshawar

As the US-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan and the new government in Pakistan find themselves in policy disagreements and total disarray, with Hamid Karzai playing the spoiler, the resurgent Taliban appear to be preparing for the takeover of major cities on both sides of the border: Kandahar in Afghanistan and Peshawar in Pakistan. This is something that would have been considered unthinkable just a few months ago. The concern until recently was focused on the tribal areas of Pakistan. Now the Taliban are asserting themselves in the settled areas, such as Swat and Peshawar, long controlled by the Pakistani government and attempting to enforce their tribal code of morality and cultural norms. The Taliban have clearly taken advantage of the sincere efforts of the new Pakistani government to bring peace in the region. They have used the lack of pressure, and windfall narco-profits from Afghanistan, to regroup and rearm themselves to push their broader agenda of seizing control of Islamabad and Kabul.

Recently, the Taliban have staged daring raids in Kandhahar and briefly taken over parts of the city and freed large numbers of prisoners. On June 16, the Associated Press reported that the Taliban assault on the outskirts of Kandahar is the latest display of prowess by the militants despite a record number of U.S. and NATO troops in the country. The push into the Arghandab district — a lush region filled with grape and pomegranate groves that the Soviet army could never conquer — comes three days after a Taliban attack on Kandahar's prison that freed 400 insurgent fighters. Those fighters, NATO conceded Monday, appear to be massing on the doorstep of the Taliban's former power base. The city of Kandahar lies only 10 miles to the southeast.

In Peshawar, heavily armed bands of Taliban fighters have been intimidating people into observing their strict interpretation of Islamic law. In the last two months, they have suddenly tightened the noose on this city of three million people, one of Pakistan’s biggest, establishing bases in surrounding towns and, in daylight, abducting residents for large ransom. A New York Times report says they have turned up at courthouses in nearby towns, ordering judges to stay away. On Thursday, they stormed a women’s voting station on the city outskirts, and they are now regularly kidnapping people from the city’s bazaars and homes. There is pervasive fear that the city could fall to the Taleban at any moment. The provincial NWFP government in Peshawar, recently elected by a large majority, appears helpless against the Taliban.

The actions of NATO and Pakistani military in response to the Taleban's latest offensive appear to be too little, too late. An effective response to this seriously deteriorating situation requires a joint NATO-Pakistani strategy backed by strong coordinated action to strike a powerful blow against the Taliban on both sides of the border. This powerful action must then be followed by sustained pressure on both sides of the border to prevent Talebanization of the entire region with all its negative consequences for the people in Pakistan and Afghanistan and wider implications for the rest of the world.