PAKISTAN
Watch: Malala returns to Pakistan on 10th anniversary of Taliban shooting to meet flood victims
Visit aims 'to help keep international attention focused on the impact' of flooding, 'reinforce the need for critical humanitarian aid'
By AFP
Published: Wed 12 Oct 2022
Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday returned to her native Pakistan to meet flood victims, 10 years after a Taliban assassination attempt against her.
Her visit — only the second since she was flown to Britain for life-saving treatment — comes as thousands of people protested in her home town, where the same militant group is once again on the rise
Malala was just 15 years old when the Pakistani Taliban shot her in the head over her campaign for girls’ education.
On Tuesday, two days after the 10th anniversary of the attack, she landed in Karachi, from where she will travel to areas devastated by unprecedented monsoon flooding.
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Her visit aims “to help keep international attention focused on the impact of floods in Pakistan and reinforce the need for critical humanitarian aid”, her organisation Malala Fund said in a statement.
Catastrophic flooding put a third of Pakistan under water, displaced eight million people, and caused an estimated $28 billion in damages.
Malala grew up in the town of Mingora in the deeply conservative Swat Valley, close to the border with Afghanistan,
The Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), waged a years-long insurgency there that ended with a major military crackdown in 2014.
But there has been a resurgence in unrest since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul last year.
The TTP has claimed dozens of attacks in recent weeks, mostly against security forces and anti-Taliban elders.
“We are tired and can no longer carry dead bodies,” said Muhammad Ali Shah, the former mayor of Swat.
“It is the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens and provide them with security, but the government’s silence on all these incidents is criminal.”
More than 5,000 people blocked a main road through Mingora, sparked by the latest attack on a school bus on Monday, in which the driver was killed and a 10 or 11-year-old boy wounded.
The TTP have denied responsibility and the police said they are investigating the motive.
Students and teachers walked out of schools — including the school attended by Yousafzai that her father established — to call for peace.
“Our protest will continue until the arrest of the killers, we will not rise from here until the top government officials assure us of justice and an end to militancy,” said doctor Amjad Ali, 36.
Visit aims 'to help keep international attention focused on the impact' of flooding, 'reinforce the need for critical humanitarian aid'
By AFP
Published: Wed 12 Oct 2022
Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday returned to her native Pakistan to meet flood victims, 10 years after a Taliban assassination attempt against her.
Her visit — only the second since she was flown to Britain for life-saving treatment — comes as thousands of people protested in her home town, where the same militant group is once again on the rise
Malala was just 15 years old when the Pakistani Taliban shot her in the head over her campaign for girls’ education.
On Tuesday, two days after the 10th anniversary of the attack, she landed in Karachi, from where she will travel to areas devastated by unprecedented monsoon flooding.
Advertisement
Her visit aims “to help keep international attention focused on the impact of floods in Pakistan and reinforce the need for critical humanitarian aid”, her organisation Malala Fund said in a statement.
Catastrophic flooding put a third of Pakistan under water, displaced eight million people, and caused an estimated $28 billion in damages.
Malala grew up in the town of Mingora in the deeply conservative Swat Valley, close to the border with Afghanistan,
The Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), waged a years-long insurgency there that ended with a major military crackdown in 2014.
But there has been a resurgence in unrest since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul last year.
The TTP has claimed dozens of attacks in recent weeks, mostly against security forces and anti-Taliban elders.
“We are tired and can no longer carry dead bodies,” said Muhammad Ali Shah, the former mayor of Swat.
“It is the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens and provide them with security, but the government’s silence on all these incidents is criminal.”
More than 5,000 people blocked a main road through Mingora, sparked by the latest attack on a school bus on Monday, in which the driver was killed and a 10 or 11-year-old boy wounded.
The TTP have denied responsibility and the police said they are investigating the motive.
Students and teachers walked out of schools — including the school attended by Yousafzai that her father established — to call for peace.
“Our protest will continue until the arrest of the killers, we will not rise from here until the top government officials assure us of justice and an end to militancy,” said doctor Amjad Ali, 36.
Sheikh claims dewatering yet to begin in most flooded villages
Our Correspondent
October 06, 2022
Sindh Assembly Opposition Leader Haleem Adil Sheikh interacts with people on a boat in the flood-hit Tando Allahyar district. Photo: PPIKARACHI:
Haleem Adil Sheikh, leader of the opposition in the, has said that people are suffering immensely as the "incompetent government" in the province has failed to drain out floodwater from their farmlands even after the passage of two months.
"People say they don't want aid, they only want their villages and farmlands dewatered," Sheikh said while speaking to reporters during his visits to the flood-hit areas of Hyderabad and Tando Allahyar. Accompanied by PTI leaders Ali Palh Advocate, Lala Aminullah Moosa, and others, he visited different areas of Tando Allahyar by boat. He asked people if they had received any government relief, but most of them replied in the negative.
Expressing his deep concerns over the situation, Sheikh said that not only in Tando Allahyar but everywhere in Sindh villages were still submerged in floodwater. "People are using boats for commuting between places," he claimed.
"The Sindh government is not visible anywhere. A 'minister for system' appears on television every day to tell lies about distribution of relief goods," he said. "There is an outbreak of dengue, malaria, typhoid and other diseases, but there are neither doctors nor medicines," he said, adding that a big human tragedy was in the making in Sindh.
Sheikh claimed that dewatering has yet to begin in most flooded villages and towns. The provincial government's machinery is working on farmlands of feudal lords belonging to the ruling parties, he said, adding that "there is a state of Zardari within the state in Sindh". He said Sindh needed Haqeeqi Azadi. "Our Kaptan will lead the Haqeeqi Azadi march this week and the PTI will be voted to power with two-thirds majority in the next general elections."
Earlier, addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Sheikh said that billions of rupees have been allegedly donated on the call of PPP Co-chairman Bilawal Zardari but not a penny has given to the forsaken people of Sindh.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2022.
Sindh Assembly Opposition Leader Haleem Adil Sheikh interacts with people on a boat in the flood-hit Tando Allahyar district. Photo: PPIKARACHI:
Haleem Adil Sheikh, leader of the opposition in the, has said that people are suffering immensely as the "incompetent government" in the province has failed to drain out floodwater from their farmlands even after the passage of two months.
"People say they don't want aid, they only want their villages and farmlands dewatered," Sheikh said while speaking to reporters during his visits to the flood-hit areas of Hyderabad and Tando Allahyar. Accompanied by PTI leaders Ali Palh Advocate, Lala Aminullah Moosa, and others, he visited different areas of Tando Allahyar by boat. He asked people if they had received any government relief, but most of them replied in the negative.
Expressing his deep concerns over the situation, Sheikh said that not only in Tando Allahyar but everywhere in Sindh villages were still submerged in floodwater. "People are using boats for commuting between places," he claimed.
"The Sindh government is not visible anywhere. A 'minister for system' appears on television every day to tell lies about distribution of relief goods," he said. "There is an outbreak of dengue, malaria, typhoid and other diseases, but there are neither doctors nor medicines," he said, adding that a big human tragedy was in the making in Sindh.
Sheikh claimed that dewatering has yet to begin in most flooded villages and towns. The provincial government's machinery is working on farmlands of feudal lords belonging to the ruling parties, he said, adding that "there is a state of Zardari within the state in Sindh". He said Sindh needed Haqeeqi Azadi. "Our Kaptan will lead the Haqeeqi Azadi march this week and the PTI will be voted to power with two-thirds majority in the next general elections."
Earlier, addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Sheikh said that billions of rupees have been allegedly donated on the call of PPP Co-chairman Bilawal Zardari but not a penny has given to the forsaken people of Sindh.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2022.
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