A Refuge From Intimidation
In The Washington Post today there was an article about a government run boarding school in Afghanistan called Pashtunistan. The reason the government started it was because the previous schools its pupils had attended had either been burnt to the ground or closed by the Taliban.
Now I think it’s pretty common knowledge that the girls education is anathema to the Taliban but boys … that was something new to me. According to the article the Taliban sees the schools they’ve shuttered as places which spread Afghan government propaganda or even worse Western ideology.
But what I suspect is that deep down the Taliban are scared of education in general, because an educated population is one that will think for itself and in so doing reject its prehistoric doctrines. For the Taliban the only appropriate education seems to be one where students learn the Koran by rote. Yet since their students are never taught Arabic they never actually understand the holy text and thus are as reliant as ever on the Taliban’s distorted interpretation of it.
What this school shows is that the thirst for education cannot be so easily quashed. These boys are no different than Malala Yousafzai – the fourteen year old girl shot in Pakistan. They refuse to bow to threats, they strive to improve their minds and in turn better their country.
The Sandy Hook school shooting affected me deeply. With two children of a similar age to the victims, my heart went out to those small children and to their parents who now have to live without them. At this holiday time in particular they are in my thoughts and prayers.
In the greater scheme of things what Adam Lanza did was intimidate students and parents all across this country. Despite the infinitesimally small odds of a shooting happening at our own children’s schools, he has made us fear for their safety when we drop them off and made us consider such crazy notions as arming teachers.
Yet in Taliban controlled parts of Afghanistan the likelihood of being shot or killed for going to school is an every day reality. Can you imagine the bravery of these students and their teachers?
If there is one thing we can do this holiday season amidst the plethora of gifts our children will receive, let’s remind ourselves that the greatest gift of all in this life is a well rounded education … an education that I pray one day will be free of any intimidation for Afghan students, be they boys and girls, and though it saddens me to say it, for their American contemporaries as well.
