LONDON – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has condemned the torching of girls schools in Diamer, Gilgit Baltistan by the suspected extremist elements and called for their rebuilding.
According to Daily Mail, Malala, who was shot and injured by the Taliban in 2012 for promoting girls’ education, expressed her anger over the latest attack in a tweet, saying “extremists have shown what frightens them most — a girl with a book.”
She added: “We must rebuild these schools immediately, get the students back into their classrooms and show the world that every girl and boy has the right to learn.”
It may be mentioned that at least 12 girls’ schools were attacked in Chilas and Derel areas of Diamer, about 130 kilometers from Gilgit, late Thursday night.
Gilgit-Baltistan formerly known as the Northern Areas is the northernmost administrative territory in Pakistan. It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China, to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir to the southeast.
The attacks on schools, particularly girls institutions, is not a new phenomenon as Taliban and other militant groups have been carried out deadly attacks in Pakistan, leaving hundreds of school children dead.
Militant groups including the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and their affiliates, used attacks on schools and universities to promote intolerance and exclusion and particularly to drive girls out of school.
