The Fault in Our System

As the world slowly claps and bathes the honorary Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai with endless garlands of flowers and words of sheer encouragement I ask you all to take a moment and recall exactly who is Nabeela ur-Rehman? As you start to slowly ponder and think deep about when was the last time you heard this particular name I assume the answer in most cases would be never however in the case of Miss Yousafzai I suppose I don’t need award golden cigars for guessing who she is as many would instantly know. I myself would never come across this ten year old girl had it not been for a friend who shared a link to her video dated back to late last year where alongside the support of her brother she addressed the U.S. Congress and gave evidence against the atrocities committed upon their villages by countless drone strikes. Upon writing this article I had the choice of taking you down the sympathetic road by placing you in her current state of being to strike a chord in all your hearts and let you grieve for a minute or so only to return to the daily humdrum of your lives. However instead I’m here with the cold hard facts without the sheer lace, over dramatics and rose petals.

On October 24^th 2012 the eve of the annual Islamic celebrations of Eid, Nabeela ur-Rehman, a child of mere nine years of age was playing with her siblings where playing in the fields of Ghundi Kala, a village situated in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region, whilst their 68 year old grandmother taught the children how to collect Okra in preparation for the forthcoming Eid festivities. The series of bloody, terror and confusion filled events that were soon to follow would alter the lives of all within the Rehman family forever. The children brought their playful activities to a halt as they suddenly heard the familiar buzzing sound that is produced by CIA controlled drones which are then preceded by two distinctively loud clicks. The drone strike after unleashing its wrath upon those who were in its unfortunate course managed to kill Nabeela’s grandmother whilst Nabeela had to be rushed with severe burns to her body and shrapnel wounds.

At this point in time you’re probably now wondering as to why I have pitched this child against the likes of Malala Yousafzai, a survivor of an assassination attempt by the Taliban and education advocate for that I shall like to divulge into the works of the journalist Murtaza Hussain.

As aptly put forward by Al Jazeera’s Murtaza Hussain:

“While Malala was feted by Western media figures, politicians and civic leaders for her heroism, Nabeela has become simply another one of the millions of nameless, faceless people who have had their lives destroyed over the past decade of American wars.”

Such social commentary often leads one to question as to why there is a stark difference between two girls arising from somewhat similar backgrounds and upbringings to an extent. Due to the fact that Malala managed to survive the unfortunate experience of having to face death straight down the barrel was then immortalised as a “potential tool of political propaganda to be utilised by war advocates.” From there on the West glorified her efforts, showered her with endless praises and turned her into the poster girl for all humanity based causes that formed a justification for others to justify military action within the borders of Pakistan.

However the pressing question at this point in time is what is to become of those such as Nabeela ur-Rehman who live in the constant fear of “the buzz” sound? What is to become of those who no longer love blue skies but prefer the colour grey as drones do not take flight during such weather? What is to become of the several hundreds and thousands living in a constant state of anxiety over whether they’ll awake to another day?

In response to all such questions is that nothing at this point in time. Malala was applauded for her efforts and bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize however there will be no such grand scale conference, event or international backing for the countless Nabeela’s of Pakistan. On this note let me leave you with an excerpt from Nabeela’s evidence delivery to a somewhat empty congress room late last year upon discussing the validity of drone strikes in Pakistan,

"When I hear that they are going after people who have done wrong to America, then what have I done wrong to them? What did my grandmother do wrong to them? I didn't do anything wrong."