Taliban urge Malala to come back, join madrassa
Islamabad, July 17: Days after Malala Yousufzai made a passionate appeal at the UN for the education of children, the Taliban today asked the teenage activist to return to Pakistan and join a madrassa in the restive northwest.
Adnan Rashid, a Taliban fighter wanted for an attempt to assassinate former President Pervez Musharraf, wrote a letter to Malala, who was shot in the head in a militant attack last year.
"I
advise
you
to
come
back
home,
adopt
the
Islamic
and
Pashtun
culture,
join
any
female
Islamic
madrassa
near
your
hometown,
study
and
learn
the
book
of
Allah,
use
your
pen
for
Islam
and
the
plight
of
Muslim
ummah
and
reveal
the
conspiracy
of
the
tiny
elite
who
want
to
enslave
the
whole
humanity
for
their
evil
agendas
in
the
name
of
a
new
world
order,"
Rashid
wrote.
The over 2,000-word letter was dated July 15 but it was not immediately clear from where it was issued. It was released to the media today.
Rashid, a former air force personnel, tried to justify the attack on 16-year-old Malala by claiming that she was involved in an "anti-Taliban campaign".
"Taliban never attacked you because of going to school or you were an education lover; also please mind that Taliban or mujahideen are not against the education of any men or women or girls," he wrote.
"Taliban believe that you were intentionally writing against them and running a smear campaign to malign their efforts to establish Islamic system in Swat and your writings were provocative," he added.
PTI