The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-11929, in the name of Hanzala Malik, on the Taliban’s attack in a school in Peshawar. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament condemns the actions of the Taliban’s attack in a school in Peshawar, where it opened fire on children and staff members; understands that seven Taliban attackers wearing bomb vests entered the public school and opened fire on children as young as five; understands that at least 132 children and nine staff members are already dead and that a further 125 children were wounded before all seven attackers were killed; believes this to be the deadliest attack by the Taliban; recognises the deep sadness of the Pakistani community in Glasgow and the rest of Scotland; supports the Pakistan government and its agencies in bringing these attackers’ network to justice, and offers its deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to the families of the children and teachers.
17:07
Like the terrorist attacks in Lockerbie and Paris, the massacre in the school in Peshawar in Pakistan on 18 December 2014 was a stark reminder of the reality that the world is in conflict today. The Peshawar school massacre is a horror story that drives home a powerful image of what the people of Pakistan face daily. In a country that is, sadly, used to bad news, the deaths of 141 people, including 132 children, were shocking and disastrous.
The events in Peshawar brought home the stark brutality of the conflict. There was no apparent strategic or political aim behind the attack apart from to spread terror. It was terrorism in its purest form: the Taliban wanted to show that it could and would attack anybody at any time, anywhere.
However, that very personal act of terror, in which gunmen went from classroom to classroom, shooting children at point-blank range, has brought about a very strong response in Pakistan. The country’s civilian and military leaders are now standing side by side for the first time, working to frame clearly the country’s anti-terrorist strategy.
It is at this watershed moment, more than at any other time, that Pakistan needs international support and understanding. Since the attacks on the twin towers on 11 September 2001, which marked a turning point in the way terrorism and Muslims have been viewed, it is important to remember that terrorism harms people all over the world, not just in the west.
Over the past 13 years in Pakistan more than 70,000 people have lost their lives and the economic damage is estimated at more than $80 billion. That is a price that Pakistan cannot afford to pay. For things to change, we have to consider the link between poverty and illiteracy, and the terror threat that the Pakistan Taliban poses.
The word “taliban” simply means “student”. Poor people send their boys to madrasas, or religious schools, because sometimes that is the only means whereby the children can get any form of education. Over time, the schools have become recruiting grounds for terrorist organisations, which prey on poor and disadvantaged young people who have little hope of finding employment.
Pakistan’s huge energy shortage has hurt industry, thereby increasing unemployment and creating more unrest. Factories without power have closed down and have laid off workers who would normally provide for their families and help the country’s economy.
I am sure that many members are aware of our close historical links with Pakistan, which go back to the days of the British empire, when soldiers from the region fought with us in the first and second world wars. Pakistan was created in 1947, and many of the country’s institutions, including its education and judicial systems, are modelled on the British system.
Today, the relationship between Pakistan and Scotland has developed, and the Pakistani diaspora makes an important contribution to the economy of Scotland. Scottish institutions are twinned with Pakistani schools, colleges, universities and children’s hospitals, and there are twinning arrangements between cities, such as that between Glasgow and Lahore. Therefore, trouble in Pakistan troubles the hearts of people in our Scottish communities. Whether or not we have lost family members or friends, at times like this relations between Scotland and Pakistan should be a great source of strength.
The work that Gordon Brown has undertaken to support literacy in Pakistan, as United Nations special envoy for global education, has had a huge impact on the country and will continue to do so for generations to come. The British Council is re-opening its libraries—I hope that that will happen in July—to win hearts and minds and help to deal with the challenge of illiteracy in Pakistan.
We in Scotland should look at the Pakistan country plan and consider how we can explore the possibility of working together and playing our part in bringing prosperity to our friends in Pakistan, as we have tried to do in the past.
We need to remember all those people around the world who have lost loved ones directly or indirectly through terrorist attacks. We must be united and stand firm against such acts. We must support one another to fight this cancer, especially in countries like Pakistan, which cannot do it alone, as we know. We need to show that Pakistan is no longer alone and that its allies and true friends have rallied round in support of its Government and people. We should never abandon allies. It is essential that the people of Pakistan realise that they have friends in Scotland who will stand shoulder to shoulder with them, in good times and bad. I pray to God that we will have the opportunity to fulfil that promise.
There is a good, warm working relationship and a deep understanding between Lahore and Glasgow. We have had many exchanges over the years and the twinning arrangement has played an important role in enabling us to identify friends with whom we can work. Every time we have had an issue in Scotland, our friends in Lahore have sent us their sympathy and support, and it is only appropriate that we do the same. I hope that people in Pakistan will appreciate that the Scottish Government and Parliament have openly declared support for them.
17:14
I thank Hanzala Malik for bringing this debate to the Parliament and for the impressive tenor and content of his speech.
It is right that we record the tragedy and offer our sympathy. Scotland has been scarred by its own terrorist incident—if we can call it that—in Dunblane. It was not on the same scale, but the pain and suffering were felt by all.
However, it is not just people in Peshawar and Pakistan who have suffered as a result of what happened: the heartache is clearly greatest for those who were there, and the Pakistani community in Scotland is an integral part of our country, but it was a crime against humanity for people to wantonly slaughter youngsters for perverse and prejudiced reasons. That is something that the whole human race must stand up to and condemn outright.
I am grateful to Hanzala Malik for giving the Scottish Parliament the opportunity to record its sadness and to support him in seeking a solution. We are having the debate against the backdrop of the wanton slaughter that took place in Paris. Therefore, it is appropriate that we record and understand that terrorism is not just a western European phenomenon. Watching the television and reading in the newspapers about the tragedies that have affected Madrid, London, New York and now, sadly, Paris, we might think that the only people who suffer terrorism are those of us who live in the western world. Yet, as Hanzala Malik said, the statistics make it clear that that is not the case, whatever we have suffered in those tragedies, which must be condemned outright.
A recent Pew Research Center report shows that the five countries that have suffered most from terrorism are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria and Syria. Yet, if we were to ask people in Scotland and the United Kingdom about it, they would probably say that those are the countries that the terrorists come from rather than the countries where terror is suffered most. Therefore, it is important that we raise awareness of the fact that the solution to terrorism lies in tackling it globally, and of the fact that people in those countries suffer more than people in western and European countries and western democracies.
Equally, it is important that we make it clear that terrorism is to be condemned regardless of where it occurs and by whom it is carried out. It is important that we condemn equally the actions that have been carried out in Paris and in Pakistan. It is important that we condemn the terrorism in Madrid, but it is equally important that we condemn the terrorism in Gaza. It is right that we should condemn the Taliban and speak out against al-Qa’ida, but whether it is because of Israeli actions in Gaza or drone use by the United States in Pakistan, all children grieve the same—the tears and the blood that are shed are equal whether they are shed in the western world or in the third world.
Hanzala Malik made some important points about support. If we were to give Pakistan support in education, literacy and health, it would be worth so much more than the suffering that is inflicted on them because of the actions further west. Pew Research Center research also tells us that, as well as suffering the most victims of terrorism, Pakistan has the most refugees because of what is happening in Afghanistan and elsewhere. We need to condemn terrorism wherever it occurs, provide support to the Pakistani Government when it takes action and, equally, ensure that the actions of the west are productive rather than counterproductive. Those actions should support and enhance governments; they should not undermine them and should not damage their security. We need to give support in education, literacy and health while ensuring that we do not cause collateral damage through bombs, drone attacks or whatever else.
I fully support Hanzala Malik’s comments and put on record my condemnation—indeed, I believe, the condemnation of all the people of Scotland—of terrorism. Terrorism is a global phenomenon that needs to be addressed by the whole of humanity.
17:18
I congratulate Hanzala Malik on securing the debate, which has received cross-party support. I commend him particularly for the way in which he expressed his arguments in speaking to the motion.
This is an important opportunity for us not only to express our sympathy and condolences to those who are suffering in Peshawar but to recognise that the tragedy has touched families in my constituency, across Glasgow and throughout Scotland. Although the headlines will move on, their grief will continue to affect them for many years to come and it is important that we do all that we can to support them as they deal with the tragedy.
It is important to express solidarity in the face of that brutality and to show unity against all those who use terror to pursue their own goals, to show how strong they are and to strike fear in their communities. How horrific it is to see them particularly targeting children, recognising as they do that there is an opportunity for them to reinforce and amplify their brutality and their willingness to do almost anything to meet their goals. How communities must shrink back at what more might be possible.
In attacking a school, it is clear that the Taliban sees education as a particular target. We recognise the power of education to liberate people from poverty and to create greater equality across our world, particularly for girls and people who are vulnerable and deprived. For groups such as the Taliban, education becomes a legitimate target because education is how our world takes on those who would seek to terrorise us. We know that education gives the world hope. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Taliban and similar groups see it as a legitimate target.
It is no surprise that the Taliban targeted Malala Yousafzai. Her articulate perseverance in the face of unbearable threats represented the courage that all too many people need in order to secure education for the poorest and the most vulnerable. We should stand in awe of her and all those who face that threat with amazing courage. On Malala Yousafzai’s global campaign for education and the United Nation’s global education first initiative, we recognise, as they do, that it will be through education that we can best take on those who seek not to liberate but to terrorise.
We live in frightening times, and not just in Peshawar. The world seems to be holding its breath as we see terror, fear and tragedy around us. In the face of that horror, the danger is that our world becomes paralysed and that we think that there is nothing we can do to take on those who would do anything to secure their goals.
Yesterday, on our televisions, we saw young people and their teachers return to school in Peshawar. We saw the continuing grief of their parents, the teachers and the schools pupils. They saw things that no one ought to see; they are suffering things that no ought to suffer. As a commentator said:
“In a country where fear stalks virtually every aspect of public life, something as simple as going to school has now become an act of courage and bravery.”
We salute that courage. In expressing our solidarity with all those who are suffering here and abroad, we should commit ourselves to doing all that we can to match that bravery with our determination to resist those who would use brutality and violence to secure their ends. The power of education, solidarity, commitment and courage can take on those forces. We can play our small part in recognising all those across the world who, in the face of brutality, take courage and stand up for what is right and resist those who want to deny them the freedom and opportunity that they deserve.
In standing in solidarity with those across our communities, we recognise the scale of the challenge. It also gives us great hope for the future.
17:23
I, too, thank Hanzala Malik for securing time for this important members’ business debate and for the way in which he addressed the issue in his speech.
On Monday, the doors to the army public school in Peshawar opened for the first time to students following the barbaric Taliban attack in December last year. I join members in denouncing the depraved violence that senselessly killed scores of schoolchildren and teachers. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and their loved ones as they struggle to come to terms with loss on an unimaginable scale.
The barbarity of the attack is unfathomable not only because the Pakistani Taliban targeted innocents but because they attacked a school. Sadly, it is but one of many in northern Pakistan to have been targeted by Taliban forces over recent years. According to Human Rights Watch, there were at least 838 attacks on schools in Pakistan between 2009 and 2012.
The Taliban accuses schools of
“promoting western decadence and un-Islamic teachings”,
but schools are also seen as soft targets. That is the height of cowardice.
I applaud the brave students and staff in Peshawar who have defiantly returned this week to the scene of unspeakable brutality but, as the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said following the attack,
“Going to school should not have to be an act of bravery.”
The International Crisis Group reports that the education of hundreds of thousands has been disrupted after their families fled militant violence in Pakistan, while more than 9 million children are not currently receiving a primary or secondary education. Every child must have the right to go to school, and every child on every continent should feel safe in their school.
On the same day as the attack on the army public school in Peshawar, 40 countries and 10 international organisations convened in Geneva to unveil the “Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict”. Those guidelines underline existing rules under international humanitarian law and are intended to promote better understanding and implementation of the Geneva conventions. That is a step in the right direction, but if we are to have a real and enduring impact, we must target the root cause of the issue, which is the scourge of violent extremism.
Extremism has dominated the headlines over recent days, weeks and months, and events in France provide a stark reminder that we are talking about a global concern. The cancer of violent extremism exists everywhere, from Peshawar to Paris, and from the towns and villages of north-eastern Nigeria to the central business district of Sydney and Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Let us not forget that Nigeria, a country that is beset by violence at the hands of Boko Haram—which we should remind ourselves translates as meaning that western or non-Islamic education is a sin—endured a massacre last week, the death toll of which was nearly 2,000. Shockingly, four days ago, a little girl of about 10 years of age detonated explosives that were hidden under her veil, killing almost 20 people. The Catholic Archbishop of Jos has urged the west not to overlook the crisis in Nigeria, and we must act to combat violent extremism at home and abroad.
The global problem requires a global response, and I welcome the announcement from Washington that the White House will next month host the delayed summit on countering violent extremism. Closer to home, the UK Government is working hard to combat extremism with its prevent strategy, which supports community-based campaigns to rebut terrorist and extremist propaganda. The UK Government is also working closely with its international partners to combat the deadly threat of violent extremism that is posed by Isil, al-Qa’ida, the Taliban and other networks. That collaborative approach is key.
As we struggle to understand why almost 150 children and teachers lost their lives in an act of total depravity, and as we come to terms with the loss of 17 victims following the attacks in Paris last week, it seems apposite to end with the words of Malala Yousafzai. In 2013, the 16-year-old Nobel prize winner addressed the UN with the somewhat prescient words:
“Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”
17:28
I congratulate Hanzala Malik on lodging the motion and offering us the important opportunity to express our support and condolences for, and our solidarity with, the people of Pakistan—particularly those who have been directly affected by the tragedy. The debate also gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the particular impact that the tragedy has had on the Pakistani community in Scotland.
Rightly and understandably, the Peshawar massacre sent ripples of horror through the international community, because no act of terrorism can be more horrific than the massacre of innocent children. The Taliban wanted this one, cowardly assault to strike so much fear into schoolchildren that no Pakistani child who sat in front of a teacher in a classroom would ever feel safe again.
I am sure that we were all delighted to see on our televisions this week that, in spite of that, the school has reopened. It has of course done so amid tight security. At present, the school needs to be like a high-security unit, but if that is what has to be done to reassert the importance of education—that should be done for all the reasons that Johann Lamont outlined—those are the conditions in which the children concerned must learn.
The tragedy is one of a number around the world in which children have been targeted in cowardly attacks on the most innocent for the purposes of recruitment and intimidation. Such attacks have rightly galvanised leaders to speak out in defence of the right to learn and teach without fear. Most notably, there has been the campaigner Malala Yousafzai, whose spirit and determination have been an inspiration to millions.
A campaign for the promotion and protection of children’s rights by the online petition site Avaaz had, by Monday, received 1,176,043 signatures. The petition recognises that Governments across the world have made a commitment to ensuring that all children have access to education by the end of 2015; it calls on us all to
“join the campaign to honour the memory of the children of Peshawar”
and it will be delivered by Gordon Brown, UN special envoy on education, to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and others.
In his role as education ambassador, Gordon Brown has been vocal in his outright condemnation of the targeting of young people. In an article following Peshawar, he stated:
“in my role as UN special envoy on global education, I have seen how schools are increasingly used as theatres of war. Afghanistan, Colombia, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Syria have each experienced a thousand or more attacks on their schools and universities since 2009. In total 9,600 have come under assault ... The list is heartbreaking. Only yesterday, as children died in Peshawar, 15 boys and girls were blown up on a school bus in Yemen.”
In the article, he describes the safe schools initiative, which was launched in 2014 to help improve the situation for students in Nigeria, where Boko Haram has wreaked havoc not just by kidnapping schoolchildren but by shooting nearly 200 teachers and hundreds of pupils.
It is important that we recognise that, as Kenny MacAskill and others have reminded us, terrorism is an international phenomenon. Last week, we rightly stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of France in condemning the terrorism that they had endured, but we must never forget that this is an international phenomenon and that we must show solidarity with all the countries and communities that are the victims of terrorism. We can never say that one act of terrorism is worse than another, but surely we cannot think of any act of terrorism more terrible than the slaying of innocent children in their schools.
I again thank Hanzala Malik and congratulate him on lodging this important motion. Today, it is important that we express condolences to and solidarity with all the people who have been affected.
I inform the chamber that, to accommodate all the members who still wish to speak in the debate, I am minded to accept under rule 8.14.3 a motion from Hanzala Malik to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes.
Motion moved,
That, under Rule 8.14.3, the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes.—[Hanzala Malik.]
Motion agreed to.
17:32
I thank Hanzala Malik very much for securing this debate, and I want to acknowledge the work that he does in the community in Glasgow, his own links with Pakistan and the links that he has made between Glasgow City Council and areas in Pakistan.
What happened in Pakistan and the on-going terror in that country and throughout the world are absolutely terrible, and I pay tribute to the many people in Pakistan and Scotland who have supported the people who suffered in, and are still suffering from, the horrific attack. There were 132 children and nine teachers killed, and 125 were wounded, but we do not know how many of them have died since. The act was truly horrifying.
I know that Hanzala Malik knows Jahangir Hanif, a Scottish National Party councillor from the south side of Glasgow who was on Glasgow City Council with Mr Malik and Anne McTaggart. He lost two nephews in the horrific attack—and I believe that it could have been three, except that one did not attend the school that day. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. I want to mention the graciousness of the people of Glasgow and the Pakistani community in the support that they gave Jahangir as he flew over to Pakistan, and I know that if he were here he would want to say a great big thank you to everyone who contacted him with their thoughts and condolences.
Although we are talking about the horrific attack in Pakistan, many members have mentioned that terrorism knows no bounds and that the most cowardly thing to do is to attack children. We have heard about various areas. I think that Malcolm Chisholm mentioned Boko Haram. Some acts that we hear about are absolutely horrific. Boko Haram took young girls from their villages for forced marriage to its so-called soldiers. We have had no word yet about where those young girls are. We do not know what has happened to them. We in the west seem to be able to go into countries on other grounds, but we cannot seem to go into such countries to find young girls. A whole village was wiped out in a recent attack: thousands of people were killed. It is absolutely horrific for us to sit and watch what is happening on the television, but can members imagine living in that area? It must be horrifying to get up in the morning. People do not know what will happen.
I thank Kenny MacAskill for mentioning Gaza because, as we know, horrific things have also happened there, and in Syria and Lebanon. It is incumbent on us in the west who have at our fingertips methods to broker some form of peace or some talk round the table to stop those horrific things happening, and continuing to happen, throughout the world.
I thank Hanzala Malik for lodging the motion. I know that the issue is very personal for him, but he has been able to open up a good discussion in Parliament. I hope that we in the Parliament can move further to try to stop horrific acts of terrorism wherever they happen in the world.
17:37
I thank my colleague Hanzala Malik for securing this important members’ business debate.
We have all been shocked by the barbaric actions of the Taliban in Peshawar. There are many Pakistani residents in my region, which is Glasgow. I express my deepest sympathies to the victims, their families and anyone else who has been affected by the terrorist attack that we are discussing. That terrible tragedy demonstrated that children in Pakistan are not safe even when they are in school.
According to UNICEF UK, a child dies from violence every five minutes somewhere in the world. We need to make efforts to end violence against children not only in Pakistan, but across the world. We also need to enhance stability in Pakistan following the tragedy. Like other members, I believe that, in the long run, education provides one of the best assurances of stability.
The education system in Pakistan is unequal. More boys than girls get the opportunity to go to school. In total, 6,807 students were produced by Pakistani universities in 2010. Over 76 per cent of them were male and only 24 per cent were female. Out of 1,068 of the overseas scholarships that were awarded, 926 were received by males and only 142 were received by women.
I was therefore delighted by the Scottish Government’s announcement in October 2013 that £300,000 had been awarded for a two-year masters scholarship scheme to help 30 to 40 young Pakistani women from disadvantaged backgrounds to go to university. Those scholarships will immensely help women who have fees and travel expenses to pay to finish their degrees. I thank the minister, Humza Yousaf, for all the work that I know he has done to make that happen.
As in many other Parliaments, the gender representation in the Pakistani Parliament is still unequal. There is a high majority of male representatives, even though a quota is guaranteed by the constitution to reserve certain seats for females. Out of 323 seats in the lower house, 60 are reserved for women. However, there are currently only 67 women, which means that 20.7 per cent of the lower house are female members. Pakistan’s Senate, the upper house, has only 17 women senators out of 104 seats, which is 16.3 per cent.
As chair of the sub-group on women’s issues in the cross-party group in the Scottish Parliament on the middle east and south Asia, I believe that it is vital to establish comprehensive education and mentoring programmes that will help millions of Pakistani woman to unlock their full potential. Although progress has been made, largely through the efforts of women activists, on the advancement of women into the political sphere, I would like to see more representation by women in the Pakistani Parliament in the near future.
I hope that my colleagues in the chamber will agree that we need to end violence against innocent children. It is also vital that we support the people of Pakistan in these difficult times, that we provide aid to improve education and that we continue to work together internationally to counter terrorism.
17:41
Thank you, Presiding Officer, for letting me at such a late stage take part in this debate.
We have all lost people at some stage in our lives, but hardly anything could be less bearable than to lose somebody in such circumstances as the parents, families, relatives and friends of the children in Peshawar have lost them. Terrorism is becoming fairly commonplace—we see it on the television every day—but in many cases a terrorist event does not really make a connection with us unless it has—I think—at least one of two aspects: it is close to us or it involves children. For me and others in the chamber, the Peshawar attack has both aspects. Maybe it is because I am a grandfather, but the idea of children being attacked in such a cold-blooded way is completely beyond my comprehension. Further, as Sandra White has mentioned, a good friend of mine—Jahangir Hanif—has lost relatives in the Peshawar attack, and that is just unbearable. I hate to think how Jahangir and his family are feeling just now.
We have to remember that it is not just in Peshawar that terrorist attacks have happened. As other members have said eloquently in what has been a very good debate, they have been happening all over the world. When the Peshawar attack happened, the first thing that it reminded me of was the Beslan massacre in Chechnya, which had the same principle of targeting children as the most vulnerable in society in order to make some obscure political point. If people have to go to such lengths to make a political point, it is clearly not worth making in the first place.
I do not know what Jahangir Hanif will be like just now. Unfortunately very few of us have had the opportunity to see him, but I believe that he will come back this weekend. However, things cannot be easy for him.
I talked about events being close to us, and we have seen the reaction to the horrific events in Paris last week. There were two reasons for that reaction: a lot of the events were on mainstream media and they were close to home for us. However, we should never forget that what went on in Paris is multiplied many times over in other areas across the world. At the same time as the horrific events were taking place in Paris—Sandra White might have touched on this; I know that Malcolm Chisholm did—Boko Haram was destroying a village in Nigeria. I do not know whether anybody else saw the photos of that event that I unfortunately came across the other night, but they were unbearable.
All that we can do from here is give support to the people who are affected by terrorism in Peshawar, Nigeria and other areas across the world and tell them that we are with them. I know that the Scottish Government has been very supportive of communities across the world in situations such as those in Peshawar and that it will continue to be so. I hope that at some stage in the future we get to a situation whereby when people have a political point to make, they make it with their voices and not, as people have done recently, with weapons of destruction.
17:44
I thank my colleague and friend Hanzala Malik for lodging his motion and securing cross-party support for it, and I thank members for their eloquent and articulate but also insightful speeches. I will try to touch on a few of them.
I think that I speak for everybody when I say that this is one of those members’ business debates that we would rather not be having, but nonetheless it gives us the opportunity to express our solidarity with the people of Pakistan, the Pakistani community worldwide and those who stand in defiance against terror.
I note, as other members did, Hanzala Malik’s personal endeavours in fostering closer relationships between Scotland and Pakistan, and indeed between his and our beloved city of Glasgow and Lahore. He has done well to foster those links and they are strong and enduring.
Members will be aware that Pakistan is a country that is close to my heart and close to Hanzala Malik’s heart because of our family connections. My father was born there and, although my mother was born in Kenya, her parents came from Pakistan. Hanzala Malik has family from Pakistan, too. However, such was the depravity of this attack that it did not matter whether somebody had a link to Pakistan. People felt the absolute suffering, the anger at what happened and the absolute sadness of the events that took place regardless of whether they have such family connections.
I want to touch on a couple of points that were made in the debate. It is worth while to reiterate a point that Hanzala Malik made in his opening speech. Pakistan is up there with the countries that have suffered the most—if not the country that has suffered the most—because of the so-called war on terror. For a country that had nothing to do with the incident that led to the war on terror—the dreadful attacks on 9/11 on the twin towers in New York—it has, as Hanzala Malik said, lost $80 billion from its economy, tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed and millions have been displaced from their homes. Kenny MacAskill was also correct to remind us that countries in the developing world are the worst affected by terror.
Countries such as Pakistan continue to suffer from terrorism, as we saw from the attacks on 16 December. Who would not be moved by what we saw on our television screens? Those images will stay with us, chillingly, for ever. The children’s shoes scattered across classrooms, blood-soaked jotters, desks riddled with bullet holes—that is not what a school should look like.
I pay tribute, as Malcolm Chisholm and Johann Lamont eloquently did, to the bravery of those children who returned to their school in Peshawar just yesterday. The children of Pakistan must be the bravest in the world, if we think of those who have returned to school and, of course, Malala Yousafzai as well. Children who have been fired at and been the target of Taliban brutality have not thought twice but have gone back to the very school where their schoolmates and playmates in the playground lost their lives less than a month ago. I salute them and stand in absolute admiration of their courage.
So horrific was this attack that, when it took place, it was even condemned by the Afghan Taliban, who are not known for their compassionate streak by any stretch of the imagination. Such was the brutality of the attack that even the Afghan Taliban said that it was “unIslamic”.
I think that, as a result of the attack, there has been a step change in Pakistani attitudes. It would be wrong to say that there was not some modicum of sympathy for the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan. There was, as those who have travelled to Pakistan and those who know the Pakistani community will know. That was not born out of any belief that what the Pakistan Taliban was doing was correct. It was probably an anti-western reaction more than anything else, and Kenny MacAskill made an important point in that regard.
When we are fighting terrorism—and we have every duty to do so—we must be careful that we do not give terrorists any ammunition or get them any public sympathy because of unjust actions such as the drone attacks that have taken many innocent lives, or by not being careful enough about who we support on the global stage. The Taliban is a classic example of that, coming out of the mujahideen, which was trained by the United Kingdom, the United States and other western forces. We must be careful that we in the UK, in Scotland and in the rest of the western world, are voices of compassion and that we do not give terrorists any ammunition whatsoever.
Colleagues have touched upon the fact that one of our friends, Councillor Jahangir Hanif, lost two family members, and I express the Scottish Government’s condolences to him and his family. I know that Hanzala Malik and Mr Hanif are very close. If I am right, they are also related, so my sympathies go to them all.
Hanzala Malik touched on the important point that education is vital to ensuring that we defeat the scourge of terrorism and radicalisation. I am pleased about the project that Anne McTaggart mentioned for the scholarships that have put girls and women through university, and we will look to build on that. The refresh of the Pakistan plan that we are aiming at could look to promote gender equality more strongly than it has done in the past.
Education is certainly the key to defeating radicalisation. Yes, there is no doubt that a military solution is needed—those who will take up guns against children have to be defeated—but if we want to defeat radicalisation we must recognise that we cannot kill an idea with a bullet. We have to challenge it through education.
That gives the Muslim community a big challenge in relation to al-Qa’ida and ISIS-inspired terrorism: the challenge is for moderates within the community to ensure that we are educating people in the progressive Islam that we know is the core of the religion.
There is also a challenge for us all when a common enemy, such as that which we face through the worldwide extremist threat, will kill anybody, Muslim or non-Muslim. If there is a common enemy, there must be a common solution and we must stand in solidarity. We must not allow those who seek to divide us to do just that. An assault on one must be seen as an assault on us all.
Meeting closed at 17:52.Previous
Decision Time