Deewa Report

If private schools are seeking ban on Malala’s book in Pakistan, the George Washington University Global Women Institute together with Malala Fund and others is developing curriculum tools to introduce “I Am Malala” at the university level around the globe.
The launching of “I Am Malala Resource Guide” is due at the George Washington University Global Women Institute at 12.00 noon on Thursday to be attended beside others by, Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousafzai. The Global Women’s Institute (GWI) is the educational partner of the Malala Fund, named after Malala Yousafzai, the teenager activist working to ensure that girls around the world have access to education. The GWI-affiliated faculty will work with the publisher Little, Brown and Company to develop curriculum tools regarding Malala’s memoir, I Am Malala. The book chronicles Malala’s efforts for girls’ education.
Malala Yousafzai survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban that almost killed her in October 2012 in her native Swat valley.
“Malala’s courageous campaign for girls’ education is an inspiration to all,” said Mary Ellsberg, GWI director. “We are honored to serve as the Malala Fund’s educational partner, and to work with Little, Brown and Company to develop a curriculum that will not only educate students but spark the very activism Malala stands for.”
The university-level curriculum will be available to faculty members and students around the world at no cost. The curriculum tools will focus on themes such as the importance of a woman’s voice, how education empowers women, global feminism, political extremism and youth activism. A cornerstone of the curriculum will be to encourage advocacy and service learning that extends beyond the classroom. Examples of successful campaigns and various toolkits will help students take action.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with the George Washington University and Little, Brown and Company to bring Malala’s story to students around the world,” said Shiza Shahid, co-founder and CEO of the Malala Fund. “We are so heartened by the support Malala has received, and we hope her book and this curriculum will give students the knowledge and resources to join Malala in her fight.
She said when Malala agreed to write the book, she hoped it would be used in schools and colleges around the world to help understand the circumstances of girls suffering from terrorism, violence and lack of opportunities. Her dedication of the book ‘to all the girls who have faced injustice and been silenced’ reflects this desire. “We hope this curriculum will spur a powerful debate on girls’ rights and international policy in American colleges” said Shiza Shahid.

Professors from any discipline will be able to use the curriculum tools, which will be created by an interdisciplinary group of GW faculty from the Elliott School of International Affairs, the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, the University Writing Program and women’s studies and religious studies programs in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
“All of us are on cloud nine. It is a privilege to develop this curriculum with such a dynamic group,” said Michele Clark, an adjunct professor in international affairs who will soon begin work with a team of faculty on the four-month project to develop the tools. “We look forward to creating the resources that help spread Malala’s message of educational equality.”
The curriculum tools will offer suggestions for group and individual assignments and activities, and will include a companion website with multimedia resources, such as interviews and video clips that illustrate cultural and political themes and challenges, helping students see and hear the challenges facing millions of girls around the world. After launching a pilot curriculum at universities—George Washington will begin to use it in various classes; faculty will also create a high-school curriculum to accompany the book.
“Malala’s incredible story touches on so many topics of vital importance to the educational community not just the value of an education to all people, but also the rights of women and girls everywhere, and a deeper understanding of Muslim culture and the political conflicts that shape our world,” said Heather Fain, vice president, associate publisher and marketing director at Little, Brown and Company. “We feel honored to be working with such a creative and forward-thinking university to make sure that ‘I Am Malala’ reaches as many students as possible.”

Behroz Khan

A relatively less known al-Qaeda operative is the target of the latest suspected drone strike in the volatile South Waziristan, the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sheikh Abu Turab name is listed among the most wanted terrorists by Saudi Arabia, media reports suggest. Despite an intense drone campaign and military operations since 2004, presence of the hardcore al-Qaeda elements speak volumes of the fact that the area has still not been purged of terrorists.

Locals and Pakistani intelligence agencies are skeptical about the activities and rank of Abu Turab in the terror network. “The name of another person killed with Abu Turab is also a mystery,” a tribal elder told VOA Deewa, pleading anonymity. “Arab fighters belonging to al-Qaeda have taken shelter with the Wana-based Taliban headed by Salahuddin Ayubi”, said the source adding that even the mention of their presence in the area by local tribesmen is inviting trouble.

Local Taliban:

The Wazir Taliban came under the command of Salahuddin Ayubi when its founder Mulla Nazir was killed in a US drone strike last year. The Local Taliban force is in an agreement with the Pakistani military since 2005 but is fighting against the NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. Mullah Nazir spearheading an uprising of the Ahmadzai Wazir against the fighters of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in 2007 successfully flushed them out of the Wazir land. However, Mulla Nazir later told a press conference that al-Qaeda fighters were welcomed and they will be protected.

Al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden along with his three to four wives and lieutenants moved to South Waziristan after he escaped US bombing on his Tora Bora mountainous hideout in Afghanistan’s Nangrahar province. Osama was killed in a US raid on his compound in Pakistan’s garrison city of Abottabad on May 2, 2011. He was living there for more than five years with his three wives and several kids. Apart from al-Qaeda, reports suggest that the Wazir territory of South Waziristan is still a safe sanctuary for Chechens and Uighurs. China is demanding from Pakistan to take action against Uighur fighters hiding in the Waziristan region.

Uighurs:

The ongoing military operation in North Waziristan, officials in the Pakistani political administration said, was conducted by the government mainly due to the pressure from China, where the Uighur separatists are being trained and sheltered by Taliban. Locals claim that fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the Uighurs are the prime target of the operation. The Uighurs pursue their goal for a separate state under the umbrella of Islamic Movement of East Turkistan (IMET). Tribal sources informed that the Uighur fighters are on the run and that China was able to disrupt their internet links and other communication systems. The outgoing Corp Commander Peshawar, Gen. Khalid Rabbani during his farewell visit to South Waziristan early this week called upon the Ahmadzai Wazirs either to expel foreign terrorists or be ready for a similar situation being faced by tribesmen in North Waziristan.

Most of the Arabs, Chechens and Uighurs are believed to have shifted to the Wazir land in South Waziristan ahead of the military operation in North Waziristan. Afghan officials claim the Haqqani Network is not the target of Pakistani military operation, a claim Islamabad has rejected and insists that the ongoing drive was against all the terrorist groups hiding in the tribal region. The Pakistan military has, however, so far couldn’t target a known member of the terrorist organization, the Haqqani Network.

India Factor:

The increasing popularity of India in Afghanistan has worried Islamabad. India has invested around $2 billion in developing Afghanistan’s infrastructure over the decade. The former Afghan president Karzai declared India as friend No. 1 in his farewell speech. Already, Kabul and New Delhi signed a strategic treaty followed by a similar agreement between Afghanistan and the United States to the chagrin of Pakistan. The conflict of interests of India and Pakistan is, as some experts believe, sandwiching Afghanistan, thereby fanning another era of proxy war.

To begin with, for example, Pakistan-based Punjabi Taliban chief Asmatullah Mua’awiah has announced quitting terrorism inside Pakistan but pledged to continue their “Jihad” in Afghanistan. The presence of the sanctuaries of the militant outfits in Pakistan near Afghanistan is seen as a continuation of the Pakistan’s deep state old mindset—seeking strategic depth across the Durand Line.

To counter Pakistan, the United States and India both have developed a new friendship for combating terror in the region, increasing economic cooperation and sharing know how in the civil nuclear sector. The US has denied civil nuclear assistance to Pakistan, mainly due to trust deficit, analysts believe.

Washington and New Delhi have also recently increased pressure on Pakistan for dismantling terrorist facilities being used for violence in Afghanistan, India and elsewhere. Soon after the meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington this week, the US treasury department placed sanctions on two Pakistan-based entities for links to the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and Harkatul Mujahideen (HuM). The department also placed sanction of the chief of HuM Fazlur Rahman Khalil and two other Pakistani individuals.

President Obama and premier Modi also urged for dismantling the terrorist havens in Pakistan, a long-standing demand which has not been addressed to the satisfaction of the stakeholders. Based on their statement, Pakistan’s leading newspaper Dawn in its October 3rd editorial, “Price of Inaction” cautioned,

“Consider that the joint US-India statement also refers to “dismantling” terrorist safe havens: is that an ominous sign that however remote the possibility at the moment, the US and India have begun contemplating the possibility of targeted counterterrorist operations on Pakistani soil at some point in the future?”

ISIS chief Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi
By Behroz Khan
As US president Obama and Pentagon confirmed attacking the al-Qaeda linked Khurasan group in Syria on Monday night, the US intelligence experts have indicated the group has links with terrorists hiding in Pakistan’s border regions near Afghanistan. If true, the revelations will send ripples in Islamabad’s power corridors, taking Pakistan once again to the central stage of the terror theater.
President Obama said: “Last night, we also took strikes to disrupt plotting against the United States and our allies by seasoned al Qaeda operatives in Syria who are known as the Khurasan Group.”
The US president said it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people.
US Experts’ Take on Khurasan:
A former CIA deputy director Mike Morell explained on “CBS This Morning” that a group of militants from al Qaeda-central, near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, have joined the fight in Syria and “evolved into the external operations arm” of the group’s franchise in that country, the al-Nusra Front. Referring to the terrorist Islamist outfit, he said: “Khurasan members came from Pakistan,” said Morell. “They focus on attacks in the West.
David Mack, Middle East Institute expert and former US career diplomat to a number of Arab states said Khurasan is a loose coalition of Arab and non-Arab terrorist organizations. In an interview with VOA Deewa, he said: “Khurasan appeals to the Arab nationalism.”
Ismail Khan, VOA Deewa reporter says the Syria-based Khurasan group is led by a 30-year old Qatari militant Mohsin al-Fadali and the group is different from the one active in Pakistan. He, however, said the group has members from Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Khurasan in Pakistan:
Khurasan is apparently a splinter militant group which hitherto worked under the umbrella of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan known as TTP. Its present leader Abdul Wali, also known as Khalid Khurasani is from Mohmand tribal district of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Khurasani was a student leader and belonged to Islami Jamiat Talaba, the student wing of Jamaat-i-Islami, having its ideology and inspiration from the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood founded by Syed Qutab.
After the announcement of Caliphate by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL), Khalid Khurasani distanced himself from the TTP and aligned his group with the ISIL. Graffiti like ‘Long Live Daesh (IS)’ and ‘Salute to Daesh’ have been appearing in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan and Pakhtunkhwa provinces bordering Iran and Afghanistan. The group is mainly cashing in sectarian strife in the Balochistan region.
Khalid Khurasani parted ways with the TTP’s Mehsud faction after the death of Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a suspected drone strike on 1st November 2013 in North Waziristan. The differences between the Mehsud factions led to the division of TTP where most of the smaller groups remained under the leadership of its new chief, Mulla Fazlullah, who was head of TTP Swat. The TTP was kept united to a great extent reportedly due to active role played by Sirajuddin Haqqani of the Haqqani Network and the Al-Qaeda leader Aiman Al-Zawahiri. However, TTP chief Mulla Fazullah expelled Khalid Khurasani from his group as both terror leaders couldn’t resolve their differences.
Myth about Jihad-i-Khurasan
Influenced by their Arab brothers-in-faith, Khalid Khurasani and his followers too believe that the movement for the glory of Islam will emerge from the Mountains of Khurasan, the ancient name of present-day Afghanistan and will conquer the world to be followed by the Doomsday. The concept of Jihad-i-Khurasan came to Afghanistan and Pakistan with the arrival of Arab fighters during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which was later shaped into al-Qaeda headed by Osama Bin Laden. The al-Qaeda chief was killed in a raid on his fort-like abode in Pakistan’s garrison city of Abbottabad by US Navy Seals on May 2, 2011.
Apart from Jihad-i-Khurasan, al-Qaeda has recently announced formation of its Indian chapter, which the Indian Intelligence Bureau has dubbed as the handiwork of Pakistan ISI. Al-Qaeda is spreading propaganda quoting unauthentic sayings of prophet of Islam that Jihad-i-Khurasan and Jihad-ul-Hind must take place before Islam dominates all other religions and states around the world.