Let’s be honest, in a world that is changing with Trump’s election in America and the shift towards values very different from those previously defined by woke culture, states have two options .To adapt and continue to exist actively on the global map of developments or to remain confined in their own microcosm. Pakistan is currently balancing on an unorthodox seesaw of logic, with one foot teetering in George Orwell’s 1984 and the other in the transformation of the country into a significant economic industrial power in both the East and the West.
The country’s leadership wants to make it a model Asian country that attracts rapid growth from China as if it were its economic satellite, while simultaneously trying to build ties with the U.S. through trade agreements for the provision of weapons from Pakistan to America. However, this is unfeasible when the involvement of the Taliban and relations with Afghanistan continue to keep the country in a state of daily terrorism. Especially now that Trump has been elected by a landslide, America will show even less tolerance for terrorism.
No matter how much it tries to convince the world otherwise, this country is plagued by terrorism. Pakistan witnessed 785 armed attacks in the first 10 months of 2024, resulting in 951 deaths and 966 injuries, reflecting a persistently high level of violence across the country, according to a report by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, a think tank based in Islamabad.
According to Al Jazeera on November 7, four soldiers and two students were killed in attacks in northwestern Pakistan. A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in northwestern Pakistan, killing four officers and injuring five others, officials said. The roadside bombing occurred in the South Waziristan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police officer Dilawar Khan said on Thursday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the armed group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, has intensified its attacks in the area since its ally, the Afghan Taliban, took power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
The Pakistani army, in a statement on Thursday, confirmed the “martyrdom” of four officers but said security forces also retaliated and killed five “Wahajir,” a term used by the army for the Pakistani Taliban. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed “sorrow and grief” over the soldiers’ killings and said, “Our war against terrorists will continue until the complete eradication of terrorism from the country.”
Also on Thursday, November 7, a bomb fired by armed militants fell near a road in the Tirah Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing two students who were walking to school, police said. The Pakistani Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) movement has strengthened since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Islamabad often accuses Kabul of providing refuge to Pakistani militants, which the Taliban deny.
Beyond the successive terrorist attacks, the country remains shrouded in darkness, inflexible to international developments due to a malfunctioning education system. Many schools, particularly those in remote and flood-prone areas, have abandoned and structurally unsuitable facilities that are at risk of collapsing, as evidenced by the recent roof collapse in the village of Tangaar, the Express Tribune reported.
Education in Swat faces multiple challenges that endanger the safety of students and the quality of their learning environment. The main concerns include the inadequate school infrastructure, natural disasters, security threats, and lack of resources, all of which hinder educational progress in the area.
The problem is exacerbated by frequent landslides and floods during the monsoon season, which damage buildings and create hazardous conditions for students attending classes. Despite the severe floods that occurred in 2022, many schools in Swat remain unrepaired, leaving students vulnerable every day. As calls for action increase, the future of education in Swat hangs by a thread.
Based on a survey conducted on November 1 in Peshawar, Pakistan, the collapse threatens the Swat region as 80% of the school infrastructure remains unstable and the living standards of its people. Up to 80 percent of the buildings of government schools in Malakand have been deemed unsafe, putting the safety of students, teachers, and educational staff at risk, according to the Swat Department of Communications and Works, as reported by the Express Tribune newspaper.
The situation has already led to incidents of injuries. In early July 2024, six children were injured when the roof of a classroom collapsed in the Tangar village, located in the union council of Waleirai in the tehsil of Matta, Swat. Safiga Gul, a spokesperson for the Swat Rescue Service 1122, reported that three of the injured children were in critical condition. After receiving initial treatment at the Matta Central Directorate Hospital, the children were transferred to Saidu Teaching Hospital for further care, the Express Tribune reported.
In my opinion, a state trying to build its industrial economic future without paying attention to the education of its citizens and the living standards of its people is like a naive contractor building a skyscraper without a foundation. Something similar is happening right now with North Korea, the country with the dangerous stockpile of nuclear weapons, with its industry and unparalleled military discipline system. However, when it sends soldiers, that is, human resources, to fight alongside Russia against Ukraine, they turn out to be malnourished and inexperienced. Something similar is happening with Pakistan as well. It invests only in the military strengthening of the country, leaving its citizens to live in a regime of medieval obscurantism, with bombs from the Taliban terrorists costing human lives daily and access to education resembling a Bollywood action movie. This state, where there is no security, education, and the concept of human rights is unknown, could collapse at any moment like a house of cards.
The mistakes of the past should have taught Pakistan that there is no stable state progress without the education of its citizens.Because states must always recognize the people living in them as citizens and subjects and grant them the right to education based on the foundation of existentialism, the cogito ergo sum of Descartes. When I speak of education, I do not mean only the strict curriculum of the country’s school but the cultural opportunities it offers in opening people’s minds.Winston Churchill said in the speech he gave at the University of Bristol on December 14, 1929, the following: “The most important thing about education is the appetite.”Education does not start at the university and it certainly should not end there. I have seen many people become smarter until about the age of 21 or 22, and then they seemed to completely shut down and never made any further progress. Make the most of these years when the wisdom of the world is at your disposal. But don’t spend too much time polishing your armor on stage. The battle continues in every walk and bullet of life. The battle continues in every walk and bullet of life.
