Supporters of Pakistani political party Muttahida Qaumi Movement, attend a rally to condemn the attack on 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot last Tuesday by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. Tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan’s largest city Sunday in support of a 14-year-old girl who was shot and critically wounded by the Taliban for promoting girls’ education and criticizing the militant group.KARACHI, Pakistan – Tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan’s largest city Sunday in the biggest show of support yet for a 14-year-old girl who was shot and seriously wounded by the Taliban for promoting girls’ education and criticizing the militant group.
The Oct. 9 attack on Malala Yousufzai as she was returning home from school in Pakistan’s northwest horrified people inside and outside the country. At the same time, it gave hope to some that the government would respond by intensifying its fight against the Taliban and their allies.
But protests against the shooting have been relatively small until now, usually attracting no more than a few hundred people. That response pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of people who held violent protests in Pakistan last month against a film produced in the United States that denigrated Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
Demonstrations in support of Malala – and against rampant militant violence in the country in general – have also been fairly small compared with those focused on issues such as U.S. drone attacks and the NATO supply route to Afghanistan that runs through Pakistan.
Right-wing Islamic parties and organizations in Pakistan that regularly pull thousands of supporters into the streets to protest against the U.S. have less of an incentive to speak out against the Taliban. The two share a desire to impose Islamic law in the country – even if they may disagree over the Taliban’s violent tactics.