I am Malala

Zia was not alone detested in her father’s sight; he despised the whole Pakistan Army. The short book is filled with numerous statements, bluntly against the Army. Here are a few:

‘My father said the Taliban presence in Swat was not possible without the support of some in the army and the bureaucracy.’

‘The army is doing nothing about it. They are sitting in their bunkers on top of the hills. They slaughter goats and eat with pleasure.’

‘..an army Brigadier went to prayers led by Fazlullah.’

‘At regular intervals along the road we passed, army and Taliban checkpoints were side by side. Once again the army was seemingly unaware of the Taliban presence. “Maybe they have poor eyesight”, we laughed, “and can’t see them”.’

‘One soldier had written corny love poems in one of my classmates’ diaries.’

‘Fazlullah had been captured but the Army and ISI couldn’t agree on what to do with him… the intelligence service had prevailed and taken him to Bajaur so he could slip across the border to Afghanistan.’

‘Our army, which already had a lot of strange side businesses like factories making cornflakes and fertilizers, had started producing soap operas… they wanted to show off themselves as heros.’

‘Hundreds of men had gone missing during the military campaign, presumably picked up by the army or ISI, but no one would say.’

‘…her brother had been picked up by the army, put in leg irons and tortured, and then kept in a fridge until he died… they’d been confused by his name and picked the wrong person.’

‘..no one really knew which side the ISI was on and someone might have tipped off bin Laden before they reached him.. my father said it was a shameful day.. intelligence services must have known his location.’

‘Our own  …ISI had virtually created the Taliban.’

‘Not only did our army and ISI have long links with the militants, but it meant our army would be fighting their own Pushtun brothers.’