I want to start off by saying that most of my audience and page views come from the United States, which is a strange realization for me.
Anyway, today I am going to talk about the woman in the picture.
Noreen Laghari
Noreen Jabbar Laghari, a Pakistani woman in her 20's is Pakistan's first female Islamic State trained suicide bomber caught by Pakistani intelligence agencies in Lahore, Pakistan in a shootout that resulted in the death of her husband Ali Tariq, who was supposedly the leader of this particular terrorist cell. There was, reportedly, another co-conspirator who goes by the alias Abu Fauji (Father of a soldier). She went missing from her home town in Hyderabad in the South of Pakistan where she was a second year medical student. Her father reported her missing on the 10th of Feb, 2017 and she resurfaced after being caught in the raid.
As the story is told, she was radicalized online by ISIS elements online and she traveled to Syria for training. Somewhere between all this, she managed to marry Ali Tariq and hatch a plot to blow herself up during Easter services in Lahore.
Her family was, understandably, distraught and claimed she had been kidnapped. The authorities, however, released her confession to the world. You can watch it below.
If you are not from Pakistan, you probably can't understand what she's saying. The text below is a transcript of what she is saying, translated to English.
If you are not from Pakistan, you probably can't understand what she's saying. The text below is a transcript of what she is saying, translated to English.
My Name is Noreen Leghari, I belong from Hyderabad. My father’s name is Abdul Jabbar who is a Professor in Sindh University. I am 2nd year MBBS student at Liaquat Medical University.
Through this video, I wish to make it clear that I was not kidnapped by anyone but went to Lahore on my own free will. Ali [her husband, who was killed in the shootout] was involved in planning of terrorist activities from a long time, he was involved in planning suicide bombings and kidnapping of intelligence officers.
He was accompanied by a boy named Abu Fauji, who was also a part of these terrorist activities. We were planning to target a church on Easter Sunday for which our organization provided logistical support. On 1st April, we were given two suicide jackets, four hand grenades and a few bullets for the purpose. I was tasked to carry out suicide attack inside the church. But, on the night of 14th April Security Forces raided our house.
How did someone who worked their whole life to become a doctor and save lives, get so mixed up that she wanted to end her life in violence, blood and hate. She comes from a family that did not suspect anything in a society that keeps a close eye on it's daughters. How did everyone miss this.
The answer to this question can be found in the video of the confession. If you watch carefully, this is not an uneducated maniac full of hate. This is a calm and collected educated woman doing her duty. There is no emotion in her voice when she talks about her late husband, she is emotionless. This does not prove she's a sociopath, but, something more is going on here.
In this particular case, we are looking at a victim. A victim of how the Pakistani society is structured. From the day a girl is born, until the day she dies, everyone constantly reminds her that she has to do her duty. Her duty to her husband, her duty to her father, her duty to her faith. Women in Pakistan bear so much in the name of this duty. It is easy for a lot of people to fall into the trap of extremism and become passionate about it. In her video, she displays no passion and no remorse. She just recounts her duty that she was performing.
She plotted the murder of hundreds of innocent Pakistanis on Easter just to prove a political point on behalf of an organization that thinks of a human being a cannon fodder, for this crime, she will stand trial and answer for it. But, let us not forget the role the men in her life played that got her here.
Trust me when I say, every single man in her life at some point lectured her on what her duty is, her father, her brother, her husband, her religious advisor and everyone under the sun. The male segment of society takes the blame for this one. We, as men, pushed her into this.
Pakistan needs to take a long and hard look at how girls are raised and pigeon holed.
I don't want to forget to mention the brave men and women of the Security Services that foiled this operation she was a part of, but now it's time for the Government of Pakistan to work towards a new strategy that prevents this from ever happening again. The men of Pakistan need to do the same, internet censorship is not the answer, a change in attitudes towards women is.
Regards,
Z
PS: The article is an opinion piece only
The answer to this question can be found in the video of the confession. If you watch carefully, this is not an uneducated maniac full of hate. This is a calm and collected educated woman doing her duty. There is no emotion in her voice when she talks about her late husband, she is emotionless. This does not prove she's a sociopath, but, something more is going on here.
In this particular case, we are looking at a victim. A victim of how the Pakistani society is structured. From the day a girl is born, until the day she dies, everyone constantly reminds her that she has to do her duty. Her duty to her husband, her duty to her father, her duty to her faith. Women in Pakistan bear so much in the name of this duty. It is easy for a lot of people to fall into the trap of extremism and become passionate about it. In her video, she displays no passion and no remorse. She just recounts her duty that she was performing.
She plotted the murder of hundreds of innocent Pakistanis on Easter just to prove a political point on behalf of an organization that thinks of a human being a cannon fodder, for this crime, she will stand trial and answer for it. But, let us not forget the role the men in her life played that got her here.
Trust me when I say, every single man in her life at some point lectured her on what her duty is, her father, her brother, her husband, her religious advisor and everyone under the sun. The male segment of society takes the blame for this one. We, as men, pushed her into this.
Pakistan needs to take a long and hard look at how girls are raised and pigeon holed.
I don't want to forget to mention the brave men and women of the Security Services that foiled this operation she was a part of, but now it's time for the Government of Pakistan to work towards a new strategy that prevents this from ever happening again. The men of Pakistan need to do the same, internet censorship is not the answer, a change in attitudes towards women is.
Regards,
Z
PS: The article is an opinion piece only
