Islamabad:Keeping in mind the cultural and traditional restrictions for women in our society, the general mindset can be that it is rare to find a woman who qualifies as ‘hero’ in the crisis situations faced by the country in past five years.
The same mindset is depicted whenever the Swat military operation is discussed. It is always all about men fighting with evil with some of them finally turning out to be the heroes for saving the day. The only information that reached the big cities is that women actually proved to be a strong point for Mualana Fazullah, the religious leader who made the innocent people of Swat believe that they can establish an Islamic state of their own standards in the area.
It is frequently mentioned that women gave away their jewellery to help Fazalullah, they were the regular listeners of his sermons and played important role in implementing his version of Islam in the household. But a small trip to the crisis ridden area with a special focus of meeting more and more women is enough to open the minds of those who have never considered the resilience of the women of Swat towards protecting the integrity of their homeland, something that has contributed a great deal in bringing the situation to the present normal. The story of Iffat Nasir was one such eye opener. She herself was unaware of the fact that by definition, she qualifies as a real hero of the community as she, in the face of danger and adversity and from a position of weakness, displayed courage and the will of self scarifies for greater good of humanity.
“I was the Principal of Government Girls High School Aboha at the time when unrest started. We were continuously receiving threats from Taliban as they were against sending girls to the schools,” recalled Iffat who is currently the Education District Officer (EDO) for Swat. The horror she experienced at that time still brings tears to her eyes.
She clearly remembers each and every moment of the day when in December 24th, 2008 Taliban finally announced that all girl schools should be closed immediately or otherwise the school administration will be responsible of the dire consequences.
It was a farewell party of students in the school at that day. “I went there with a real heavy heart trying to hide my emotions from the students through out the event but when they called me on stage to say a few words, I burst into tears,” she said in an interview with ‘The News’.
The next moment, Iffat was crying and screaming like anything on the stage. “It was a heart breaking day for me as my family was the one that is largely respected for introducing and promoting girl education in the Swat valley. I told my students that I was not sure whether I will be able to see their bright faces again or not,” she said.
She was the one who, through a letter, indicated to education department much earlier that situation is moving towards the worst when she heard the news about one of the girl schools in Swat where 300 students burnt their certificate. “Fazaullah congratulated the people of Swat on that occasion and said that they have got 300 girl Mujahideen.” Even after the warnings of Taliban, Iffat continued going to school regularly till the military operation started. “Many friends and relatives tried to stop me saying that I am risking my life everyday. The students stopped coming to school, as they feared their life. I also had the idea how dangerous it was to attend the office, but it was my responsibility as a principal of that school not to give up.”
Such was the extent of danger at that time that Iffat wrote her will so that her heirs could follow her instructions regarding the distribution of her belongings in case of any untoward situation. “Each day when I left my home for school, it appeared as if it was my last day,” she said.
Braving the worst kind of threats and becoming a proud survivor was the choice of Iffat who is determined to serve her country till her last breath. “I want to remain a productive citizen of this country as long as I am alive. I could work whole night to bring reforms in education sector if government allows me to do so,” she added.The news.
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