Obama’s gesture

                IN October 2009 President Barack Obama became the third sitting US president to win the Nobel Peace. He has pledged to give away the cash prize of $1.4 million to charity.
               One got green with envy when one heard the news that Obama has donated $100,000 to the Central Asia Institute that promotes and supports community-based education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. That kind of approach and that kind of attitude are non-existent in Pakistan’s nobility and ruling elite.
                Education is the backbone of any nation and to have an enlightened and educated nation the woman of that nation must be educated. The Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, once said:” Give me an educated mother, I will give you an educated nation”.
               Wisdom, history and Islam all emphasise the importance of women’s education. But our khans, waderas, maliks and the sardars are collectively averse to women’s education. They would do everything to discourage education among women, and if some enlightened official or international NGO succeeds in establishing girls school, they would swiftly transform it into their ‘autaaq’, ‘hujra’ and ‘baitak’(sort of rural guestroom).
                The West has moved away from the Dark Age toward progress and prosperity, while the Islamic world has sunk deep into darkness. This transformation may be due to the stark contrast in the attitude of the leadership of the two worlds.
                 While some Pakistanis miss no opportunity to abuse America, Americans and its president, few bother to take note of the noble deeds by the American people and leadership. Obama’s decision to spend part of the money on girls’ education in Pakistan and Afghanistan deserves commendation.