Fighting in Pakistan

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Militants Draw New Front Line Inside Pakistan." The article begins, "For much of the last century, the mountainous region of Swat was ruled as a princely kingdom where a benign autocrat, the wali, bestowed schools for girls, health care for everyone and the chance to get a degree abroad for the talented." It continues, "Now the region is the newest front line in the battle between Islamic militants, who are sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and Pakistan’s nervous security forces. For the first time, heavy fighting has moved beyond Pakistan’s tribal fringe and into more settled areas of the country."

Read the Article!!

Discussion Starters for Young Children

• Ask your students if they know what the word "stubborn" means? Have they ever been stubborn about anything? What have they been stubborn about? Do students think they get what they want when they are stubborn? Why/why not?
  
• Do students think that all children should be allowed to go to school? Why/why not? What would students think if all of the sudden girls or boys were not allowed to go to school? What problems might somebody have if they didn't go to school?
  
• Do students think it's good to be smart? Why/why not? Can students think of any reason why somebody might not want somebody else to learn how to do things? What are these reasons? Who do students think would get what they want most of the time: somebody who knows a lot or somebody who knows a little. Encourage students to explain their thoughts.
  
• Ask students if they would like to live in a community where there was a lot of fighting. Encourage them to explain their thoughts. What might be some of the problems with living in such a community? Do students think that there are any communities where a lot of fighting does take place?
  

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: "Benign Autocrat"; Insurgency; Passivity; and, Quell.
  
• What do students think it means to believe in something? Is there a difference between believing in something and knowing something? What is the difference?
  
• Ask students to imagine that they lived in the region of Swat. What would they feel towards the militants? Would they prefer to have a peaceful community governed by fundamentalists or a community in which fundamentalists constantly battled government forces? Encourage them to explain their thoughts.
  
• If students could say or do one thing to stop the fighting in Pakistan what would they say or do? Why would they say or do this? Is it more powerful to say something or more powerful to do something? Explain!!