Afghan President and people have responded very well to the incident of Malala Yousafzai, a 14 years old Pakistani girl, who was shot on Tuesday, October 9, while riding a school bus in the Swat valley, Pakistan. She has been a very active female student for the cause of female education in the tribal region and has been opposing or standing against the Talibanistic attitudes towards girls and women. She was in a critical condition after the incident as she was shot on her head. Though the doctors claim that she is in a better condition, it would definitely take time before she recovers.

President Hamid Karzai telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday night to condemn the shooting of child activist Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani embassy in Kabul said on Thursday. During the call, Karzai expressed grief and shock over Tuesday's attack which left Malala and two of her schoolmates injured, said Akhtar Munir, press counselor at the embassy.

Zardari thanked Karzai, saying Malala and her school mates symbolized the children's quest for education and social uplift and demonstrated their national spirit to stand up against militants and extremists. "The culprits will not escape retribution and will not go unpunished," Zardari said, according to a statement from Munir's office.

Apart from that millions of school girls in Afghanistan prayed for the speedy recovery of Malala Yousafzai. As the children, particularly girls, in Afghanistan have been paying the huge cost of Taliban insurgencies, "around 9.5 million students all over the country in 15,500 schools and education centers offered prayers for her quick recovery," education ministry spokesman Amanullah Iman told AFP in order to show their sympathy to Malala Yousufzai "The students also expressed their solidarity to their sister (Malala) because the attack on her was an attack on education," he said.

Afghan society has responded to the incident of Malala so vehemently because Afghan society itself has been suffering from the adverse effects of Talibanization and conservative social behavior. The radical and conservative elements in Afghan society have always been against modern education. They have always taken acute steps to stop its growth in this society.

And when the matter is related to the education of the girls or women, the situation becomes more intolerable for them. They do not consider women capable enough to come out of their houses and get education or participate in social and political lives. In fact, they consider it a step against their so-called "honor".

Unfortunately, in the last few decades the number of such elements has kept on rising. Though there were some expectations from the society that had developed after the fall of Taliban, it has not been able to come up to the expectations, and there are clear indications that the society may get deteriorated further as far as the female education or female participation in social and political lives are concerned.

One of the greatest characteristics of a tribal and an extremist religious society is that it tends to keep intact the status quo. It does not want that the society should evolve and the developments should be made. The evolution of the society will ultimately bring about changes within the society that may disturb the social hierarchy and may compel many people who suffer under the obsolete rules, regulations, norms and values.

Modern education plays a key role in facilitating the evolution of society. It may make the subjects question the obsoleteness of the norms, values and ideas. It may even challenge the rule of the tribal leaders and the extremist Mullahs – who with the support of the so-called "unchangeable social status" and "undeniable religious teachings" are able to extend their rule over the poor masses.

They are the ones who would be largely influenced by the spread of education. Therefore, they carry out every step to ensure that the education does not reach to their societies and they are able to rule the people in accordance to the self-centered objectives; mostly violating and discriminating others.

Though the discriminatory role of an extremist religious and tribal society affects everyone, the weaker strata of society have to face the most of it. Women in such societies, which are mostly patriarchal in nature, happen to be one of the weakest strata.

Their lives and destinies are decided by the male members of the society. No major decision, relevant to their lives, is taken by themselves. Unfortunately, Afghanistan is one of the same kinds of society. Though there have been improvements in some of the major cities, most of the areas still have the same setup. Women are considered as a commodity.

They are mercilessly killed, burnt, sexually abused, married before they are mature, married without their consent, abused as prostitutes, sold and bought, sacrificed at the altar of religious dogmas, and kept away from education.

The destiny-makers of this society know that if they are given modern education, they may question the things being done to them. They may question the discriminatory rules and regulations. They may challenge the religious dogmas and ultimately challenge the Mullahs and the illiterate tribal leaders. They may change the things and that is what the makers of the society do not want them to do. They want them to be docile and obedient, as in such condition they would be easier to tackle and ruled over.

With some developments achieved in some of the areas of the country, regarding the female education, such Mullahs and tribal leaders are not very happy. They cannot tolerate it, and have decided to take serious action against all such efforts. Therefore, it is not uncommon to hear the news that girls' schools are closed forcefully, the school going girls are attacked by acid and on many occasions, they are poisoned in their schools in different ways.

Modern education is necessary for Afghan society if it has to change in true sense. Same is the case with the condition and position of women; they can only change when they are given modern education. Afghan government and the Western allies have to keep this thing in mind that they have to neutralize all the efforts that are exerted to nullify the gains regarding modern education, especially of the girls. Providing a sustainable and modern education system to the children of Afghanistan will be the greatest of the services to Afghanistan.