By Vini Bhati:
“Bring back our girls”, a plain tweet of Ibrahim M Abdullah, a Nigerian lawyer, in context of the unfortunate incident of the mass abduction of Nigerian girls by Islamic militants, has now transformed into a vibrant signature campaign which is witnessing the online community vehemently urging to rescue the missing girls. It forged a petition on the website change.org which aimed to raise awareness regarding the beyond tragic state of Nigeria by garnering worldwide support.
The families of those girls who are held captive are in an utter state of desperation as those innocent souls fell prey to the malicious motives of religious fanatics. Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group which is driven by the puritanical Islamic ideologies, strongly condemns the efforts of building a modern society. Back on 14 April 2014, this Islamic military group stormed an all girls school, which was reopened for students to take up their final examination. They forcefully kidnapped the girls, and blatantly threatened to marry them off or sell them as slaves, crossing all boundaries of barbarism. Education for these young girls opened the prison of captivity as by kidnapping them, these militants are reinforcing their resistance to western education and re-establishing their rigid faith of the regressive vision where the place of a woman is at “home” under the subordination of their multiple “masters”. This outrageous incident has questioned the nature of terrorism and how gravely it has engulfed innocent lives with despair.
“Bring back our girls” campaign is an attempt to unite the world in order to display their opposition against this ruthless act by holding a placard which says “Bring back our girls” and getting clicked. The creative blend of the selfie- trend and a powerful agenda has brought the isolated Nigerian incident on the global forum. This campaign has received enthusiastic support from influential figures like Michelle Obama, Malala Yousafzai and Hilary Clinton who expressed their grief and firmly resolved to fight this noble battle. It has brought together various nations like U.S President Barack Obama and U.K President David Cameron who are willing to extend an olive branch to rescue the missing girls.
This nefarious incident has stunned the world and diverted our attention to the persisting ideological crisis which has unveiled in its horrendous form. It calls for UN to take a firm stand in tackling Islamic militants as they contribute in the proliferation of terrorism. The hegemon, US need to step in and employ its military prowess to evacuate the missing girls. A powerful ensemble needs to be set up which will include the cooperation of all countries because the time has come for us to finally ponder over the pertinent question.
How many more lives will we have to sacrifice in order to uphold the distorted, decaying world of the claimed “fundamentalists” who are blocking the ray of progress?