Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or more commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban is a militant organization operating in Pakistan. The organization claims to represent Islam and work against people and ideologies that do not align with their idea of Islamic principles. The organization holds extremist views that see education as a means to divert the masses from the truth to lead them astray. According to them, the mainstream education system is just western education or agenda and is completely unnecessary. They are especially against girls' education which they consider un-Islamic. TTP has been known to oppose western education and has often resorted to violence.
TTP's hatred towards female education became evident when on 9th October 2012, two young gunmen from the organization stopped a school van and shot a 15-year-old girl Malala who was known to advocate for girls' education in Swat. This is the story of one of the many girls whose education suffered as a result of TTP's extremist ideologies and violent tendencies.
Another such incident that highlights TTP's atrocities is the attack carried out on The Army Public School Peshawar on 16th December 2014. The militant organization's armed men stormed into the school killing more than 150 people majority of which were children, leaving several injured and traumatized.
These violent incidents are some of the many examples proving that TTP is a threat to education in the country.
On Monday, 28th November, TTP called out the ceasefire that was agreed upon in June with the government of Pakistan. They also openly announced that they will be carrying out attacks. While this means the peace of the country and the political situation is uncertain, the impact it will have on education cannot be overlooked. With the return of TTP, the future of education in Pakistan, especially female education becomes a question mark.