 Audra, bryd dear, yn nghwm i'ch gael y cail, rwy'n creu llwyddoch. Y final ydych chi'n ystafell yn gweithio, mae yn dweud yn y gwrthwynt 1.1.1929 yn y name o Buttyn Gafael pan ddysgu y Maeg i'w queilau i Peshawarr. Ystafell wedi gweld gennymau i wrth gwrs i ddweud, i'n gweld i'n creu llwyddoch i'r dweud i ddweud, i'n creu'r ddweud i'r ddweud i'r ddweud i brwynton gyda. A calling Angela Malick. to open the debate, 7 minutes please. Thank you and good afternoon, doctors. The terrorist attacks, like thebuzine in Talokiebydparisand the massacre in the alley Peshawar, Pakistan on 18 December 2014. is a stark reminder of reality that the world is in conflict today. the Peshawar school massacre is a horror story that drives home a powerful image of what the people of Pakistan at facing a daily based. In a country that is sadly used to bad news, the deaths of 141 people including 130 children were shocking and disastrous. The events in Peshawar brought home the stark brutality of this conflict. There is no apparent strategy or political aim behind the attack apart from spreading terror. This was terrorism in its purest form. The Taliban wanted to show that they could and would attack anybody, anytime, anywhere. However, this very personal attack act of terror with gunmen going from classroom to classroom shooting children at point blank range has brought about a very strong response from within Pakistan itself. The country's civilian and military leaders are now standing side by side for the first time to work to frame a model and clear country's anti-terrorist strategy. It is at this watershed moment that Pakistan needs international support and understanding more than any other time. Since the attacks on the Twin Towers in September 11, 2001, that marked a turning point in the way terrorism and Muslims have been viewed. It is important to remember that terrorism harms people all over the world, not just in the West. In Pakistan, over the past 13 years, more than 70,000 people have lost their lives due to terrorism. The economy damaged to the country is estimated at more than $80 billion. This is a price Pakistan simply cannot afford to pay. For things to change, we have to consider the link between poverty and literacy and the terror threat that Pakistan-Taliban pose. The word Taliban simply means student. Poor people send their boys to madrasas or religious schools as it is sometimes the only means in which they can get a formal education of any sort. Overtime, these schools have become the recruiting ground for terrorist organizations who prey on poor, disadvantaged young people who have little hope of finding any employment. Hence, Pakistan's huge energy shortage has resulted in hurting the industry, increasing unemployment and creating more unrest. Factories without power have closed down, laying off workers who would normally provide for their families and help the country's economy. I am sure that many of us here are aware of the close historical links with Pakistan going back to the days of the British Empire when soldiers from the region fought with us in the First and Second World Wars. Pakistan was created in 1947 with many of the country's institutions such as education and the judiciary still modeled on the British system. Today, relations between Pakistan and Scotland have developed. With Pakistan, diaspora is making an important contribution to the economy of Scotland. Scottish organisations also enjoy twinning with Pakistan, such as schools, colleges, universities, children hospitals and cities like Lahore and Glasgow. So, when there is trouble in Pakistan, it troubles our hearts in our Scottish communities as well. Whether we have lost family, friends or relatives, it is at times like this that relations between Scotland and Pakistan should be the great source of strength. The work Gordon Brown has undertaken in supporting literacy in Pakistan as the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education has and will continue to have a huge impact on the country for generations to come. The British Council is also reopening its libraries in July in this year, hopefully, in order to win hearts and minds and help deal with the challenge of illiteracy in Pakistan. We in Scotland should look at the Pakistan country plan to see how we can play our part in bringing prosperity to our friends in Pakistan and explore the possibility of working together as we have done, try to do so historically. So, Presiding Officer, I also believe we need to remember all those around the world who have lost loved ones through terrorist attacks, direct or indirect. We must be united to stand firm against these acts, support one another and fight this cancer, particularly in countries like Pakistan, who can't do it alone, and we know that. We need to show Pakistan is no longer alone and its allies and its two friends have rallied ground in supporting the government and the people of Pakistan. Never abandon allies, it is essential that people of Pakistan realise they have friends in Scotland and they will stand shoulder to shoulder with them in good times and bad. And I pray to God that that will continue to do so. We will continue to do so and have every opportunity to deliver those types of promises. Presiding Officer, Lahore and Glasgow in particular have a very warm and a very deep understanding and a very working good relationship. We have had many exchanges through the years. The twinning has played a very important role in being able to identify friends that we can work together. Every time we have had any issues in Scotland, our friends in Lahore have always sent us their sympathies and their support, and I thought it only appropriate that we do the same. I hope that the people in Pakistan will appreciate the fact that the Scottish Government and the Parliament have gone its way to openly declare its support for them. Many thanks. We now turn to the open debate speeches of around four minutes, and I call Kenny MacAskill, who will be followed by Joanne Lamont. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. First of all, I'll put on record my thanks to Hanzala Malik for bringing you this debate. I think it's not simply the fact that he's brought it, but it's the tenor and indeed the content of what he said that is highly impressive. It is right that we should record the tragedy and give our sympathies. Scotland as a country has been scarred by our own terrorist incident, if we could call it that at Dunblane. It certainly wasn't on a scale, but the pain and suffering that was felt by all. It's not simply those in Peshawar and in Pakistan who have suffered as a result of this. Clearly, the heartache is greatest for those who are there, for the Pakistani community in Scotland that's an integral part of our country, but this is in fact a crime against humanity. To wantonly slaughter youngsters, to do so for your own perverse prejudice reasons is something that we all have to stand up for as a human race and condemn outwith. So, as I say, I'm grateful to Hanzala Malik for giving the Scottish Parliament the opportunity to record its sadness, but also to support him in terms of looking for what we can do for the solution. Obviously, we have this debate in the backdrop of the wanting slaughter that also took place in Pakistan and in Paris. It's appropriate that we should record and understand that terrorism is not a Western European phenomenon. Sometimes if you were to watch the television or read the papers you would think that the only people who suffer terrorism are those of us in the Western world. The tragedies that have afflicted and affected, whether it's Madrid or London, New York or sadly Paris, and yet the statistics that Hanzala commented on are quite clear. Whatever we have suffered in those tragedies have to be condemned outright, but there was a Pew Centre report just recently. The five countries that have suffered most from terrorism were Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria and Syria. And yet, if you were to ask people in Scotland and the UK, they would probably say that it's those countries that the terrorists come from, not that it's those countries where terror is suffered most. So it's important that we raise awareness to realise that the solution to terrorism is to tackle it globally, that it's not simply to say those in Western European and indeed Western democracies who suffer, those people suffer more. Equally, I think it's important that we make it quite clear that terrorism needs to be condemned wherever and by whomsoever it is carried out. It is important that we condemn the actions carried out in Paris, but equally we condemn it in Pakistan. It's important that we condemn it in Madrid, but it's equally important that we condemn it in Gaza. And yes, it's right that we should condemn the Taliban and we should speak out against Al Qaeda. But whether it says really actions in Gaza or whether it's drone use by the United States in Pakistan, children grieve the same, their tears in the blood that is shed is equal whether it's in the Western world or in the third world. And the points made by Hamzala are also important. If we were to give Pakistan support and education, literacy and health, it would be so much more than the suffering that is inflicted upon them because of the actions for the West, because as well as suffering most as a consequence of terrorism in terms of the victims. Pakistan, I also note from Pew Centre research, is a country that has most refugees in it because of what is happening in Afghanistan and elsewhere. So what we need to do is to condemn terrorism wherever it is, to provide support to the Pakistani Government and taking actions unequally to make sure that actions taken by the West are productive, not counterproductive. They support and enhance the Government, do not undermine them, do not damage their security and that means we need to give support and education, literacy and health and make sure that we don't cause collateral damage through bombs, drone attacks or whatever else. But I fully support Hamzala Malik, put on record my and I believe the whole condemnation of the people of Scotland. Terrorism is a global phenomenon and he needs addressed by us as an entire humanity. Thank you very much. I now call Joanne Lamont to be followed by Joanne Lamont. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I in opening congratulate Hamzala Malik on securing this debate and recognise that it has secured cross-party support and particularly commendum in the way in which he expressed the arguments that he did in moving the motion? I think it is an important opportunity for us to express our sympathies and condolences to those who are suffering in Peshawar. But also to recognise that this tragedy has touched families in my constituency, across Glasgow and throughout Scotland. And while the headlines will move on, their grief will continue to affect them for many years to come. It is important that we do all that we can to support them as they deal with this tragedy. It is an important opportunity to express solidarity. It is important that we do express solidarity in the face of this brutality. To show unity against all those who use terror to pursue their own goals. Who use terror to show how strong they are. Who use terror to strike fear in their communities. And how horrific it is that in particularly we see them targeting children, recognising as they do that there is an opportunity for them to reinforce and amplify their brutality, their willingness to do almost anything in their goal. And how in the face of that, how communities must shrink back at what may be possible still. Of course, in attacking a school, it is also clear that the Taliban see education as a particular target. We would recognise the power of education to liberate people from poverty and to create greater equality across our world, particularly for girls and for those who are vulnerable and deprived. For groups such as the Taliban, education becomes a legitimate target because education is the way in which our world can take on those who seek to terrorise us. We know that education gives the world hope and it is therefore no surprise that the Taliban and others like them see it as a legitimate target. It is no surprise that the Taliban targeted Malala Yusafsa representing in her articulate perseverance in the face of unbearable threats, the courage that all too many need to secure education for the poorest and most vulnerable. We should stand in awe of her and all of those who face that threat with amazing courage. We recognise the work of her global campaign for education and the United Nations Global Education First initiative, recognising as they do that it will be through education that we can best take on those who seek not to liberate but to terrorise. We know, of course, not just in Peshawar, but we live in frightening times. It feels to me as if the world is holding its breath as we see terror and fear and tragedy around us. In the face of that horror, the danger is that our world is paralysed. We think that there is nothing that we can do to take on those who will do anything to secure their goals. Yesterday, on our televisions, we saw young people and their teachers return to school in Peshawar. We saw the continuing grief of the parents of the teachers and school pupils who saw things that no one ought to see, who are suffering things that no one ought to suffer. As one commentator said, in a country where fear stocks every aspect of public life, something as simple as going to school has now become an act of bravery. We salute that courage and should in expressing our solidarity and support for all those who are suffering here and abroad, commit ourselves to do all that we can to match that bravery with our determination to resist those who would use brutality and violence to secure their ends. The power of education, solidarity, commitment and courage can take on those forces and I believe that we can play our small part in recognising all of those across the world who in the face of brutality take courage and stand up for what is right and resist those who want to deny them the freedom and opportunity that they deserve. In standing in solidarity with those across our communities, we recognise the scale of the challenge but it also, I believe, gives us great hope for the future. Thank you very much and I now call John Lamont to be followed by Malcolm Chisholm. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I also thank Pansala Malik for securing time for this important member's debate and the way in which she addressed this important issue during his opening remarks. As the doors to the Army, Public School and Petrol are opened for the first time in Mondays to students following the barbaric Taliban attack in December last year, I joined members in denouncing the depraved violence that sensibly killed scores of schoolchildren and teachers. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and the loved ones as they struggle to come to terms with the loss on an unimaginable scale. The barbarity of this attack is unfavable, not only because the Pakistani Taliban targeted innocents but because they attacked a school. Sadly, it is but one of many in northern Pakistan to have been targeted by the Taliban forces over recent years. According to Human Rights Watch between 2009 and 2012, there were at least 838 attacks on schools in Pakistan. Schools are accused by the Taliban of promoting Western decadence and un-Islamic teachings, but they are also seen as soft targets. This is the height of coerence. I applaud those brave students and staff in Peshawar who have this week defiantly returned to the scene of unspeakable brutality. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said following the attack, going to school should not have to be an act of bravery. The international crisis group reports that the education of hundreds of thousands has been disrupted after their families fled militant violence in Pakistan while more than 9 million children are not currently receiving a primary or secondary education. Every child must have the right to go to school and every child on every continent should feel safe in their schools. On the same day as the attack on the army public school, 40 countries and 10 international organisations convened in Geneva to unveil the guidelines for protecting schools and universities from military use during armed conflict. Those guidelines underline existing rules for international humanitarian law to promote better understanding and implementation of the Geneva conventions. This is a step in the right direction, but to have a real and enduring impact, we must target the root cause of the issue, and that is the scrooge of violent extremism. Extremism has dominated the headlines of recent days, weeks and months, and events in France provide a stark reminder that this is a global concern. From Peshwar to Paris and from the towns and villages in north-east Nigeria to the central business district of Sydney and Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the cancer of violent extremism exists everywhere. Let us not forget that Nigeria, a country that has been set by violence at the hands of Baku Harmaram, which we should remind ourselves translates as Western or non-Islamic education as a sin, endured a massacre last week with a death toll nearing 2,000. Shockingly, four days ago a little girl of about 10 years old detonated explosives hidden under her veil killing almost 20 people. Catholic Archbishop of Joss has urged the west not to overlook the crisis in Nigeria, and we must act to combat violent extremism both at home and abroad. The global problem requires a global response, and I welcome the announcement from Washington that the White House will host the delayed summit on countering violent extremism next month. Closer to home, the UK Government is working hard to combat extremism with the prevent strategy, which supports community-based campaigns to rebut terrorism and extremism propaganda. The UK Government is also working closely with its international partners to combat the deadly threat of violent extremism posed by ISIL, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other networks, and this collaborative approach is the key. We will struggle to understand why almost 150 children and teachers lost their lives in an act of total depravity. As we come to terms with the loss of 17 victims following the attacks in Paris last week, it seems opposite to end with the words of Malala Yusofi, the 16-year-old Nobel Prize winner who addressed the UN in 2003 with the somewhat pertinent words, let us pick up our books and pens, they are our most powerful weapons. I now call Malcolm Chisholm to be followed by Sandra White. I would like to congratulate Angela Malick for bringing forth this motion and offering us the important opportunity to express support, condolence and solidarity with the people of Pakistan, particularly those directly affected by this tragedy. I also acknowledge and recognise the particular impact that it has had on the Pakistani community here in Scotland. The Peshawar massacre rightly and understandably sent ribbles of horror through the international community because no act of terrorism can be more horrific than the massacre of innocent children. The Taliban wanted this one cowardly assault to strike so much fear into school children that no Pakistani child who sits in front of a teacher in a classroom would ever feel safe again. In spite of that, however, I am sure that we were all delighted to see on our televisions this week that the school has reopened. Of course, there is a need for the school perhaps to be like a high security unit at present, but if that is what has to be done in order to reassert the importance of education for all the reasons that Johann Lamont outlined, then of course those are the conditions in which those children must learn. The tragedy, of course, is one of a number of tragedies around the world where children have been targeted for purposes of both recruitment and intimidation and cowardly attacks on the most innocent. This has rightly galvanised leaders to speak out in defence of the right to learn and teach without fear, most notably the campaigner Malala Yousafzai, whose spirit and determination have been an inspiration to millions. A campaign for the promotion and protection of children's rights by the online petition site Avaz had by Monday 1,176,043 signatures. It recognises that Governments across the world have made a commitment to ensure that all children have access to education by the end of 2015. It calls for us all to join the campaign to honour the memory of the children of Peshawar, and it will be delivered by Gordon Brown, UN special envoy on education to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and others. In his role as ambassador, Gordon Brown has of course been vocal in his outright condemnation of the targeting of young people. In an article following Peshawar, he states, in my role as UN special envoy on global education, I have seen how schools are increasingly used as theatres of war. Afghanistan, Colombia, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Syria have each experienced a thousand or more attacks on their schools and universities since 2009. In total, 9,600 have come under assault. The list is heartbreaking. Only yesterday, as children died in Peshawar, 15 boys and girls were blown up on a school bus in Yemen. That's the end of the Gordon Brown quote. He also then went on to describe, however, the SAFE schools initiative that was launched in 2014 to help to improve the situation for students in Nigeria, where, of course, Boko Haram has wrecked havoc and not just by kidnapping school children, as we all know, but also by shooting nearly 200 teachers and hundreds of pupils. It is very important that we recognise, as Kenny MacAskill and others have reminded us, that terrorism is an international phenomenon. We quite rightly, last week, stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of France in condemning the terrorism that they had endured, but we must never forget that this is an international phenomenon. We have to show solidarity with all the countries and all the communities that are the victims of terrorism. Although we are never able to say that one act of terrorism is worse than another, we can surely not think of any more terrible act of terrorism than the slaying of innocent children in their schools. I thank and congratulate Hansa Lymallock once again for bringing forward this important motion. It is certainly very important today that we express condolences and solidarity with all the people affected. Before I call Sandra White, I can inform the chamber that, due to the number of members still wishing to speak in the debate, I am minded to accept a motion from Hansa Lymallock under rule 8.14.3 that the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes so that I can accommodate all of the members. Many thanks. I put that to the chamber. Is that agreed? It is. Thank you very much. I now call Sandra White to be followed by Anne McTackett. I thank Hansa Lymallock very much indeed for securing this debate and for acknowledging the work that Hansa Lymallock does within the community in Glasgow and his links with Pakistan and the work that he did to link Glasgow City Council with areas in Pakistan. It is an absolutely terrible situation, which did not just happen in Pakistan but the on-going terror that is going on in Pakistan and throughout the world. Speaking in this debate, I pay tribute to the many people in Pakistan and in Scotland who supported the people who are suffering and did suffer through this horrific attack. 132 children and nine teachers were killed and 125 were wounded. We do not know how many of them have died since then. It is a truly horrifying act. Within the community there, and I know that Hansa Lymallock knows Jahinga, who was a fellow councillor of Anne and Hansa Lymallock, a SNP councillor from the south side in Glasgow who lost two nephews in this horrific attack. It could have been three, I believe, but only one was often didn't attend school that day. Our thoughts and prayers certainly went out to himself and his family and the graciousness of the people of Glasgow and the Pakistani community in supporting Jahinga and his trek through over to Pakistan and the condolences that he received. I know that if he was here, he would want to say a great big thank you to everyone who contacted him with the thoughts of condolences also. Many members have mentioned the fact that the SNP was talking about the horrific attack in Pakistan. Terrorism knows no bounds. The most cowardly thing is attacking children. We have heard about the various areas, but I think that for me, the moment I think that Malcolm Chisholm mentioned this, is Boko Haram, who, while we hear of some acts, are absolutely horrific. They took the young girls from the villages to force marriage them with their so-called soldiers. We have had no word back yet where these young girls are. We don't know what's happened to them in that respect. I think that it's incumbent on me in the west who seem to be able to go into these countries on other aspects. We can't seem to go into these countries and find these young girls. The recent attack is that they've wiped out a whole village with thousands and thousands of people killed. For us to sit and watch this on the TV, it's absolutely horrific. Can you imagine, if you live within that area, how horrifying it must be for you to go up in the morning and you don't know what's going to happen? I thank Kenny MacAskill for mentioning Gaza, because horrific issues have happened, as we know, in Gaza also, and in Syria and Lebanon. It's incumbent on us in the west who have methods at our fingertips to be able to broker, I would hope, some form of peace or some talk round the table to stop these horrific issues happening and continue to happen throughout the world. I thank Gonzalo Malik for bringing this forward here today. It is a very personal issue. I know for Gonzalo, but he has been able to open up a good discussion here in this Parliament. I would just hope that we in this Parliament can move further to try to stop the horrific acts of terrorism wherever they happen in the world. I thank my colleague Gonzalo Malik for securing this important member's debate this evening. We have all been shocked by the barbaric actions of the Taliban and Peshwara. In my region of Glasgow, there are many Pakistani residents and I would like to express my deepest sympathies to victims, their families and anyone affected by this terrorist attack. This terrible tragedy demonstrated that children in Pakistan are not safe even when they are in school. According to UNICEF UK, a child dies from violence every five minutes somewhere around the world. We need to make effort to end the violence against children, not only in Pakistan but across the world. However, we need to enhance stability in Pakistan following this tragedy. In the long run, education provides one of the best assurances of stability. The education system in Pakistan, however, is unequal, with more boys than girls getting the opportunity to go to school. In total, 6,807 students have been produced by Pakistani universities in 2010. Over 76 per cent of those were male and only 24 per cent were female. Out of 1,068 of the overseas scholarship awarded, 926 were received by male and only 142 were received by women. Therefore, I was delighted with the announcement made in October 2013 by the Scottish Government that £300,000 were awarded for a two-year master scholarship scheme, which is to help around 30 to 40 young Pakistani women from disadvantaged backgrounds to go to university. Those scholarships will immensely help women with fees and travel expenses in order to assist them in finishing their degrees. I thank the minister, Humza Yousaf, for all the work that I know he has done to make this happen. Like in many other parliaments, the gender representation in the Pakistani houses of parliaments is still unequal, with a high majority of male representatives, even though there is a quota guaranteed by the constitution to reserve certain seats for females. Out of 323 seats in the lower house of the Parliament, 60 are reserved for women. However, there are currently only 67, which is 20.7 per cent female members. In the Pakistan Senate, the upper house of Parliament, with only 17 women senators, 16.3 per cent out of 104 seats. As a chair of the subgroup in the cross-party group in the Middle East and South Asia on women's issues, I believe that it is vital to establish comprehensive education and mentoring programmes that will help millions of Pakistani women to unlock their full potential. Although progress has been made on the advancement of women into the political sphere largely due to the efforts of women activists, I would like to see more women representation in the Pakistani houses of Parliament in the near future. In conclusion, I hope that my colleagues here in the chamber will agree with me that we need to end violence against innocent children. It is also vital that we support the people of Pakistan in these difficult times, provide aid to improve education and that we continue to work together internationally to counter terrorism. I thank you for letting me take part in this debate at such a late stage. We have all lost people at some stage in our lives, but there is hardly anything that you could think would be less bearable than to lose some day in the circumstances such as the parents, families, friends and relatives must have done of those children. Terrorism is becoming fairly commonplace. We see it in the television every day, but it does not really make a connection with us in many cases unless, I think, it has one of two aspects to it, where it specifically does. One is if it is close to you and one if it involves children. In my case, and certainly in others in this chamber, it is a combination of both. Maybe it is just a grandfather, but the whole thing about children being attacked in such a way, in such a cold-blooded way, is completely beyond my comprehension. Also, the fact is that, as Sandra White has already said, a good friend of mine has had lost some day in such an attack and that is just unbearable. I hate to think how Jahangir and his family are feeling just now. We do have to remember that it is not just in Peshwar. As others have said, and very eloquently it has been a very good debate, that these attacks have been happening all over the world. When this happened, the first thing that reminded me of was the best land massacre in Chechnya, the very same kind of principle where it was about targeting children, the most vulnerable in our society, to make some obscure political point. If you have to go to those lengths to make your political point, your political point is clearly not worth making in the first place. I do not know what Jahangir will be like. He comes back this weekend, I believe, and unfortunately very few of us have had the opportunity to see him, but things cannot be easy for him. I talked about events being close to us and we saw the reaction to horrific events in Paris last week. That was two reasons. One is that a lot of it was on the mainstream media and the other is that it was close to homeformers. We cannot ever forget that what is going on there has been multiplied many times in other areas across the world. At the same time, I think that Sandra White might have touched on it and I know Malcolm Chisholm did, at the same time as these horrific events in Paris, we had the Boko Haram destroy a village and I do not know if anybody saw some photos. Unfortunately, I came across some photos of it the other night and it just is unbearable. All we can do from here is give the support to the people who are affected by this in Peshwar, Nigeria and other areas across the world. Tell them that we are with them and I know that the Scottish Government has been very supportive of communities across the world in situations like this and will continue to be so and hope that at some stage in the future we get to a situation when people have got a political point to make, they make it with their voices and not with weapons of destruction in the way that they have done recently. Many thanks. I would now like to invite Humza Yousaf to respond to the debate. Minister, around seven minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I also thank my colleague and friend Hans Alamalek for bringing this motion, securing cross-party support for it. I thank the members for their contributions, very eloquent and very articulate but also very insightful contributions that were made. I will try to touch on a few of them as I go along. I think that I speak for everybody, of course, when I say that it is one of those members' debates that we would rather not be having. Nonetheless, it gives us the opportunity to express our solidarity with the people of Pakistan, the Pakistani community worldwide and those who stand in defiance against terror. I also want to note that, as other members have done, Hans Alamalek's own personal endeavours in fostering closer relationships between Scotland and Pakistan—indeed, his and our beloved city of Glasgow—and Lahore. He has done well to foster those links. They are strong and enduring. Pakistan is a country that members will be aware of. It is close to my heart and I know Hans Alamalek's heart because of our family connections. My father and mother were born there, although she was born in Kenya. Her parents came from Pakistan and I know Hans Alamalek obviously having family from Pakistan, too. Such was the depravity of the attack that it did not matter whether somebody had a link to Pakistan or not. They felt the absolute suffering, the anger at what had happened and the absolute sadness of the events that took place, regardless of whether you had family connections or not. I want to touch upon a couple of points that were raised. One that Hans Alamalek made in his opening remarks is worth reiterating. Pakistan is up there with one of the, if not the country, that has suffered the most because of the so-called war on terror. For a country that had nothing to do with the incident that led to the war on terror, the dreadful attacks in 9-11 and the Twin Towers in New York, it has, as Hans Alamalek said, lost 80 billion US dollars from its economy, tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed and millions have been displaced from their homes. Kenny MacAskill was also absolutely correct in reminding us that those countries in the developing world are the ones that are the worst affected by terror. The country, like Pakistan, continues to suffer from that terrorism, as we saw from the attacks on 16 December, who could not be moved by what we saw on our television screens. I think that those images will stay with us chillingly forever. The children's shoes scattered across classrooms, blood-solt, jotters, desks riddled with bullet holes—that's not what a school should look like. I want to pay tribute, as Malcolm Chisholm eloquently said and Joanne Lamont, to the bravery of those children who returned to their school this week in Peshawar just yesterday. The children of Pakistan must be the bravest in the world if you think of those who have returned back to school, and then of course also Malala Yusefzi as well. Children who have been fired at, who have been the target of Taliban brutality, not thinking twice, but going back to the very schools where their schoolmates and their playmates in the playground had just lost their lives less than a month ago. I salute, admire and stand in absolute admiration at their courage. So horrific was this attack, Presiding Officer, that when it took place, it was even condemned by the Afghan Taliban. Not known, of course, for their compassionate streak by any stretch of the imagination, but such was the brutality of that attack. That even the Afghan Taliban said that it was quote-unquote un-Islamic. I think that the attack, as a result of the attack, has been a step change in Pakistani attitudes. It would be wrong to say that there wasn't some modicum of sympathy for the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan. There was, for those who have travelled to Pakistan, for those who know the Pakistani community. That wasn't born out of any belief that what the Pakistan Taliban was doing was correct. It was probably more a reaction to the anti-Western reaction more than anything else. I think that Kenny McCaskill made a very important point in that regard. We must be careful when we are fighting terrorism, we have every duty to do that, that we do not give those terrorists any ammunition, we do not give them any public sympathy through unjust actions, be they drone attacks that have killed many innocent lives, or be it indeed by supporting and sometimes not being careful enough in terms of who we support on the global stage. The Taliban being perhaps a classic example of that. They were, of course, trained by the UK when they were in the US and other Western forces, when they were the Mujahideen then went on to become, of course, the Taliban. We must be careful that we in the UK and Scotland and the Western world are voices of compassion and ensure that we do not give the terrorists any ammunition whatsoever. Many, many colleagues have touched upon the fact that one of our friends, Councillor Jahangir Hanif, has lost two family members. I too want to express the Scottish Government's condolences and sympathies to Councillor Jahangir Hanif and his family. I know Hans Alamallek and Mr Hanif are very close, in fact, if I'm not incorrect, related as well, so my sympathies go to them all. I thought, Hans Alamallek touched upon an incredibly important point that education is vital to ensuring that we defeat the scourge of terrorism and radicalisation. I'm very pleased about the project that Anne McTaggart mentioned, the scholarships that we fund that have put tens of girls and women through university and we'll be looking to build on those. I think that the refresh of the Pakistan planet that we're aiming can look to maybe perhaps promote gender equality strongly and more strongly than it has done in the past. When it comes to education, just picking up the point that Hans Alamallek made and I'll end on this, that education is certainly the key to defeating radicalisation. Yes, there is a military solution that is needed, there is no doubt about that, that those that will take up guns against children, then yes, they have to be defeated, but also if you want to defeat radicalisation, you can't kill an idea with a bullet, you have to challenge it through education. That gives the Muslim community a big challenge for the Al Qaeda and ISIS-inspired terrorism. There's a challenge there for the Muslim community, the moderates within the community, to ensure that we're educating progressive Islam that we know is the core of the religion. There's also a challenge for all of us that when a common enemy such as that that we face with the extremist threat that we see worldwide, that common enemy will kill anybody, Muslim or non-Muslim. With such a challenge when there is a common enemy, there must be a common solution and we must stand in solidarity, we must not allow those who seek to divide us to do just that. An assault on one, Presiding Officer, must be seen as an assault on us all, thank you very much. Many thanks, that concludes Hans Alamalec's Members Business Taliban's attack in the school in Peshawar, and I now close this meeting of Parliament.