Nabila Rehman - A Drone Survivor

Pakistani family who lost grandmother to 'U.S. drone strike' gives harrowing testimony to Congress that moves translator to tears

 Rafiq ur Rehman and his children Zubair, 13, and Nabila, 8, are first civilians to give evidence  to Congress  
Grandmother Mammana Bibi, 67, died in October 2012
In a testimony Zubair will tell Congress: 'My grandmother was nobody’s enemy

Eight-year-old Nabila Rehman pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington

On October 24, 2012, eight-year-old Nabila Rehman was in a field in North Waziristan, with her grandmother Momina Bibi, a midwife. Ms. Bibi was teaching Nabila how to recognize when okra were ripe enough to pick. Suddenly a US drone appeared overhead, there was a dreadful noise and a flash of two lights, and Ms. Bibi was dead. Nabila and her older brother Zubair were injured, Zubair quite seriously; their younger sister lost some of her hearing. There were no Free Medical camp for Nabila as there had been for Malala. 



"I remember waking up that Morning My Grandmother called me out and told me come and help me in collecting okra, she was teaching me how to distinguish between okra which is right and which is not all of sudden i heard dreadful noise and there was a flash of two lights and i start running towards my grandmother and i fell and i saw my hand was bleeding i tried to wipe it off with my scarf it was all dark and all scared " recalled Nabila.

After Nabila along with her school Teacher father and brother travelled Washington DC to speak about her ordeal and seek answers about the drone attack.
They were largely ignored at the Congressional hearing where they gave their testimony about the tragic incident.
Just 5 out of 430 representatives showed up and in the words of Nabils Father to those who did attend "My daughter does not have the face of a terrorist neither did my mother it just doesn't make any sense to me why this happened as a teacher i wanted to educate Americans and let them know my children have been injured".

Nabila Rehman, from the remote tribal region of North Waziristan in Pakistan, during the news conference

Despite Govt Ignored the tragedy Nabils only Question was What was her Grandmothers fault for which she was killed which was ignored by US govt.

Like many other children in the region, Zubair no longer wants to go outside, even to play cricket. Many children in the region can’t sleep because of fear of drone attacks.
zubair said he prefer cloudy days when drones don't fly, when sky brightens and becomes blue Drones return and so does the fear. Children don't play so often now and have stopped going schools he said.

Children who are not hit themselves, like Nabila and Zubair, continue to live in terror that the hovering drone may attack them next.

This brings us towards a debate: When the Western media accepted Malala as a symbol of change for raising voice against Taliban and gave her recogntion, why is Nabila being ignored? Because she raises debate on policies of United States or other countries who do not find themselves answerable to her? While Malala provides a justification to the western countries about their line of action against extremists, Nabila questions the concept of 'collateral damage' that general masses have to suffer die to this war like situation. While Malala has been epitomised as the crusader of women rights and education and hailed by Western media, Nabila puts them in an uncomfortable spot — that of questioning US policies, drone attacks and numerous families left homeless after the attacks. So, if Nabila has not gained the prominence that Malala could, it can be attributed strongly to media's selective myopia and disregard to issues that threaten their beliefs.

Would  have Malala received as much attention if she had been hurt in a CIA Drone attack?

An Amnesty International report published last week lists BIBI among 900 civilians that say have been killed by drone strikes.
The Amnesty report said the US may have been committed war crimes and should stand trial for its action.

Over 200 children have been killed in Drone attacks in Pakistan.