When peace requires courage
Malala Yousafzai, the heroine of the right to education that has awaken the world
Destiny is in the name of a person
If it is true — how ancients said — that destiny is in the name of a person, there isn’t doubt: Malala’s story is the most concrete proof.
Malala is well-known as the youngest activist for civil rights and for the right to education of all children of Muslim countries and all the world; but her life’s testimony is more than this.
Malala is source of inspiration for thousand of young people those find a redemption in the school. Also because — this is her value — she has demonstrated, through her actions, that courage isn’t a prerogative of adults.
A girl was born
It is important to take a step behind, beginning from the importance of her name.
Malala, in Urdu, literally means “who suffers”. When in the city of Mingora (Pakistan) people knew that a girl was born, no one went to congratulate the new parents: for the Islamist, the birth of a girl wasn’t a happy occasion. Not at all.
But Malala’s parents, however, imagined for her a free and courageous life and they named her after as Malalai of Maiwand, a great Afghan heroine who allowed the Pakistan army to beat the enemy, dying in battle. Other times, other stories but that of Malala is the same courage. The courage that for the student would have been essential in her peaceful fight with books and pens against the ignorance of the Taliban.
Malala writes for the BBC website: I’m afraid
An important event in Malala’s life occurred when she was 11, in 2009: the Taliban arrived in the Swat valley and the daily life worse because they instilled fear and oppression. They dictated laws on what should have been considered haram (forbidden by Islam), how should have been understood the Islamic law and the ban for man to see a woman without a veil (purdah).
Malala began to publish a secret blog diary on the BBC website concerning the daily life of the teenagers as her in the Swat Valley; in that moment she put into practice the teaching of freedom of his father, a Pakistan activist and teacher who founded a school in Mingora.
I’m afraid is the title of one article she wrote.
A living hell in Mingora. Girl’s education is considered a crime, not a right
Malala or Gul Makai — the character’s name of an Islamic tale, that she used as her pen name — described how the pace in Mingora suddenly vanished. Woman were removed from the public life, and an edict forbade the female schools.
Girl’s education was considered a crime, not a right.
Many teachers in the school of Malala’s father resigned from teaching and only four girls out of 27 still went to school. Every day an attack to female schools occurred, going to school implicated courage. Malala began to be frightened by the threats to his father, but the appreciation for her articles didn’t permit her to feel alone in the daily fight for the normality: pens and words were more powerful of the Taliban weapons.
“My world has changed but I have not”. The girl who was shot in the head
October, 9th arrives and facts are known.
Some armed Taliban get into the bus that Malala took every day to go to school: after the two criminals had asked “Who is Malala?”, suddenly she was shot in the head. Eight people were convicted for this attack claimed by the extremists. But this experience gave Malala the opportunity to be more aware of her rights to equality and education. Taliban failed this attempt to silence Malala:
“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world”.
These are the words which the most important international newspapers propagate the peace message of the 18-year-old Pakistan student.
Now Malala lives in Birmingham with her parents and she has achieved the diploma with honors. She misses her country and, as she wrote in her autobiography, her school friend is still waiting her return.
Malala would like to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Her has been defined the adult fight of a teenager because Malala has conquered the world not only because her name was in the list of those who the extremists wanted to silence, but because her fight has always been a pacific fight.
Indeed the girl who was shot in the head — as many called her after the attack — after having received by the Pakistan Prime Minister the national peace prize and after having wrote a book I am Malala, that day in October in the speech she gave in front of the UN General Assembly, she also addressed her attackers and demonstrated the knowledge of someone who has lived through a lot.
“Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists.”
Nobel Peace Prize 2014: books and pens are the most powerful weapons in the fight for peace
In 2014, Malala was just 17 years old. She won the Nobel Peace Prize with Kailash Satyarthi because her fight for the right to education of all children. Today she is the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate.
Although her universal message of peace, in 2014 there was a protest against her organized by the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation.
Through various campaigns promoted by the Fund of the same name — of which the most recent “books not bullets” — Malala peacefully fights for 60,000 children who still haven’t received education. In September 2015, she launched a petition (change.org) to ask the Global Partnership for Education to give money to ensure that every child in the world receives at least twelve years of education.
Her testimony allow us to reflect on the importance of the school and on what it offers for the construction of the future.
Malala is an individual but she represents many voices — as she always says.
Her message arrives to everyone: leaders, teachers and students.
Malala represents all those who ask to react — not only to limit us to pity them — because it will be guaranteed the right to education.
Malala, Gul Makai or the girl who was shot in the head, many names but one only message: education first, as the rule not the exception. Because the world can be changed thought it.
