Pakistan’s prolific icon of girls education and the fight against terrorism, Malala Yousafzai returned home to Pakistan after 5 years amidst support and criticism. Upon her arrival at the airport, the media frenzied around her to get a statement but she was whisked away to the Prime Minister House to address the press.
The world online has exploded. The sentiments are all over the place but the majority of them seem to be negative, callous and hateful. From being branded as a drama queen, unqualified to be winning a Nobel Peace Prize and faker, Malala Yousafzai has faced quite the rigorous hate from her own countrymen and women. To the educated, intelligent mind, this comes off as shallow and surprising. We have compiled a list of claims people have made and how they are wrong.
The Bullet To The Face Was Staged:
In early 2009, after Malala’s very prominent activism for girls education in the then terrorism stricken area of Swat, on her way back from exam she underwent a murder attempt. In the process she was shot in the head. Airlifted out of the area with the help of Pakistan Army she was shifted to Rawalpindi, where after stabilizing her condition she was shifted to a hospital in Birmingham.
This comes from people engineering a theory that an entire shooting was staged. True, the online pictures of Malala do not reflect on your post surgery face, which has tremendously healed. People draw comparisons between her and another APS student Waleed Khan, who studies in the UK after acquiring help from the same organization Malala helped fund.
Coming back to the theory that the whole shooting was staged. This is what a person who witnessed the entire incident has to say about it.
What Has Her Contribution Been To The Cause Of Education:
It is amazingly flabbergasting to read this. A girl, who got shot, because she advocated for education of girls in a region stricken by terrorism does not deserve this kind of mindless and unintelligent bias. What more does she have to prove apart from taking a bullet to the head. Ever since her childhood, she has been her fathers favorite in discussing poetry, politics and state of affairs of the country. Her family runs an entire school system in the region of Swat.
Since the inception of Malala Fund, it has actively been working in 9 countries around the world. In order to help the Syrian refugee girls to get access to better education, she has started to raise $1.4 billion. Through the Malala Foundation, Yousafzai has donated around £750,000 (or USD 1 million) for various education-related causes. She even donated $50,000 of the prize money to rebuild a school in Gaza.
Her Agenda Is A Conspiracy Theory:
Everything around Malala is considered a conspiracy. From her admission to Oxford, to her visit to Pakistan, to how she is funding her education movement. One is pleasantly surprised to see total silence in holding their own political leaders accountable when allegations of corruptions and embezzlement surfaced.
Why Was She Chosen For A Nobel Prize:
People draw comparisons between her and Abdul Sattar Edhi. True, Edhi Saab did humanitarian work way more than Malala ever did but he was also born way before her. In terms of sheer volume, Malala’s work pales in comparison but people tend to forget Edhi Saab did not like to bask in international limelight, even going to the extent of refusing donations from outside Pakistan. Perhaps the right question to ask is what has the Government of Pakistan done to ensure the legacy of his work continues?
These are two major points of arguments that one sees online. The hate seems to stem from a more patriarchal viewpoint, from men who despise seeing a girl/woman achieve things or do better than them.
From attempting to degrade her character, to drawing comparisons between unrelated things, Malala has to suffer severe online abuse. This gentleman sums it up perfectly.
Perhaps the very fact that people were mad and angry that she wasnt in Pakistan, only for her to return to have them screaming get out goes to show Pakistanis will never ever be happy with someone else’s achievement or produce an enabling environment for others to prosper.
“Hum Tou Doobai Hain Sanam Tum Ko Bhi Lai Doobain Gai”
