Straight Talk
Malala Yousafzai
Photo: AFP
US President Barack Obama and his family meet Malala at the While House. Photo: AFP
It is incredible that only nine months after her attack, Malala on her sixteenth birthday spoke at the UN headquarters at a specially convened youth assembly to call for worldwide access to education. According to her, "One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world". This speech was broadcast globally. In a recent BBC interview with Mishal Husain, Malala joked about the Taliban and her shooting saying, "I think they may be regretting that they shot Malala"..."Now she is heard in every corner of the world." I think she may be right on this point. By trying to silence Malala, the Taliban have only helped in giving her voice a global platform. Instead of becoming a martyr, she has become an icon.
Having watched some of Malala's interviews, I am amazed at how beautifully eloquent and articulate she is. There is a depth of maturity in her far beyond her years. In an interview with Jon Stewart, famous US political satirist and television host she left him speechless and got a standing ovation from the audience. When asked if she had been aware that she was a target for the Taliban, she said that initially she had not believed they would be cruel enough to kill a child but later thought of what she would say or do if they came. Her initial reaction, which amused me and also raised a laugh from the show's audience, was to “take a shoe and hit him (her assassin).” But Malala went on to say that she then thought that if she did that there would be no difference between her and the 'Talib'. "You must fight others, but through peace and through dialogue and through education." No wonder Jon Stewart was left stunned by this truly inspirational young woman.
When young Malala is not being interviewed by various television hosts, or CNN and the BBC; meeting the US president Barack Obama and his family at the Whitehouse; receiving the 2013 Peter J Gomes Humanitarian Award at Harvard University or officially opening the Library of Birmingham she is trying to be a regular teenager spending time with her family, making new friends, studying for her GCSE's and doing homework. It can't be easy when she has become one of the most recognised faces of this decade and according to Time magazine, amongst the top one hundred influential people in the world. Not surprising that the awards and accolades just keep coming in. To add to her already impressive list of awards (which total around 17 now) is the prestigious Sakharov Prize for 2013 for Freedom of Thought and earlier this year, she was also the youngest nominee for the Noble Peace prize which she missed out on.
They say 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree' and this is so true in Malala's case. Her Father Ziauddin Yousafzai is also an inspiration to us all. He is a man with a strong belief that every child should have the right to be educated and is the founder of the school Malala attended, a school for both boys and girls. He brought his daughter up to be a freethinking, literate and self-assured young girl. In his words, “Malala will be free as a bird”. I wish there were more fathers like him. The world would be a far better place.
Malala is a courageous young girl, who has become the spokesperson for girls over the world and the champion for worldwide education. Despite renewed threats against her life she continues to stand up for what she believes and for that I applaud her. I just hope for her sake that she has a little time to enjoy being just a regular sixteen-year-old.
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