Malala Yousafzai: '' A Courageous Young Girl''

BY NADIA KABIR BARB

Every now and then we come across someone who inspires us with their courage, has the ability to humble us with their selflessness and most importantly show us the good that still exists within the human race. These people are exceptionally rare and sixteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai is such a person. Even at her very young age, she has managed to show the world what an inspirational role model she is, not just for young girls like herself as an outspoken proponent for girl’s education but for the rest of us as well. The attack on Malala’s life took place just over a year ago and made headlines around the world. I remember being shocked at the news and like so many others could hardly believe that the Taliban would stoop to the level of trying to kill a child. I found myself listening to the news and trawling the internet for any news of her condition. Having three children of my own, especially a daughter of almost a similar age to Malala, it felt very personal. My heart went out not just to the young girl who lay in hospital with a bullet in her head but also to her family. For a while it seemed that the Taliban had achieved their goal and Malala’s life hung precariously in the balance. Thanks to an outstanding team of doctors and surgeons both in Pakistan and England, Malala has managed to make a miraculous recovery albeit with life changing injuries. I think to add to the quality of care she received, it was probably her own indomitable spirit and resilience that helped her stay alive. While our children were playing with their friends or taking for granted their daily routine of having to go to school or making up excuses to avoid school or homework, Malala aged eleven, was giving her first speech at the local press club in Peshawar. Her speech was titled “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?” That in itself should have given an indication of the drive and tenacity that Malala would show us in the future. By the time she was twelve she was blogging under a pseudonym Gul Makai (a folklore heroine) for the BBC Urdu service about what life was like under the Taliban rule and the lack of education for girls. Soon after, when she was about thirteen, Malala was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize of KidsRights Foundation and also managed to win Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize by the time she was only fourteen. That to me is one impressive young lady!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.