A Brief Description of Malala Yousafzais Life, Interests and Malpractices - Research Paper Example

Malala Yousafzai Brief History Malala Yousafzai is a known icon that advocates for equality in the provision of education. Malala was born in a village called Mingora on July 12, 1997. Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, educated her to a large part. Initially, Malala was aspired to pursue medicine and therefore to become a doctor, but her father influenced her to become a politician instead. Ziauddin, popularly known poet, educational activist and school owner, invested most of his time on her daughter talking and inspiring her about politics. Malala started to speak her views and insights about education rights on September 2008 at a local press club. Along her life, Malala applied her charisma by promoting and campaigning rights to education and for women, particularly in the Swat valley. She was against banning of girls’ education in the Swat valley by the Taliban. One of her celebrated philosophy was the blog she wrote in early 2009 under a pseudonym for the BBC (Yousafzai 67). In the blog, she outlined description of her life under Taliban rule, Taliban attempts to control over the valley and her perception on various issues especially on education and women rights. The second battle of Swat erupted in the next summer when a New York journalist was filming a documentary about her life and current educational crisis along the valley. Threats did not frustrate her efforts, but rather she rose in prominence and give out interviews in prints and on television, which earned her the International Children’s Peace prize nomination by South African activist known as Desmond Tutu. The assassination attempts in October 2012 by the Taliban to kill the young activist and her father generated a global concern of her life, which created fame, admiration and somehow increased threats on her life. To this end, great writers defined Malala as the most famous teenager in the world. Other articles featured her as one of the most influential people in the world. Later a UN Special Envoy for Global Education launched a UN petition by the name “I am Malala”. The petition, regardless of culture and national policies, advocated all children to be in school by year-end 2015. The year 2013 marked a year full of successes and awards. She was nominated as the first Pakistan’s National Youth Peace prizewinner and elected as the winner for Nobel peace prize in both 2013 and in 2014. The nomination shocked the world since she was at the age of 16 years and the first girl nominated for it. Malala interests Malala on education Malala became an international recognized icon due to her unwavering spirit to fight against the Taliban’s drive to deny women education. The Taliban attempted to deny girls from acquiring education due to defiling national policies, culture and religion, which dominated in Pakistan especially in Swat valley. Despite several attempts to silence Malala, she stood firm with her philosophy and therefore spoke against the inequality exercised in the education system by the Taliban. According to her, the Taliban rule to exclude girls and women from undertaking formal education triggers her realizations on the importance of education especially for women since it grants them power (Rowell 145). To this end, the terrorist attempt to outlaw education for women was a desperate effort since they were afraid of the impending power of women with education. The greatest inspiration of Malala is gender equality in sharing national cake, peaceful environment but not the recognition. Malala on women right As an international icon, her greatest concern was on the provision of women rights in Pakistan. The rationale behind her focus is that women are neglected individuals in the community and therefore suffers most as far as provision of rights is concern. In fact, this is in accordance with UNESCO report that stated that women make the majority of the world’s 61 million out-of schoolchildren. On the other hand, girls are less likely to join primary school and therefore are exposed to harmful traditional practices such as early marriages, discriminatory laws, and gender-based violence (Yousafzai 90) Hurdles overcome The interests and concerns that Malala fights for are against the Taliban rule due to their strict culture and religion. In this perspective, she faced great opposition, assassination and death threats for her life and that of her father. Malala generated recognition nationally and internationally due to her charisma, ideology and sensitivity to basic human rights, especially education and equality to all citizens. The fame created danger and become acute as her recognition stretched out of borders. On October 9, 2012, a Taliban gunman intentionally shot Malala as she was traveling home from school. The bullet hit Malala left side forehead, which caused her to remain unconscious and in a critical condition. After recovering from her condition, she was transferred for intensive rehabilitation in Birmingham, England. Two other girls, Shanzia and Kainat were also wounded during the attack. She later survived from the assassination attack and continued re-enforcing what she believed in, which earned her several awards and recognition worldwide. In fact, death threats triggered her mind to think what she could do if the Taliban invaded her while she was asleep. This therefore generated some sort of fear in the life of this little hero, but her courage and kingdom demeanor kept her spirit high and hopeful. According to Malala, the best weapon to counteract malpractices and inhuman act done by Taliban terrorists was through dialogue and education. She has breathtaking courage that taught her not to be reluctant but stand firm and speak against the violation of human rights in her village (Yousafzai 165). The threat of Taliban to deny children access to education and routine slaughter in Swat valley did not undermine nor frustrate her immense efforts to redeem her community. The Taliban and other Pakistan community consider Malala as a threat. In fact, Malala stardom in the west and regular appearance on the television in interview coverage and documentaries stoked suspicions in her country. According to Pakistan community, a woman is expected to remain out of sights. This is because the community does not like to see women in front of cameras. On the other hand, some oppositions claim that the America creates Malala intentionally to promote their culture of nudity and therefore defame Pakistan around the world. However, Malala do not concentrated on these oppositions and frustrations, but remains focused and ambitious. Despite the worldwide recognition, Malala continued criticism of the Taliban attempts to defile her basic human right, women and education rights earned her several awards and honors. Various articles named her all sorts of heroic names and phrases ranging from ‘the most famous teenager in the world’ to ‘one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She received worldwide concerns after the attack she faced while she was 14 years old (Rowell 167). Nationally, Malala has received greater honors and awards. She becomes fame and most children and women were merely dependent on her to seek for their rights, particularly in Swat valley, her village of birth that the Taliban frequently attacked and defiled their rights. She was the first winner of Pakistan’s National Youth Peace prize. Internationally, Malala has received greater successes, awards and honors. In 2013, she was nominated as the Nobel Peace Prize winner and she successfully secured it in the subsequent year on February 2014. After the attack, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education formulated and enacted a UN petition under her name using the catchphrase “I am Malala”. Though indirect, this is counted as some of her successes. The objective of the petition is to reemphasize the ideologies Malala set forward. The ideologies, which include calling for Pakistan to agree to the plan and deliver education facilities to every child, calling countries to outlaw the traditional discrimination against girls and women and to ensure the world’s 61 million out of schoolchildren, are in the education system by the end of 2015. Personally, Malala Yousafzai with collaboration of British journalist, Christina Lamb, authored a book by the title ‘I am Malala: The story of the girl who stood for education and was shot by the Taliban’. In light of honoring Malala, nations have created festival seasons in commemoration of the work of Malala. Malala is a young activist with greater international influence due to her ideology and perception regarding certain societal norms that affects women in the Pakistani community. The rationale for selecting this icon is to demonstrate clearly the fact that age is not the limit to one’s endeavors. On the other hand, it demonstrates the role of education in the society and the application of education in creating an enabling environment for all (Yousafzai 178). The icon sheds some light and challenge to young people to be conscious of the environment they live in and therefore become resourceful in providing the community the kind of virtues they deserve. The life story of Malala is a touching story to young people worldwide. The greatest virtue learnt from the life story is the courage and kingdoms demeanor traits. Courage makes one to stand despite the impediments and threats imposed on one’s life, and therefore speak against the malpractices affecting the community. Individuals should not pay evil with evil, but draw a corrective mechanism that demonstrates fairness and honesty in counteracting the oppositions and other life threats. In conclusion, this paper critically examined Malala’s life and demonstrated various societal norms that dominate in Swat valley and other communities in Pakistan. In this perspective, this paper outlines a brief description of Malala’s life, her interests and malpractices she fought for, the hurdles she endeavored, and her achievements. This international icon therefore received greater successes and recognitions in terms of the awards and other honors. This life teaching lesson is not only timely but also contains fundamental traits, behavioral patterns and concepts beneficial to young people worldwide. Work Cited "Malala Yousafzai." 2014. The Biography Channel website. Feb 24 2014, 06:12 http://www.biography.com/people/malala-yousafzai-21362253. Rowell, Rebecca. Malala Yousafzai: Education Activist. Minneapolis, MN: ABDO Pub, 2014. Print. Yousafzai, Malala, and Christina Lamb. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2013. Print. Read More