Malala Yousafzai: Why the West Is in Love With the Pakistani Teenager
Malala Yousafzai: The Pakistani teenager has been the blue-eyed girl on the West for the last few months. It started since she was shot by the Taliban because she refused to discontinue her studies. She was straightway taken to the UK and survived miraculously after being shot in her head. However, she refused to end up being just a victim. In fact, it was just when she started to voice her opinion.
It did not come as a surprise when Deutsche Welle called Ms Yousafzai "the most famous teenager in the world" in the beginning of this year. However, her legacy may turn out to outlast any other teenager who focuses more on finding excuses to strip off to prove a point or two. Ms Yousafzai is among "100 Most Influential People In The World" for a more significant reason.
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched "I am Ms Yousafzai", a petition to leave no children out of school. The campaign, which is scheduled to be achieved by the year 2015, includes three demands: 1) Education for every child in Pakistan, 2) Outlawing discrimination against girls and 3) Education for every child by 2015. Ms Yousafzai has been actively working on this campaign.
Ms Yousafzai might not have imagined that her political career would start so early in her life. However, when - knowingly or unknowingly - she became the representative of the woman inequality all over the world, she took the responsibility surprisingly well. Even though she missed out the Nobel Peace Prize earlier, being nominated for the same at the age of 16 (the youngest nominee ever) is an achievement on its own. She showed immense maturity when she addressed the esteemed audience at the UN on her birthday, July 12 - which was declared as the "Malala Day" by the United Nations.
It was a rare example of courage when she openly criticised President Barack Obama on U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan, causing the death of numerous innocent people in the country. She was visited by Mr Obama and his family on Friday, Oct 11. Despite being adored by the West, Malala refuses to be a western puppet.
When she was asked on BBC if she became a 'Westerner' as claimed by some in Pakistan, she promptly refused to label education as Western or Eastern. Education is simply education to her, which - according to her - is everyone's right. And this is what makes Ms Yousafzai stand out: her single-mind agendum of education and nothing else.
Ms Yousafzai has expressed her ambition to become the prime minister of Pakistan following her role-model, the late Benazir Bhutto, the former woman prime minister of Pakistan. We wish her all the best as Ms Yousafzai continues showing her courage and determination.
Video: YouTube/Comedy Central