Pakistani schools tackle Malala, reject her book

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, has come under attack in her home country – Pakistan. A group of schools in the country have organised a “I am not Malala” day in which they reportedly staged walks, seminars and press conferences tackling the 17-year-old education rights campaigner. They also called for her book to be banned.

She is now considered in her country as a dangerous Western influence promoting ideas that are against her country and religion.

New York Times reports that the source of the latest attack is a passage in her memoir, titled “I am Malala”. In the passage, she had supported her father’s reaction to “The Satanic Verses”, a controversial novel written by Salman Rusdie.

Malala who now lives and studies in Birmingham, England, had quoted her father as saying the book was “offensive to Islam” – but that Muslims should be able to read the book and formulate their own response. The Satanic Verses had been banned in Pakistan.

President of the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, Mirza Kashif Ali which organised “I am not Malala” day was quoted as saying: “We are all for education and women's empowerment. But the West has created this persona who is against the Constitution and Islamic ideology of Pakistan.

“It is clear that Malala has a nexus with Salman Rushdie and is aligned with his club”
Malala came into limelight in 2012 when she was shot by the Taliban for continuing to campaign for girls' rights even after being warned and threatened to stop.