The story of Malala Yousafzai is truly inspirational. At 16 years old, Yousafzai is the youngest person ever nominated to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. She became well known for her advocacy of and selfless devotion to educational rights and women’s rights.
Yousafzai was born and raised in the small town of Mingora, Pakistan. Because the town was controlled by the Taliban, it prevented young women from attending school. To cope with this injustice, Yousafzai started a blog on the BBC website documenting her life as a female under Taliban rule.
Thereafter, she gained national publicity when The New York Times filmed Class Dismissed, a documentary about her life, her struggles with the Taliban and the importance of education rights.
Her activism earned her nominations for several rewards, including the National Youth Peace Prize and the International Children’s Peace Prize.
All the while, Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin, received multiple death threats from the Taliban for the ideals they espoused.
On Oct. 9, 2012, a Taliban gunman shot the then 14-year-old Yousafzai in the head while she was riding the bus home from school. Although Yousafzai survived, this barbaric and cowardly injustice serves as a reminder that the shadow of evil is still cast over parts of the world in the form of radical, Islamic fundamentalism.
The bullet that hit Yousafzai inadvertently shot the Taliban in the foot, figuratively speaking. The shooting received global media coverage. Nearly four million people signed a petition on the newly founded holiday, “Malala Day,” which led to Pakistan’s Right to Education Bill, according to Daily Mail.
This bill made education free and compulsory for children between the ages five and 16. Furthermore, the bill imposed penalties for parents who refuse their children the right to go to school and also punishes people who employ child laborers.
The Taliban didn’t respond well to these favorable outcomes. According to The Washington Post, the spokesperson for the Pakistani Taliban called Yousafzai “the symbol of the infidels” and said the group intends to target Yousafzai again.
Despite this, Yousafzai responded to the Taliban in the philosophy of nonviolence popularized by historical figures such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
In her address to the United Nations, she stated, “I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I don’t even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him.”
She outlined the response to terrorism that she deems appropriate.
“…let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world,” Yousafzai said.
In summary, Yousafzai said the process of enhancing education and empowering women is the only way to help combat terrorism because the socioeconomic factors that lead to terrorism disappear when children have access to education and women are treated equally.
Yousafzai is a hero. The two goals she advocates are of paramount importance in solving the issues of overpopulation, poverty and injustice that plague modern society in the developing world. However, I disagree slightly with her algorithm for defeating terrorism.
The criminals responsible for the bullet that went into Yousafzai’s head have not been reprimanded. And although Yousafzai said she would not shoot the “Talib” who shot her, I believe the international community has responsibility to not be as kind.
That being said, continual decisive efforts, such as the Navy SEAL raids in Libya and Somalia, are indispensable to ensure the destruction of the small segment of extremists who exonerate a religion, peacefully observed by almost a fourth of the world’s population, to justify senseless and disgusting acts of violence.
