Final Paper
May 6, 2013
Malala Yousafzai, “The Girl with a Voice”
For young women in Swat Valley, a district in the northwest frontier province of Mingora, Pakistan, having basic rights such as an education is an issue that has been fought for since its existence. Malala Yousafzai daughter of activist Ziauddin Yousafzai is one of many unfortunate young women who have felt the wrath and despair of the Pakistani Taliban regarding this issue. In comprehension of this paper, I will convey to the reader the story of Malala’s journey through her fight to education rights, why these rights are important, and how this issue relates to many other women’s rights issues discussed in class. I will begin by giving background on Ziauddin and
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Ziauddin fled to Peshawar the center of the fight against the Taliban sending his family to stay with relatives where it would be safe. Ziauddin along with other refugees fighting the same cause attended meetings waiting and hoping for the OK to enter back into Swat. At one of the conferences held in Peshawar Ziauddin spoke out against the militants, which was reciprocated with a threat for his life during a radio broadcast from the Taliban. During this time Malala and the rest of her family had been hopping from city to city. Unable to study or do any coursework Malala became restless, anxiously waiting for the word that she could go back home to her books. After a long three months the Yousafzai family was reunited and allowed back into Swat. During the time away from Swat Valley and away from her father, Malala quickly changed her mind about pursuing a career in medicine and decided that being a politician was the career path she needed to pursue. Serving and repairing her country so that crises like the ones her family, fellow classmates, young girls all over Pakistan and herself were experiencing were the issues she wanted to prevent. In Late 2008 Ziauddin took Malala to Peshawar to give a speech entitled “How Dare the Taliban Take Away My Basic Right to Education,” along with allowing her to blog on BBC Urdu in January of 2009, about what life was like under Taliban Rule. In her blog she used dark humor by explaining how death threats were a usual thing
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for education, especially for females, and equal rights to education in the middle east. She revolutionized education equality for children. She has received many peace awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize. The Taliban outlawed education in Pakistan, where she lived, for all females in 2009. She continued to attend classes and speak out on her BBC blog, the radio, and was even in a documentary about her life in the middle east and going to school as a girl despite the new law. In early October of 2012, when Malala was 15, she became the victim of an attempted murder by a Taliban gunman. She was shot in the head on the bus ride home from school. She was rushed to the hospital and after being stabilized, she was moved to another hospital to remove the bullet. After her tragic personal experience, she became well known and used her newfound popularity to advocate for education in the middle east. This speech is just one example of the many speeches she gave to bring attention to the problem. She also asked many other influential people with a higher status to help her bring awareness to the cause. To understand Malala’s speech the reader needs to understand what her goal is, what rhetorical devices she uses to reach that goal and how effective the speech is. She is quite effective in getting her goal across to the audience through her speeches by using her public speaking skills to get her audience to agree with what she has to say.
"The terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life, except this: weakness, fear, and hopelessness died. Strength, power, and courage was born" - Malala Yousafzai (“Malala Yousafzai”, Newsmakers). In 1997, Yousafzai was born in Swat Valley, a large Pakistani district, which later was overrun and governed by the Taliban. The Islamic fundamentalist group banned education for girls, but she did not let their threatening influence change her passion for education. Malala Yousafzai’s life was full of hardships, but with her dedication and perseverance, she was able to defy expectations and become an international symbol for women’s rights.
For the past years Swat Valley with a population of 1.8 million has been a breeding ground of Islamist militancy (PAKISTAN: Militants announce ban on girls’ education in Swat ).A recent warning by Shah Dauran, deputy leader of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced that all girls must be taken out of school - public or private - by January 15, 2009, and by not doing so, their schools will be bombed and violators will face death (PAKISTAN: Militants announce ban on girls’ education in Swat). Schools were closed for winter break until February, However, grade twelve reopened so they could finish as much coursework as possible by January so they can take their board examination in April. The education system in Swat Valley has been greatly disturbed. According to Global Coalition to prevent Education from Attack, Pakistan experiences somewhere between 838 and 919 militant attacks on its schools from 2009 to 2012 (Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, 2105). The TTP says they have nothing against girls going to school, but the western-style education is not going to keep teaching the Islam way. The Taliban has used acid attacks against girls that try to receive an education, leaving the victims with permeant scaring. Dr. Shaban Ali said, “The Pakistan Taliban have taken responsibility for the attack in threading pamphlets distributed around the city. They also warn local girls
But imagine waking up one day and realizing all your rights, including your right of education, have been taken away just because you’re a girl. What would you do? In the book “I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban” Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb, daughter of a school principal, became the target of the Taliban, who wanted to ban girls' education and were blowing up schools and closing others down in her home of Swat, in Pakistan.
“They will not stop me. I will get my education if it is in a home, school, or any other place” these are the words of Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel peace prize winner, a human rights activist, and a Pakistani girl, who has traditions, stories, and a unique experience. She was named after Malalai of Maiwand, the greatest heroine of Afghanistan, and she lives up to her name as a heroine for girls education. Despite the cultural traditions of Malala Yousafzai’s community, she has grown as a world leader in spreading world peace throughout the globe, through her challenges, her accomplishments, and her growth in publicity, with her common goal being an education for all girls.
Malala Yousafzai is well known for her acts towards Women’s Rights due to the factors caused by the Taliban people. Malala (Biographyonline, Malala) was a regular Pakistan school girl when the Taliban started enforcing rules and restrictions against women. Women were no longer allowed to listen to music, receive education, or go shopping. If they did, they’d be punished by the Taliban. Malala loved school and refused to cower in fear like the rest of her classmates and community. Malala formed a secret blog with BBC expressing her feelings about how unfair women were being treated. Malala was then targeted by the Taliban and shot in the head. Malala suffered a coma, but
On July 12, 2013, 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, delivered her first public speech, to the United Nations Youth Takeover, where she persuasively articulated her aspiration to reach out to young, adolescent advocates the deficient nature of education, specifically in regards to women and young children. During Yousafzai’s advocacy for children’s right to education, her spoken ambition was to reach a global audience in hopes of bringing awareness to a troublesome issue. Likewise, throughout the speech, Yousafzai effectively expressed her gratitude to the people who have made an influence in her life, including the champions of the world Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah as well as the countless teachers she had who motivated her to persist in further educating herself. Nevertheless, she also commendably reveals through her Nobel Peace Prize Speech that the award is not only for herself, but, consequently, for those “disregarded” children who continually yearn for education on a daily basis. This successfully demonstrates that she is not above those children, but, instead, stands with them. In several illustrations, she conveys the notion that she is not going to stand idly by and witness young girls being denied their rightful education. Accordingly, Yousafzai deliberates, it is moral and upright to fight for what one believes in.
Even if they could, according to Unicef, many schools cannot meet the needs of young girls in terms of safety and quality of education, a problem which could be mitigated with better funding. Sexism is another reason why girls in the Middle East are unable to receive an education. In the book, I am Malala, Malala describes how the culture of Pakistan favors boys, writing how “rifles are fired in celebration of a son, while daughters are hidden away behind a curtain, their role in life simply to prepare food and give birth to children” (Yousafzai 13). This cultural role set for girls pressures them to remain in the house, showing how they would be less likely to receive an education. Oppression of girls’ rights to education also comes in physical forms, such as the Taliban, an organization that is explained by Malala to oppress the young
There were many reasons that led to the defeat of the Taliban in the Swat valley, but one of them is the whole Yousafzai family. Especially Malala, “The girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban.” ( The book "I am Malala"). The young Pashtun started her fight against the extremist group since they first appeared and prohibited women to study. One of the reasons for her will is that her father always encouraged her to be interested in the Pakistani politics and in the Islamic fundamentalism. She describes that was difficult years, and the death threats she received. Even though sometimes she felt afraid, she did not give up on education and always encouraged her friends to go to school. “With guns, you can kill terrorists,
Malala Yousafzai is a young woman speaking as a young education advocate at the Youth Takeover of the United Nations. This was her first speech since she had been shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan on October 9th, 2012. The Taliban targeted her because she was blogging about her own right, and the right of all women, to an education. Her purpose is to inform the people of the denial of education to children around the world. She is also trying to persuade her audiences to join her campaign in ensuring all children gain their right to education before the end of 2015. Her primary audience was all of the delegates who attended the Youth Takeover of the United Nations, and all the people fighting for education. Her
Education might not be the cure of the world’s problem but it’s important to be knowledgeable. It’s important to have an education because without it, it makes a person vulnerable to be guided in the wrong direction. Not everyone believes education is important in life and especially for a woman. Malala Yousafzai tells us her story and her fight for education in her book I am Malala. She tells us about her families struggle for the right of education and not just education in general but education for woman. She was raised in Pakistan and its one the counties in which some people believe a woman should not go to school or have freedom. Education was not as easy for her as other girls around the world. Sometimes people don’t take education as a privileged but as a right, but unfortunately it’s not this case everywhere and it wasn’t the case for Malala. She was also able to see by firsthand how illiteracy can be a danger to a person and how others can take advantage of it.
The Taliban came into power in 2005 in Pakistan and began dictating the civilians how to live their lives the “right Islamic way”. The people of the Swat District were forced to obey every command of the Taliban unless they and their families wanted to be killed. Women especially became very oppressed and had to enter Purdah, wear hijabs whenever in public, and were encouraged to not go to school. All westernized media, clothes and games were banned, anyone who did not follow the law would be shot. The community lived in such a terrible state of fear that Malala and her family were afraid to go outside where they were known as famous social, political and educational activists. A BBC correspondent contacted Ziauddin to make a blog from a school girl’s point of view on living under Taliban rule. Malala soon took up the challenge and related her experiences over the phone about her oppressive life in Swat Valley and the threats against girls like her for going to school. Eventually, her school had to close after many local school bombings, and then the whole valley had to be evacuated for the Pakistani Army to come wipe out the Taliban.
Malala Yousafzai’s home town in the Swat Valley of Pakistan is where her journey first takes place where oppression against womens education is enforced by Taliban rule. The Taliban staunchly opposed Malala’s fierce beliefs in the right for women to have an education and they did their best to silence her voice. Malala and the other women in the Swat Valley were forced to obey their oppressive regime and not gain an education. Despite the harsh climate against her Malala spoke up against this tyranny with the faith that she could cause a change for the better. Unfortunately due to this she was singled out and faced severe retaliation. A Taliban gunman stopped her school bus and proclaimed that she must be punished for insulting the
The candid and disinterested voice of Malala is used to create a kind of attention between the terrorist shot and people who don’t receive human right such as education. Furthermore, Malala used a privet aspect of her life to persuade her speech which is about terrorist shot. She wanted to find a solution by telling her story. The best solution is to receive education for everyone.
The right to education is one important fundamental justice that everyone should have, but most times that right is denied. There 's many reasons why people, states or countries may not take education seriously. Pakistan is one country that has the most curtailment on education towards women. Malala Yousafazi became a young activist, she stood up for her people in Pakistan to restore the rights of education to women. Her journey began when she was just the age of fifteen; she was shot on her head near the school bus by the Taliban in 2012. After her surgery recovery, she addressed a speech to the youth in New York on July 12th. In 2013, Malala and her father co-founded the "Malala Fund" in supporting young girls like her. Malala accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on December tenth, 2014 with Indian children 's rights. She bravely continues to work hard and strive for education justice so that, one day, every child will receive an education.