Rameez Makhdoomi
Women. God’s most complex creation. Conceived the same way as us men, with 23 pairs of chromosomes and with the basic DNA formation, what makes her so difficult to understand is her rock solid approach at times and tender softness at times. A woman plays the most sacred role as a mother.
And often some courageous women have turned the tide of history towards positivity .Malala Yosufzai aged just 14 is one such example. A few days back this brave young girl was critically shot in her head by Pakistan Wing of Taliban known as TTP in war-torn Swat Valley .But the nation of Pakistan woke up from the slumber and give a befitting reply to “enemies of tolerance and positive Pakistan” .After a long time the fabricated society of Pakistan seems to be united on Malala Yosufzai ‘s heroism- her sacrifices for a noble cause to promote girl education in her country and make it tolerant and progressive country.
At the tender age of 11, she began a blog for the BBC that was successful in diverting attention to life in her corner of the world. Her first blog entry in January 2009 reads:
“I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taliban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taliban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools. Only 11 students attended the class out of 27. The number decreased because of Taliban’s edict. My three friends have shifted to Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi with their families after this edict.
On my way from school to home I heard a man saying ‘I will kill you.’ I hastened my pace and after a while I looked back if the man was still coming behind me. But to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone.â€
Three years down the line , Malala’s “horrible dream†came true. Taliban gunmen shot her and two of her friends while they were on their way home from school. But during this time despite hardships Malala fought for the girl education and helped the orphan children affected by War in his native land war-torn Swat.
Malala.Yousafzai grew in fame, becoming a powerful voice for the rights of children. In 2011, she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize. Later, Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister at the time, awarded her Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize to Malala.
She is a patriotic girl who rightly believes that Pakistan should be synonym of progress and tolerance and today despite war like situation the every nook and corner of Pakistan are shouting ‘Long Live Malala and her Dreams’. Her vision has successfully been transferred in the society of Pakistan wherein people are starting to believe that ‘they are masters of their own country’ and foreign forces have only misused their land. Malala neither sought fame nor fortune and carried on her life as normally as she could, except that she was not an ordinary person – she had stood against ruthless murderers who would see every girls’ school blown up.
Her cause is more glorified by the fact that Muslims today are witnessing backwardness and downfall on various counts mainly because of absence of education .Undoubtedly, her recovery will take many months of rehabilitation to determine the extent of her injuries. Nonetheless, with every breath Malala takes, she continues to inspire her country and women throughout the world,
Pakistani media has also stroked a right cord by highlighting her story because children like Malala are born once in ages .One can only say for the moment ‘Long live Malala’.
(The Writer is a media profession and can be reached at rameezh3@gmail.com).
