Daily Times

Sir: A person has to be highly impressive and inspiring to have something named after him/her. This is exactly what happened when NASA scientist Amy Mainzer decided to immortalise Malala by naming an asteroid after her. Malala has been enjoying a stellar career as numerous international awards and accolades including the Nobel Peace Prize have celebrated her invigorating contributions to female education. This asteroid exists in the belt between Mars and Jupiter and orbits the sun every five-and-a-half years. It illustrates the significant impact of the shooting and ensuing social work carried out by a teenage girl hailing from a small town in northern Pakistan. But it is saddening to see that while the whole world appreciates Malala, we have abandoned her like all those martyrs who have fallen victim to the barbarity of the Taliban. The Pakistani people have not honoured her in the way that she should have been. Instead the word Malala has become a very controversial topic that attracts all sorts of criticisms and devious speculations. And since we like to play safe, we wreak havoc on ourselves for fear of upsetting the more conservative hardliners that practice diminished tolerance, and we decide to stay mum about it. We need to break free from our shells that are stopping us from living like decent human beings and fight the inflexible extremist minded amongst us.

BARRISTER MOBEEN SHAH
Nottingham
UK