When the Taliban shot Malala in the head they ended up shooting themselves in the foot. One of the reasons for targeting a then15-year-old schoolgirl was, by a senior Taliban leader’s own admission, over her daring to malign the insurgency. As the saying goes, if you want a job doing well, do it yourself.
Malala became an international symbol overnight; representing immense courage and formidable resistance. In short, she became a global poster girl, urging countries everywhere to invest in girls’ education. And then invest some more. At home, here in Pakistan, the subject of Malala soon gave way to various circus shows. Meaning that certain sections of society were not so much bothered about the hurly burly macho men of the Taliban firing at a teenager at almost point-blank range as they were about the fallout to the country’s reputation in the subsequent aftermath. The responsibility of which they rested firmly on Malala’s shoulders. Because, you know, she had not suffered enough.
The Pakistani state, for its part, was the first to try and exploit her suffering. For in its praise of her undeniable bravery, it conveniently circumvented the hard truth that the country was failing on all national education indicators; as provided under the then UN Millennium Development Goals. Meaning in areas where its writ was in place. And all the while, quietly from behind-the-scenes, Washington tried its best to turn Malala into a poster girl of a different kind. One that could be used to promote the US drone programme as the only hope of ensuring that Pakistani girls go to school. When what it should have been doing was supporting the democratic set-up against militancy.
Given all this, it is immeasurable credit to the family and to her 15-year-old self that Malala has turned out the way she has. And it is a credit to the 20-year-old young woman she is today that she has returned, albeit briefly, to Pakistan. For this is the first time that she has been home since that near fateful day some six years ago. But as she noted in her national television address, there has not been a day where she had not dreamed of this moment. Yet her message is the same it has always been: girls need to be educated and women empowered if any good is to come of this country.
It is time that Pakistan meet her more than halfway. Meaning that it cannot go on. This vilifying of women — like Malala, like Mukhtaran Mai — who after having survived the very worst of patriarchal violence have the audacity to not only talk about it but to call for reform. After all, the bravest girl in the world has given us a second chance. It is Pakistan’s turn now. Do not blow it. *
Published in Daily Times, March 30th 2018.