You can gauge how disgusting right-wing urban Punjab is by the fact that a lot of good folks praising or welcoming Malala have to warn people not to come to their space and talk shit about the kid. Predictably, the Youthiya, alt-Youthiya and post-Youthiya crowd from Punjab often takes the lead in being scum on the issue of a teenage girl who was shot by Taliban. But that, of course, is not surprising. In any case, I recommend that if you do come into contact with religious/conservative nuts who hate on her, and you really have to engage instead of ignoring them, please begin the conversation by tracing their lineage to various Taliban commanders. Above all, don’t take an unnecessarily high moral ground with them. Remember that you can’t spray perfume in your house to get rid of mosquitoes. You have to use something that actually **ks them up, and that stuff is not pleasant to anyone — non-mosquitoes included. Published in Daily Times, April 1st 2018.