Pakistan private schools ban Malala's book
The book will not be included in the schools' curriculum, nor will it be stocked in school libraries, Mirza Kashif, president of All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, was quoted as saying by The Independent.
Malala attracted global attention last year when the Taliban shot her in the head in north-west Pakistan for criticising the group's interpretation of Islam, which limits girls' access to education. Her profile has risen since then, and she released a memoir in October, I Am Malala, co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb.
While
Malala
has
become
a
hero
to
many
for
opposing
the
Taliban
and
standing
up
for
girls'
education,
conspiracy
theories
have
flourished
in
Pakistan
that
her
shooting
was
staged
to
create
an
icon
for
the
west
to
embrace.
Adeeb
Javedani,
president
of
the
All
Pakistan
Private
Schools
Management
Association,
said
his
organisation
had
banned
Malala's
book
from
the
libraries
of
its
40,000
affiliated
schools
and
called
on
the
government
to
bar
it
from
school
curriculums.
'Through this book, she became a tool in the hands of the western powers'
"Everything
about
Malala
is
now
becoming
clear," Javedani
said.
"To
me,
she
is
representing
the
west,
not
us."
Kashif
Mirza,
the
chairman
of
the
All
Pakistan
Private
Schools
Federation,
said
his
group
had
also
banned
Malala's
book
in
its
affiliated
schools.
Malala
"was
a
role
model
for
children,
but
this
book
has
made
her
controversial," Mirza
said.
"Through
this
book,
she
became
a
tool
in
the
hands
of
the
western
powers."
He
said
the
book
did
not
show
enough
respect
for
Islam
because
it
mentioned
the
prophet
Muhammad's
name
without
using
the
abbreviation
PBUH
-
"peace
be
upon
him"
-
as
is
customary
in
many
parts
of
the
Muslim
world.
He
also
said
it
spoke
favourably
of
the
author
Salman
Rushdie,
who
angered
many
Muslims
with
his
book
The
Satanic
Verses,
and
Ahmadis,
members
of
a
minority
sect
who
have
been
declared
non-Muslims
under
Pakistani
law.
In
her
book's
reference
to
Rushdie,
Malala
says
that
her
father
sees
The
Satanic
Verses
as
"offensive
to
Islam
but
believes
strongly
in
the
freedom
of
speech".
"First,
let's
read
the
book
and
then
why
not
respond
with
our
own
book?"
the
book
quotes
her
father
as
saying.
Malala
mentions
in
the
book
that
Pakistan's
population
of
180
million
people
includes
more
than
2
million
Ahmadis,
"who
say
they
are
Muslim
though
our
government
says
they
are
not".
"Sadly those minority communities are often attacked," the book says, referring also to Pakistan's 2 million Christians.
The conspiracy theories around Malala reflect the level of influence that rightwing Islamists sympathetic to the Taliban have in Pakistan. They also reflect the poor state of education in Pakistan, where fewer than half the country's children ever complete a basic, primary education.
Millions
of
children
attend
private
school
throughout
the
country
because
of
the
poor
state
of
the
public
system.
The
Taliban
blew
up
scores
of
schools
and
discouraged
girls
from
getting
an
education
when
they
took
over
the
Swat
Valley,
where
Malala
lived,
several
years
ago.
The army staged a large ground offensive in Swat in 2009 that pushed many militants out of the valley, but periodic attacks still occur. The mastermind of the attack on Malala, Mullah Fazlullah, was recently appointed the new head of the Pakistani Taliban after the former chief was killed in a US drone strike.
Oneindia
News
(With
agency
inputs)