Political parties, civil society shower praise on Malala

PESHAWAR/MINGORA: Political parties and civil society organisations have paid rich tribute to girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai on being honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize.
Civil society activists distributed sweets and youth danced to drumbeats at the Peshawar Press Club on Friday to celebrate the achievement of Malala.
A ceremony in this connection was also held at the press club and addressed among others by ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Strengthening Participatory Organisation’s regional chief Arshad Haroon, Tribal NGOs consortium chairman Zar Ali Khan, Khwendo Kor chairperson Maryam Bibi, minority community representative Asif Bhatti, Lasoona chairperson Rakhshinda Naaz and journalist Shamim Shahid.
Also read: Malala offered Canadian citizenship
Mian Iftikhar said that Pakhtuns were dubbed as terrorists in the past but now it was proved that they were peace loving and against terrorism. He said that Malala was a reflection of the mindset of Pakhtuns who loved education, development and believed in the policy of live and let live.
He said that Punjab government had announced to establish a university after Malala, and asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to follow suit.
On the occasion, Arshad Haroon said the award was in fact a win for Pakhtuns and a defeat for terrorists and extremists. He said that Malala proved that Pakhtuns believed in peace, dialogue, tolerance and development.

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Youth dance to drumbeat to celebrate Nobel Peace Prize for education activist

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Maryam Bibi said Malala was daughter of the nation and a pride for all the peace loving people, adding that all the girls across the world should get education and play role in spreading the light of knowledge.
Rakhshinda Naaz said that Malala was now a symbol of peace and education and the award deserved to be celebrated as it was a big success of the nation.
Zar Ali Khan and Shamim Shahid said that the award proved Pakhtuns’ love for knowledge and peace, adding that all those opposing her had faced defeat.
Similarly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan, Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Saleem Saifullah Khan also congratulated Malala Yousafzai on being honoured with the Noble Peace Prize.
In his message of felicitation, the governor said that the award was not only a recognition of her exemplary contribution to education but also the acknowledgement of the nation’s great sacrifices against terrorism.
Aftab Sherpao said that the prize would encourage all those working for promotion of education in the country. He said Pakhtuns were proud of Malala who stood against all odds to raise voice for education. 
Asfandyar Wali said that the award was a good omen for Pakhtuns and proved that Pakistanis were against terrorists and extremists.
Meanwhile, the people of Swat, the native district of Malala, termed the achievement of the education activist a great success for the entire country.
They said that after the award, the world would know Swat, once affected by militancy, as a place of peace and prosperity.
Ahmad Shah, president of Global Peace Council, told Dawn that soon after the announcement he contacted Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala, who said that he and his family were very happy over the achievement their daughter.
He quoted Mr Yousafzai as saying that the award meant that the world recognised that the people of Swat were peace loving. Mr Yousafzai said that two days ago he talked to Malala over phone and found that she was not very hopeful about winning the peace prize this year compared to the last year when she had a lot of expectations about winning it.
Malala’s father said that she had a plan to construct an elementary college in Shangla and five middle schools in Swat.
Fazal Maula Zahid, president of Rotary Club Swat, said that Malala had participated in many meetings of the club as her father was its active member. He said that responsibilities of Malala had increased after winning the prize as she would now have to be more focused on female education.
He said that Malala should declare Swat as valley of education so people from across the globe could come here for getting education and convey a message of peace to the people of their respective countries.
Mr Zahid also urged Malala to work for establishing an international women university in Swat to promote girls’ education in the valley.
Fakhrul Hassan, cousin of Malala Yousafazi, said that he and his family were too happy over the peace prize win, adding that it was recognition of the struggle of people of Swat for peace. “I was taking lunch with my family when my brother came and told us about Malala’s achievement,” he added.
Farooq, in-charge of Khushal Public School Mingora, said that students of Swat were mostly trying to copy Malala, adding that after the achievement girls students were now more inclined to get higher education and contribute to country’s development.
Published in Dawn, October 11th , 2014

Pakistan’s braveheart Malala Yousafzai

COURAGE is not a rare quality in Pakistan. Adversity that would break most individuals has produced some of our finest — human rights activists, journalists, not to mention ordinary people fighting against formidable odds.
But Malala Yousafzai is a special case; it’s hard to find such courage in a 17-year-old coupled with a clarity of thought and an eloquence that can make cynics catch their breath and the world sit up and take notice.
Yesterday, Pakistan’s braveheart won the Nobel Peace Prize, giving a nation starved of glad tidings and buffeted by crises on multiple fronts, a reason to celebrate.
By awarding the prize to an education rights activist, the Nobel Committee has delivered a symbolic rebuke to the forces of regression typified by the likes of the Taliban, Boko Haram, and the Islamic State that seek to impose a system in which, aside from a slew of other depredations, children — particularly girls — would be denied the right to education; in effect, deprived of a future.
From a young girl simply wanting to go to school in Swat Valley during the savage rule of the Pakistani Taliban, to a global icon who represents the millions of children out of school in the world, whether for reasons of war, militancy or state neglect — Malala’s story is inspirational on many levels.
Even after militants shot her in the head in October 2012 — a shot that veritably rang out across the world — for consistently propagating girls’ education, she did not waver. In fact, the near-fatal attack boosted her profile, although she had to move abroad for treatment and for security reasons. Since then, many international accolades have come her way, including the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Malala’s latest award, while undoubtedly prestigious for Pakistan, should also make us reflect on how the state has failed in its obligations towards the people in many ways.
Purveyors of intolerance and bigotry have been tolerated for too long here. Malala’s own struggle was forged in this environment; the fact that she has to remain abroad testifies to the continuing potency of these forces. And lest we forget, our first Nobel prize winner, Dr Abdus Salam, died away from home, his magnificent achievement ignored in Pakistan, only because he was an Ahmadi. And then there’s education.
With five million children aged five to nine out of school, there is no place better than Pakistan to further Malala’s cause in a meaningful way.
Finally, the fact that the joint peace prize winner is an Indian, Kailash Satyarthi, also for work in child rights, highlights the commonality of issues between India and Pakistan; it would serve their people well if these could take precedence over politics.
As Malala has said so succintly, “I raise my voice not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”
Published in Dawn, October 11th , 2014