EDIT: Abandoning Malala

Adeeb Javedani, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association, and other administrators in the organization, said her book has been pulled from the shelves of thousands of private school libraries because she does not give proper respect to Islam, the religion of the country. According to Al Jazeera on Sunday, Javedani says she has also become a “puppet” of the West and that she no longer represents Pakistan — she is a traitor. He has called the government to ban the book from all curricula throughout the country.

What angers fundamentalist at first is the absence of “PUH” (peace be upon him) after the Muslim prophet Muhammad’s name.  APPSMA officials say this is blatant disrespect for Islam. They also criticize her sympathy for other religious groups in Pakistan.

When Malala was shot, more than 152,000 Pakistani private schools pledged their support and prayers for her, according to NBC NewsSunday. Now that she has moved to the United Kingdom and she is making appearances on Western news, Malala has lost the organizations most affected by the fight for education.

It may be unintentional, but Western news outlets have been telling Malala’s story more than analyzing how she has battled the Taliban and how she plans to reform education. Yes, she is young and in school, but someone as bright as her has an agenda. It’s unfortunate that her story, although incredibly powerful, overshadows her life’s work.

In the Western world, people are fixated by her symbol and the character aspect behind the fight. Why are we obsessed with the little girl? The focus is on Malala as a character, not her message. Are the international news outlets looking for more people like Malala? Are they searching for someone else breaking off from their traditional society for the sake of activism? There is a significant gap between people’s understanding and their perception of what’s going on, because Malala’s activism takes a sidebar to her terrible experience with the Taliban.

Like the United States, ideals shaped in Pakistan are heavily influenced by the most prominent religion in the region. Malala writes about her faith in Islam, but she also questions the oppressive system perpetuated by existing cultural practice. In her blog and her book, Malala write about her childhood and why she challenges these structures and calls for equality, not only for gender. She also defends the roughly two million Christians and two million Ahmadis in Pakistan.

Malala’s critics even say that she has become a mouthpiece for the West. Her ideals do not match those of Pakistan, therefore her story and sentiments have been constructed by Western influence. Although Yousafzai’s father helped her build her political platform, Western aid throughout her ordeal could have influenced her.

As an organization of private schools, APPSMA has every right to ban a book that administrators feel does not fit curricula, but from a Western news source’s point of view, it is a shame that so many school children will not have the opportunity to read her story. Yes, Pakistani have a drastically different culture than Americans. Yes, an organization with religious affiliations can choose to ban a book based on the writer’s perceived lack of respect for their religion. This complete denunciation of the book and the activist, however, are counterintuitive to developing a resistance to the Taliban and educating all children.