‘I am not Malala’ documentary exposes the activist’s ‘western agenda’
Islamabad, July 14 (EFE).- An association of private schools in Pakistan has released a documentary, “I am not Malala,” to expose her “western agenda” of tarnishing the image of Islam.
The documentary highlights education activist Malala Yousafzai’s “controversial views on Islam and marriage, and her pursuit of Western agenda.”
“We will never want our children to follow Malala. No matter how many top awards she wins and that the gates of the White House and the Buckingham Palace remain open for her,” Kashif Mirza, the president of the Federation of Private Schools of Pakistan, told EFE.
Mirza said the 2014 Nobel peace was pursuing the western agenda “because what she speaks is not as per the teachings of Islam and not at par with our social values.”
He cited Malala’s comments about marriage in a recent interview with Vogue magazine, during which the 24-year-old education activist sparked controversy with her comments on marriage.
“I still do not understand why people have to get married. If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers, why can’t it just be a partnership,” she said.
The comments opened a barrage of criticism from conservatives in Pakistan, where family-arranged marriage is still the norm.
Twenty-one percent of women in Pakistan are married before the age of 18.
Mirza also recalled that in her book “I am Malala,” published in 2013, the Pakistani activist who lives in the United Kingdom, had defended “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie.”
The controversial 1988 book triggered outrage in the Muslim world as they accused it of blasphemy and mocking their faith.
Mirza said Malala had appeared in a group photograph with controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who had to take refuge in Europe after publishing her book “Lajja.”
Nasreen also faced criticism from the Muslim world for denouncing Islam because it allegedly oppresses women.
Mirza asked the government to ban the publication of Malala’s book, “I am Malala,” in the country as it was “contrary to the teachings of Islam, the Quran, sayings of the Prophet, ideology of Islam, ideology of Pakistan.”
Mirza plans to screen the documentary in the 200,000 schools affiliated with his federation to prevent the propagation of Malal’s ideas.
Taliban militants opened fire at Malala in 2015 for defending girl education in Pakistan.
She left the country and graduated in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford.
But back home, she continues to be the subject of a vilification campaign.
Her critics accuse her of damaging the country’s image and working for the American spy agency CIA. EFE
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