I've already posted my responses to the shooting of Malala Yousafzai and threats made to the life of Hina Khan by the Pakistani Taliban. The plight of these young campaigners for the right of girls to access education has received global attention and I now learn that today has been designated as Malala Day. You can read a really enlightening article on the importance of this from the perspective of a British woman of Pakistani heritage here.
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| Malala Yousafzai, (Photo: University Hospitals, Birmingham). |
There is an online petition for Malala to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize which you can sign here. Today would seem be the obvious time to do it and, regardless of what you think of such awards, it's a chance for people of all cultures to stand up to the bullies.
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| Hina Khan, (Photo: Unknown). |
It occurs to me that, aside from the important issues around them, this is all far more than any schoolgirl should have to cope with. I guess I've been engaged by the whole thing because, every day, I go to work and see girls of many different backgrounds just getting on with their studies and being cheerfully crazy with their friends. Here's hoping Malala can find time and space to focus on her own recovery and, before long, she and Hina, (and indeed any fellow campaigners whose names I don't know), might just get on with all the stuff other teenage girls enjoy.
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