It's Malala Day

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.

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.

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.

Take Good Care Hina Khan

I recently put my head above the parapet to comment on the shooting by the Pakistani Taliban of schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.  I've never wanted this blog to become a polemic for any particular point of view but sometimes you have to speak out, if only to maintain your own sanity.

Hina Khan, 14  (Image: Aljazeera)

For that reason, it's only fair to mention the ordeal of Hina Khan, - Malala's fellow teenage campaigner for female education.  Recent news reports indicate that she is now effectively a prisoner in her own home after threats by the same fanatical psychopaths.  This has included having a red X painted on the gates of her home.

The Gates Of Hina Khan's Home (Image: Al Jazeera)

This is not about criticising anyone else's culture or faith.  If you must follow a deity, it's none of my business.  I'm also aware that many people around the World feel indignation at the hypocrisy of the West.  Unfortunately, bullying is something else altogether.  Billions of people of all faiths and nationalities prove it's perfectly possible to praise their chosen God without threatening or attempting to murder schoolgirls.

Hina Khan With Her Mother (Photo: The Times/Robin Pagnamenta)

To the cowards behind these actions, - you only bring disgrace on yourself.  If there are valid reasons for denying girls the right to learn, then prove it through reasoned debate.  Until then,   these girls are braver than you'll ever be.

Get Well Soon Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai (Photo: Veronique De Viguene / Getty Images)

I really enjoy writing this blog but there’s no denying it’s a relative self-indulgence, being built around my own creative practice, attempts at cultural critique and vague musings on this and that.  I’m aware there are online diarists whose lives are full of much harsher realities than mine, and for whom claiming the right to free expression can result in real jeopardy.

Malala Yousafzai, Amnesty International Campaign

Like people of all nationalities and faiths, (or, indeed, no faith), I was appalled to hear of the shooting of Malala Yousafzai by the Pakistani Taliban.  I earn my daily bread working in a co-educational and very multi-cultural state school and it’s pretty easy to take universal access to a basic education for granted.  Therefore, it’s mind boggling to think that a teenage girl might be shot in the head for having the temerity to campaign for the same fundamental right elsewhere.  I won’t pretend to have real insight into Malala’s circumstances or cultural background but that’s just plain despicable, - wherever you're from.  It needs to be said.

Malala, In Hospital In Birmingham (Photo: Reuters)

It’s heartening to hear today’s reports that Malala may make a gradual recovery and one can only hope some degree of security can be found for her in the future.  Certainly, she’s already shown more bravery in the face of bigotry and hatred than most of us ever will.

So, from one blogger to another, - get well soon Malala.

'...Zoink! Off The Scale'

I’ve never had much involvement with sport and am used to regarding the mindset of an artist as rather different from that of an athlete.  My attitude towards the whole Olympics hoopla over recent years could probably be best described as mild indifference combined with habitual scepticism about such overblown spectacles.

Danny Boyle (Dir.) & A Cast Of Thousands, 'Isles Of Wonder',
Opening Ceremony, London Olympics, 2012

Indeed, in the context of Guy Debord’s theories about Spectacular Society [1.], the Modern Olympics is a huge manifestation of Capitalist Spectacle in so many respects.  More immediate political debates around the whole phenomenon are manifest and diverse, including issues of elitism, spending, regeneration, sponsorship agendas, public health, out-sourcing of public services, educational provision and so much else.  Furthermore, news reports of Syrian civil war, nihilistic gun crime, sadistic burglars and ever-deepening economic malaise remind us that the same old madness continues apace beyond the perimeter of the five-ring circus.

Despite all that, I’ll admit to being surprisingly engaged with and entertained by the whole event.  Dispensing with my television some time ago means my exposure to it all has been via the radio and Internet and the BBC’s enthusiastic and varied coverage has accompanied my painting activities constantly over recent days.

Danny Boyle (Dir.) & A Cast Of Thousands, 'Isles Of Wonder',
Opening Ceremony, London Olympics, 2012 

From the start I was encouraged to see Danny Boyle get humour and a little subversion into his eccentric opening extravaganza and also celebrate achievements like the NHS amongst the things Britain could be proud of.  Full marks for getting parachuting monarchy, Mr Bean, The Sex Pistols and Pink Floyd into the same program too.  If the BBC has betrayed a partisan focus, it’s still good to know the British can organise an alcoholic function in a brewery after all and also be good at games when 'we' want to.  The debates about funding, sport in schools and the dreaded L-word rage on but it would take a hard heart to remain unaffected by the sight of talented and dedicated 'ordinary' young women fulfilling their potential and winning for fun.

Laura Trott, Women's Omnium Gold Medalist.
(Photo: Guardian/Tom Jenkins)

Jessica Ennis, Heptathlon Gold Medalist.  (Photo: Getty)

Two terms used repeatedly by participators and commentators alike have been ‘Unbelievable’ and ‘Emotional’.  However grand an illusion it might all be, - if only a fraction of the shared emotion, communality and good cheer apparently generated are authentic it could even be money well spent.

[1.]: Guy Debord, 'The Society of the Spectacle', 1967, Trans. Ken Knabb, http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/debord/