This article was previously published in the Spring Print Edition.
Staff Writer and Photographer Thomas Noonan spoke with Malala’s father and veteran education activist Ziauddin Yousafzai to understand the fight of the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
This January, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai addressed Muslim leaders at the inaugural Muslim World League’s International Conference on Girls’ Education in Islamabad. In her speech, she urged the political and religious leaders of the Muslim world not to normalise relations with the Taliban regime and to condemn the system of “gender apartheid” in place in Afghanistan.
The Nobel laureate also called on them to support the ongoing diplomatic efforts towards a Crimes Against Humanity Treaty in this rare visit to her home country where she endured the Taliban takeover of her province from 2007 to 2009, and an assassination attempt in 2012.
“Malala is not a keyboard warrior; she is a real warrior” – Ziauddin Yousafzai
Despite the widespread celebration Malala receives, she remains criticised in Pakistan where some on the right wing accuse her of being a Western tool, going so far as to peddle baseless conspiracy theories of a staged assassination attempt. Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, critics have blamed Malala for not being vocal enough in her condemnation of Israel and its allies.
This is “not the right accusation,” replies Ziauddin, “she has condemned Israel’s army and the destruction of schools and universities in Gaza. […] the Malala Fund has donated over 700 thousand for reconstruction and aid for Palestinian women and children”. He argues that each of us should fight for a special cause, and for Malala that cause is girls’ education. “If one is everywhere, then one is nowhere” says the father of the Nobel laureate, who believes Malala “is not a keyboard warrior, she is a real warrior.”
The imperative for Malala to remain focused on Afghanistan is especially crucial considering the continuous degradation of the conditions of life for women and girls under the Taliban regime who have issued over 121 decrees through their Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue, going so far as to ban women from speaking. Since their takeover, Ziauddin has carefully documented the misogynistic policies of the Taliban on X.
“As the world goes quieter and quieter, the Taliban are growing harsher and harsher.”
He remembers the promises made during the peace talks held in Doha in February 2020: “They started giving the impression that they were not the same Taliban of the past, […] that they were Taliban 2.0. Fawzia Koofi [first female deputy speaker of the Afghan parliament] was told by the Taliban that they would allow girls in school, that women would work in government. These were the promises made in Doha. […] Since then, three and a half years on, Taliban have proved everyone that they were the same Taliban as in the past.” He remarks “as the world goes quieter and quieter, the Taliban are growing harsher and harsher.”
Ziauddin believes it is especially important for Muslims to be outspoken against the Taliban regime, for three reasons. “First thing is diamond cuts diamonds. If I own a piece of land and somebody wants to claim to occupy it, I should be the person to stand for it. […] If we don’t stand for ourselves, this gives the impression we agree with it. Number two is that if we look at the data, militant Islam has impacted our economies, our peace, it has impacted Muslims especially. […] I also want to say that ideologies may be good or bad but spread and know no borders.” He expresses concern that “if the gender apartheid is not stopped in Afghanistan, it may spread to all the Muslim world and especially neighbouring countries, to Pakistan, to Uzbekistan, to Tajikistan.”
“Any individual, group, government who stops girls from going to school and deny these rights is anti-Sharia and anti-Islam”
He remains hopeful however, observing the efforts of the Muslim World League in championing girls’ education. “This time, they did this two-day conference in Pakistan, the neighbour of Afghanistan. The day before the conference they had this roundtable with Muslim religious leaders from all over the world, from all sects and schools of thought […] and issued some historic fatwahs. They agreed on three things: one, that education is the right of women as of men, two, that education is a girl’s right without any restrictions and conditions. […] Three, that any individual, group, government who stop girls from going to school and deny these rights is anti-sharia and anti-Islam.”
