Malala & United Nations

Malala has been a hot topic in national and international media since she was shot at by Taliban on Oct 9, 2012. Many international organizations, especially United Nations, encouraged her to raise voice for the education of girls.

Malala earned huge fame across the globe in a short time through her sheer struggle to promote female education in backward areas of Pakistan including Swat.

Though the above lines present a rosy picture but the reality is quite opposite.

There is no denying the fact that media is so powerful that it can make any hero, a zero; and vice versa. Here a question arises ‘Why Malala is given so much prominence by national and international media and the United Nations alike. However, it seems that the world media and the UN couldn’t play their cards wisely.

This fact is also proved when Malala Yousafzai delivered a speech in United Nations on July 12. A sane person cannot comprehend why Malala has become such an extraordinary figure for United Nations. There are thousands of other girls, even Malala’s classmates, who are living under a constant threat, yet they are not highlighted and projected by media. Even very few of us know the names of the girls who also suffered injuries when Malala was attacked.

Another example is the disappointing role of UN when on June, 15 2013, a bloody incident happened in Quetta in which more than 20 innocent female students were killed while 40 were critically wounded, but the so-called free media and the most powerful institutions of world, including the UN, sewed their lips and did nothing but to give routine coverage and statements condemning this act.

Silence on such heinous attack on women entails a lot of questions on the role of UN and other ‘champions’ of human rights because the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon merely termed the incident ‘an ugly act’.

There are certain questions on Malala’s speech in the UN. The most critical question is that why Malala did not speak about drone strikes on Pakistani territory?
It is also pertinent to raise the question that why everyone cares only about Malala and not about other innocent girls who are killed in incessant drone attacks in Pakistan and those who are being slaughtered by NATO forces in Afghanistan almost every day?

‘Innocent Malala’, the very word may seem attractive for children and women education, but international actors have conspired and are pursuing their own interests behind the scene.

The irrational role of United Nations and other international humanitarian groups along with our own government and media yet remains discouraging.

The writer is student of media studies at SMI University and human rights activist.