When a 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl was gunned down last week by the Taliban, it generated protests and outrage in her own country and throughout the world.
Malala Yousafzai was targeted by the Taliban for her bravery in speaking out against their hardline rule and for promoting girls’ education. A Taliban gunman shot her in the head and neck. She is recovering.
In a blog for the BBC, Malala had provided the world with insight into the lives of the locals there through a young girl’s eyes, and also urged the need for educational opportunities for females in her area.
Unfortunately, as New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof notes: “Pakistan is a country that has historically suffered from timid and ineffectual leadership, unwilling to stand up to militants.”
The Taliban shot Malala because girls’ education threatens everything that they stand for. “The greatest risk for violent extremists in Pakistan isn’t American drones,” Kristof wrote. “It’s educated girls.”
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