Key points
- Yousafzai won Nobel Peace Prize in 2014
- She globally champions girls’ education rights
- Malala survived a Taliban attack in 2012
ISLAMABAD: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Sunday called on Muslim leaders not to “legitimise” the Taliban government in Afghanistan and oppose their restrictions on the education of girls.
“Do not give them legitimacy,” she urged at a summit focused on girls’ education in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.
“As Muslim leaders, this is your moment to speak out and wield your influence. You have the opportunity to exemplify true leadership and showcase the essence of Islam,” declared the 27-year-old activist.
She was addressing a two-day conference titled “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities”, organised by the government of Pakistan and supported by the Muslim World League (MWL).
The event brought together key figures from a diverse array of Muslim-majority nations.
“The Taliban do not regard women as human beings,” Yousafzai stated boldly at the conference. “They mask their transgressions with cultural and religious rationalisations.”
She highlighted that 120 million girls worldwide are denied an education, including 12.5 million in Pakistan alone.
On Gaza
Expressing gratitude to the Muslim World League for facilitating the gathering, she noted that Israel has devastated Gaza’s entire education system.
Malala Yousafzai emphasised that the conference’s goals would remain unfulfilled if the plight of Afghan girls was overlooked. For a decade, the Taliban has stripped women of their educational rights, enacting over 100 oppressive laws that dehumanise them.
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Yousafzai passionately asserted that Pakistani girls deserve to be vibrant participants in the global community, reminding everyone that every girl is entitled to 12 years of schooling.
Her journey
Having survived a gunshot to the face from the Pakistani Taliban at age 15 while advocating for girls’ education, Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 and has since emerged as a prominent global champion for women’s and girls’ educational rights.
“The Taliban’s agenda is clear: they aim to erase women and girls from all facets of public life and societal recognition,” she asserted.
Despite an invitation, delegates representing the Taliban were notably absent, as confirmed by Pakistan’s Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.
The Taliban’s agenda is clear, they aim to erase women and girls from all facets of public life and societal recognition,” Nobel Laureate Mala Yousafzai
The Afghan embassy in Islamabad confirmed that they were invited to moot but due to unavoidable reasons, they refused to participate in the conference.
Global outrage
While the international community expresses outrage over the Taliban’s restrictions, opinions are split on the best approach to engage with their regime.
Some advocate for isolating the Taliban diplomatically until they reverse their policies, while others favour dialogue in hopes of persuading them to change course.
Since reclaiming power in 2021, the Taliban government has instituted a harsh interpretation of Islamic law that the United Nations has denounced as “gender apartheid.”
These policies have barred women and girls from secondary and higher education, restricted their access to many government positions, and relegated them to the margins of public life.
No nation has formally recognized the Taliban government, yet several regional powers have opened discussions regarding trade and security matters.