But many within Pakistan believe schoolgirl campaigner for education, tolerance and women's rights is western stooge
Jon Boone
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| Malala Yousafzai in New York: liberals hoped a Nobel victory would prove symbolic in a country where extremism and militancy are on the rise. Photograph: Barcroft Media |
Supporters of Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan reacted with disappointment to the decision by the Nobel committee not to award her the peace prize on Friday, although many in the country remain hostile to the 16-year-old education campaigner who they regard as a stooge of the west.
Amid a tide of publicity, hopes that she might win took hold among liberal commentators aghast at the rise of extremism and militancy in Pakistan.
"I tuned in live to the announcement and I was really upset when I saw it had gone to this chemical weapons organisation," said Ijaz Khan, a professor at Peshawar University.
"For me, Malala is more important as a symbol than an activist. She symbolises a particular message that debunks the idea that all [Pashtuns] are Taliban. All international recognition for that is important."
Imran Khan, a leading opposition politician who has been criticised for backing talks with the Taliban, said he was disappointed.
He said: "We are proud of this daughter of Pakistan who had to suffer trauma at such a young age, almost losing her life, simply because she stood for the right of girls to education."
Pakistan has only once won a Nobel prize. Abdus Salam, the 1979 winner of the physics prize, is little celebrated in the country as he was a member of the Ahmedi sect of Islam, which is widely regarded as heretical in Pakistan.
Yousafzai's forceful call for education, tolerance and women's rights is rare in a country where few people dare to confront Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), as the country's leading militant alliance calls itself.
In recent days the Pakistani Taliban have renewed their promise to try to kill Malala if they get the chance. They have also threatened to attack shops selling her just published book, I am Malala.
Despite her bravery, Malala has plenty of detractors who have become even more critical of her amid the welter of western media interest.
"My thinking is she has become a puppet for the west who are using her for their own objectives," said Fahad Shah, a business owner in Rawalpindi. "A Nobel prize would not have had any meaning for us."
Nor can she rely on sympathy from other girls of similar age.
At a well-appointed school in Rawalpindi, the bright middle-class teenagers have no shortage of education, the commodity Yousafzai argues can fix many of Pakistan's problems, including its struggle against militancy and extremism.
But the students at the International Islamic University School are divided as the rest of the country. Some even doubt whether she was actually shot.
"I've seen pictures on the internet that prove that it was manipulated," said Khajida, a supremely self-confident 13-year-old girl who speaks English, her second language, with easy fluency.
"You can see that she was off the stretcher [and not injured]. On the internet it says she was a foreign agent and they wanted to make a case against the Taliban."
Crudely manipulated photographs of Malala circulate on social media that supposedly prove she was employed by the CIA or part of a plot to demonise the TTP.
Islamist politicians and extreme nationalist commentators have further undermined her by suggesting the attack was a "drama", code in Pakistan for a something that was scripted or faked.
Samiul Huq, a high-profile extremist mullah, said Yousafzai had been hijacked by anti-Islam powers.
He urged her to pull away from "the influence of western powers, stop becoming a part of their conspiracies".
In a week in which Malala was interviewed by the BBC, CNN and even American satirist Jon Stewart, she has so far done only one broadcast interview in Pakistan.
"Her story has all the ingredients that the west loves – little girl standing up for education and getting shot by the Taliban," said Zarrar Khuhro, the journalist who interviewed her for CityFM, an English-language youth station that broadcasts mostly western pop.
"But in Pakistan there is utter confusion about what the counter narrative [to militancy] should be. The radical right have their act together, they have a clear message that they disseminate at every opportunity."
Even those who do not subscribe to the conspiracy theories think too much attention is being paid to Malala.
"Of course she was shot, but it was not that bad," said Dua, another 13-year-old at the same school. "Too much is being made of it. Hundreds of girls are killed but why is it only Malala who is coming on the media?"
At a Montessori school in another neighbourhood of Rawalpindi, the view among students is very different. The school has been at pains to discuss the issue and has made sure the girls and boys know the facts of the attack on Malala.
"She's very inspiring to us," said 14-year-old Iram. "When it happened I couldn't believe anyone could do this to a girl in our country."
Khuhro said Pakistan's confusion over whether to celebrate Malala or not crossed class boundaries. "I've met educated people, doctors, engineers, who see conspiracy but day labourers who are extremely proud of her," he said. "I do believe the haters are a minority, but a very vocal minority."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/11/malala-yousafzai-nobel-peace-prize-education-womenhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/11/malala-yousafzai-nobel-peace-prize-education-women
