"The battle for survival of civilization"
"Today the battle for survival of civilization
is being fought in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan). Education a well acknowledged
catalyst for meaningful socio-economic change and a constitutionally recognized
fundamental right in Pakistan appears to be the most threatened. Centre for
Civic Education gave its annual Civic Courage Award to Ms. Malala Yousafzai and
Civic Education Award to Baacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation at National
Conference on State of Fundamental Rights on September 15, 2012 in Islamabad.
We are sharing English translation of Ms. Malala Yousafzai’s speech. We
consider her an icon of courage and commitment for peaceful change in Pakistan
that could be engineered by quality education. Her sacrifice has not only
united the nation rather has shown a way to our future, if we really care for
our survival as a pluralist nation."
"Ladies and Gentlemen -
"I shall begin by describing situation in Swat. We have seen
worst over there. Schools were destroyed, the girls were barred from education
and even flogged. People were slaughtered at Green Chowk. Even the (music) CD
shops were not spared.
"The circumstances (in Swat) made people shiver. Amid bomb blasts
we lost our peace. The girl students were scared of going to schools. We had to
flee our homes (to save our lives). We could only return after the (military)
operation that normalized the situation. The girls are now back in schools. The
shops have resumed business including the CD shops. Everything thing is fine
now. Was that easy to leave homes when things turned violent and returned after
they cooled down?
"The only factor that brought normalcy (in Swat) was the struggle
of the people. Had people failed to raise their voice, Swat would have been
another Waziristan. Girls and senior citizens of Swat joined hands with others
and fought for their rights. People rendered sacrifices to restore peace in
Swat. People win their rights only when they struggle to achieve them. And, in
Swat, our rights were usurped. The right of education. The right of freedom. We
were not free to express ourselves. We lost our freedom and they imposed their
will on us. It was our effort and endeavor that extricated us from the crisis.
"Fellows, great nations learn from the history. The dilemma of
Swat is now part of history and we pledge to learn from it, because if we
don’t, we would never accomplish our goal. What have I learnt from the
circumstances is that just one voice and one movement is strong enough against
the groups which usurp the rights of the people. If they are armed with guns,
you have the weapon of pen and power of words to defeat them. Secondly, we
complain too much. We believe the system (of governance) in Pakistan is flawed
altogether. Nothing is normal. (Electricity) load-shedding is common, so as the
shortage of gas. We need to revamp the system instead of complaining too much.
We need to correct ourselves to improve the circumstances. We know what we can
do to turn things around by exercising our rights. But most of the time we
remain silent.
"Don’t you know breaking traffic signal is a violation? Don’t you
understand rejecting ideas of other people is inappropriate? Don’t you realize
how bad it is to destroy schools? Don’t you agree confining women to home is so
wrong? Everyone knows, but seldom stands up. We know what our rights are. We
can differentiate between good and evil. Still we don’t speak out. We don’t
tolerate each other.
"If we want to nurture a generation that is tolerant enough to
coexist with the people of opposite ideas, we must revamp our curriculum to
fulfill this need. Only by doing this they would be able to tolerate, for
example, a fellow from other faith or have love for other countries. While we
start understanding the importance of peace we would let them know that
strongest weapon in the world is a Pen – not a gun, tank or a helicopter.
"We talk about culture and fundamental rights. There has been a
recent incident in Swat wherein a 12-year old girl was exchanged to compensate
the crime, committed by her brother. Backed by her father, the girl stood
against that decision. She went to the court and saved herself from the
darkness of injustices. We must have more youngsters like her. We must inform
them about their fundamental rights, failing to which the new generation would
give-in to the existing cultural taboos and obsolete social norms.
"We create culture and formulate laws. It was not a God’s decree
to exchange girls in compensate. Why can’t we change which is neither a holy
decree nor written in any holy scripture? We are entitled to make laws and
empowered to change them. The most important thing to do is to cleanse our
culture and traditions from all the negativities which exist even today. We are
the architect of our culture so we shall be entitled to change it.
"We need an education system that could make people successful
because we have seen in the past the Ph.D. or Master Degree holders were
clueless about the purpose of their life. They only think of themselves. They
only think of earning money, amassing wealth for their children, having
luxurious cars and sprawling bungalows. They are not worried about the future
of the son of their servant. Instead of being self-centered, we should follow
our religion which says: “The better are those who help their fellow-beings.”
"Until we let others live in peace and comfort, we would never be
able to live like that. The reason why we are far away from peace and living in
peril is that we are not letting others live in peace. Peace is not the absence
of war, but the absence of fear. And the peace cannot prevail until we get rid
of fear. In order to reach this destination we must choose the path of Asma
Jehangir, Tahira Abdullah, Samar Minallah and Malala Yosufzai. No one can do it
single-handedly. To get the country out of crisis, we must act together.
"In the end I would like to recognize that my father supported me
wholeheartedly when I was raising my voice and fighting for my rights. Hundreds
of talented and passionate girls from Swat failed to succeed because they were
restricted by their parents and brothers. And this is still happening. The way
my father supported me I can’t express my gratitude. I wish every girl has a
father like mine.
"God willing, we would change things around once we start
thinking positively and passionately. God willing, we would succeed. Thanks."
