Women in this country are fortunate to live in the United States, because they have better opportunities and equalities in life just like men do. However, women have the educational opportunities to become lawyers, doctors, and many more extensive career opportunities in the USA. Swat Valley in Pakistan, was a beautiful place full of mountains, waterfalls, crystal lakes and was surrounded by tourists before Maulana Fazlullah, leader of Taliban army, twenty eight year old, brought chaos to Swat Valley.
The Taliban army made a huge impact in Swat Valley geographically and with women’s rights because hey introduced feared in this community, but mainly to women. The Taliban prohibited music, TV, Radio, and later would go house by house to check if they had any devices still in their homes. When women would disobey their curfew, show a little bit of skin or try to go out and get an education the Taliban would punished them in public by beating, cutting their leg, arm or throwing acid to girls faces.
The Taliban are still in control of Swat Valley and forcing the Islamic religion traditions to everybody and still killing people who speaks against them. In the book I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, a sixteen year old, speaks out of the disadvantages of her Swat Valley being controlled by the Taliban, and she also won the Nobel Peace prize. Malala, an activist warrior, tell her autobiography how she fought for her and women’s rights to have an education in her country.
Ziauddin, Malala’s father, an activist who believe everybody should have an education also helps his daughter to fight and speak out against the Taliban for women’s rights. Malala illustrates how the Taliban would punished those who spoke against them, but also women that would break the rules. Malala would describe how she would fear for her own life, yet later her father helped her out change her views towards death. In October 9, 2012 Malala was shot three times in the head by a Taliban man, while she was in the bus coming back from a field trip.
The news of Malala being shot notified the whole wide world; therefore, social media made her famous and with the help of doctors in England and prayers of people helped Malala survived the tragedy she was going through. Even though Malala was shot, she saw it as second chance in life to achieved the ights of women’s education in her country. Education is an important tool to fight against terrorism because if people are not educated well they tend to go for what they hear than what they learn.
For this reason, education helps in fighting terrorism because well educated people learn how to stop any group from terrorizing or controlling them. One reason the Taliban were able to take over in Pakistan is because the Taliban used religion to control the people. Individuals were scared for their own life In I Am Malala, Malala describes how traditions play a huge role in Swat Valley.
For example she explains,”I knew as we got older the girls would be expected to stay inside. We’d be expected to cook and serve our brothers and fathers… y mother and I could not go out without a male relative to accompany us, even if it was a five-year-old-boy! This was the tradition” (Yousafzai 26). In Swat Valley women’s roles are to serve the men in their family as well as how they will be doing when they get married until they die. Even though religion is a beautiful thing to have it can be a huge obstacle to women, because they are too committed to their traditions that they cannot see beyond eligion, Women in Swat Valley became more limited on what they can and cannot do after the Taliban took over because Fazlullah would lie to them about what the Quran says.
In fact to demonstrate, “Women are meant to fulfill their responsibilities in the home. Only in emergencies can they go outside, but then they must wear the veil” (115), Fazlullah stated. When Fazlullah enter to Swat Valley, he inforce religion mainly towards women to follow the Quran. Since Fazlullah had controlled later he created more fear into women because he knew women had no right to an education, so women were more easy to target and rainwashed.
Taliban was also able to control women’s rights because they manipulated women’s education and created fear in them by punishing and killing them in public. Taliban is a group of ignorant people whom machismo play a huge role in their inner personality because it does not let them see beyond of what they been taught since they were little for women to be in homes, cooking, cleaning, and having children Malala illustrates throughout the book how the Taliban would limited, torcher, and killed women, “The Taliban told women not to go to the bazaar” (118).
Taliban banned women from public place and stop them from dressing up. Women who broke the rules or help women would be punished in front of the community and would killed them day or night as long as women would not follow the rules. For example, “The punishments decreed by Fazlullah’s shura included public whipping, which we had never seen before” (119). Fazlullah would use public punishment to warned women what would happen if they disobey his rules. Terrorism is going to existed until those who are being victims of Fazlullah start educating themselves.
Terrorists like Fazlullah is hy we still have tragic events happening around the world because with no knowledge they cannot see the world with different eyes and uneducated people tend to follow faster. An uneducated person like Maulana created tragic events to mark people around the world and created a riot towards women in Pakistan. To demonstrate, “He’s actually a high school dropout whose real name isn’t even Fazlullah” (114) Malala father stated. An ignorant person who does not have an open mind would do more damage than a person with knowledge because is easier to dehumanized people than to accept the changes.
Malala talk about how in the Quran the things that Fazlullah would say were not true for instance, “I was confused by Fazlullah’s words, In the Holy Quran it is not written that men should go outside and women should work all day in the home” (116). Fazlullah would lie to the people and he knew most of the people in Pakistan were not well educated just like him to understand and read. Education is a huge role because it opens people’s mind but also people are not fooled easily to believe people like Fazlullah, Just like in today’s era we have people like Donald
Trump, the attackers of San Bernardino, and many more who do not have enough knowledge but they tend to know how to persuasive uneducated people to believe on their words or do damage to people around the world. Even though the Taliban used religion to control people and create terrorism, yet terrorist did approve the way their religion was being used. For instance, Malala talks about how the Taliban would misinterpreted the Quran and created their own version to their convenience to be full controllers to the uneducated population.
When the Taliban kept reinforcing Islamic to people, Malala’s ather friend wrote on the newspaper, “To the Fedayeen of Islam [or Islamic sacrificers], this is not the right way to implement Islam”(122). Hidayatullah, friend of Malala’s father was capable of reading and seeing the Taliban were doing was not what the appropriate way to put Islamic in people life. Malala’s father “Please don’t harm my children, because the God you believe in is the same God they pray to everyday” (123) “Some people call themselves Muslims, but their actions are not Islamic” (283).
After Malala was shot by the Taliban people ould “We felt like the Taliban saw us as little dolls to control, telling us what to do and how to dress. I thought if god wanted us to be like that He wouldn’t have made us all different” (124). Losing power, and control can fear people like Fazlullah, because they are scared of educated people. Fazlullah feared Malala when she started to speak out and demanding her rights for education and women’s education as well. Malala states, “I was speaking up for my rights as a Muslim women to be able to go to school” (283).
In fact, in the Quran it never says women should be dependent on a man. 19) Malala was shot by The Taliban because women like Malala can be a huge obstacle to someone who wants power and control. Fazlullah knew with the education provided to Malala and other women, people would find out Fazlullah was lying about the Quran beliefs so, he would slowly lose control and power in Swat Valley. Malala father states. “They wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Kill Malala and silence me forever” (247). Fazlullah huge attend toward Malala knew he would win by killing two people who are trying to make a change in Swat Valley because by killing Malala he ould also be killing Malala’s father soul but Fazlullah was wrong.
Fazlullah failed to silence two heros from wanting people to become open minded, educated and determined to be someone in life Education is a powerful tool for everybody because it prevent people from becoming or staying ignorant. Malala and Malala’s father knew by having educated men and women will make a huge change into their country, because people can rebel against the Taliban, but also be able to read, write and think for themselves. For example Malala father states, “I agree that females teachers should educated girls.
But first we need to educated our girls so they can become teachers” (118). Malala’s father understands women are capable of doing a job and having a career, and have the right to an education. By teaching women how to read, write, and understand, women are getting educated to be able to educated more people. Education frightens the Taliban’s because they know people would stand up for their rights. In the article Why the Taliban is afraid of 14 years old the Taliban states many reason why they fear 14 years old, to demonstrate, “They are afraid that women will ask questions, will speak up”.
Taliban are scared of losing power and control if women get education. Education is a powerful tool for everybody and Malala knows by continuing fighting against the Taliban to achieve women’s education will help her country from having ignorant people following Fazlullah. Malala states, “Let us pick up our books and our pen… They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change our world” (310). Malala is right just by having a student, a teacher, a book and a pen as a result people angles of points of views can have an impact for the better.
Having education is like having a thousand eyes because people can see things better but mainly cannot be fooled. Education is an important tool for people to survive, understand and not stay ignorant because knowledge is the key to success.. When the Taliban realized that educating all women is more important than killing them, yet women with education can contribute to make an impact to increasing the growth of their country economic life education and support their family as well. Education is an undefeated tool for people to fight for their rights and to stop living under what ignorance of people neither being controlled.