Malala: born to be a politician 马拉拉：生而为政治家 | Monthly Review

I wish I could climb the summit of Elham, like Alexander the Great, reaching out to touch Jupiter and even flying out of the valley. But as I watched my younger brothers running around on the roof, kite-flying, skillfully controlling their strings and trying to shoot down the other's kite, I couldn't help wondering how much freedom I could possess as a girl.

1

In the northwest Pakistan, there is a place called Swat, which is 160 km from Islamabad, the Swat Valley is called 'East Switzerland' by the local people, with waterfalls, crystal clear lakes, delicious fruit and wildflowers spreading all over mountains.

Rich people in Pakistan often came here for holidays, enjoying the clean air and beautiful scene, pleasing themselves by singing and dancing at the Sophie Festival. There were even many foreigners coming here as well.

Photo source: Wikipedia

However, this was a long time ago, things has changed since the Taliban came here.

2

Malala was born here. There is a tradition that

if a son was born at home, everyone should shoot his gun to celebrate; but if it is a daughter, she will be hidden behind a curtain. The fate of a woman's life has been determined at birth, it is their destiny to cook and bear children.

Fortunately, Malala's parents do not seem to agree with that convention. In her childhood, her father always told her stories about wars between tribes, legendaries about Pashtun leaders and Saint. Malala was told that she will be as free as a bird.

Therefore, the young Marala had made her mind at her earlier age not to follow the life determined by that tradition, she wanted to live in her own way, a life with freedom.

In Pakistan, if a woman says she wants independence, people would think she does not want to obey the instructions of her father, brother or husband. But it is not the truth. The independence we want is that we can make our own decisions. We want to be free to go to school or work. None of the Quran says that women must rely on their men. Allah did not tell us that women must listen to men's orders.

3

Malala's father is an active local educator, he believes:

The root causes of all the problems in Pakistan are the lack of education, thus the politicians are able to fool the people and bad officials can get re-elected. He believes that education should be open to all the people, regardless of their wealth and gender.

At the time of her birth, her father and one of his friends co-founded their first school. Like many educators we have seen, her father devoted a great deal of effort to this school. But regrettably, principals in other schools took it for granted that it is routine to bribe politicians, while her father appeared somewhat over-idealistic. Eventually, the dream of running schools has not been successful.

In our country, too many politicians believe that theft is non-criminal. They are rich and although our country is poor, they are still exploiting wealth from people. Most of them do not pay taxes, which they take as a mini fault. They borrow money from state banks but do not pay back. They take rebates from friends or co-operatives in government contracts. Among them many people own expensive properties in London.

His father's devotion in education has greatly affected Malala.

4

Malala is the sort of a good example we were often being asked to follow when we were young. When he was seven, he was often academically scored number one in the class and enthusiastically participated in all the activities. When she was at the age of 11, she was very scared at the voice of the Talisman's gunfire. In order to divert herself, she started reading Stephen Hawking's 'Brief History of Time'.

Although Malala was still young, she showed maturity beyond her age, and she realized that Pakistan had more problems than the Islamic religious tradition.

Pakistan has been cursed and it has so many corrupted politicians. They do not care if the military is really fighting, they are more willing to stay away from the battlefield, sitting in the business-class cabin, closing the curtains and enjoying food and services, while at the same time the people are struggling with the food and clothing.

Pakistanis like conspiracy theories and these theories are everywhere.

Some believe the ruling authorities are deliberately backing the Taliban. They said the military wants the Taliban to stay in Swat because American wants to use their air base there to direct their unmanned aircraft. Because the Talibans are there, our government can have an excuse to tell American that they can not help because there are a lot of problems with their own.

However, she is clearly aware that the Taliban destroyed the beliefs of the Pashtuns and the true value of Islamic doctrine.

5

In 2009, the BBC special envoy to Peshawar wanted to find a female teacher or schoolgirl to open a blog for her to record the life of Swat under Taliban's rule.

Malala took this important responsibility under the pseudonym Gülüké's.

On 3rd, January, 2009, Malala published the first blog, the title is "I am scared," beginning with:

Last night I made a nightmare, the dreams were filled with military helicopters and the Taliban. Since the military actions began in Swat, I often have the similar dreams.

She continued:

I am afraid to go to school because the Taliban banned it, and they always monitor my actions.

Afterwards, the 12-year-old Malala wrote a lot about schools and associated the terrorist rule of the Taliban with the daily life of the people there. This is the Malala's version of 'Annie Diary'. With the impact of blogging increased, many newspapers have excerpted and Malata began to realize:

The power produced by a pen and that written by the pen can be greater than guns, tanks, and helicopters. We have learned how to survive in a dilemma and also understand how powerful we are when we make our own voices.

Behold, this is the power of blogging.

6

Malala became more and more confident. In addition to blogging, she started attending more and more meet-ups, interviewed on television, recorded documentaries, and enjoyed the pleasure of speaking into a microphone.

In 2011, Malala won Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize at the age of 14. When receiving the PM's presentation, Malala told the Prime Minister:

We need to rebuild schools, Swat also needs a women's college.

She knew the Prime Minister would not take her request seriously, so meanwhile she told herself:

One day, I will become a political figure and I will fulfill these aspirations by myself.

With Malala's growing influence, she surely became the Taliban's attack target. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, also the day of the Pakistani college entrance examination, Malalah's attack hit the news headline of the day. Fortunately, she got recovered miraculously after treatment.

The story afterwards, boarded the cover of Times Magazine, addressed the United Nations, met with Ban Ki-moon, met with Obama and met with Queen Elizabeth until the 10th Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on October 10, 2014, Malala achieved most people can not attain in their lives.

On August 17, 2017, Malala was admitted to Oxford University.

7

Malala's life trail was greatly influenced by her father and profoundly shaped by Pakistan's social environment, but it must also have its own uniqueness. In terms of this, Malala's autobiography is worthwhile reading. Although she was a teenager when she completed her book, the content of the book is abundant enough for reading.

What will the future of Malala be? Only time can tell us. Maybe one day we can see a different Pakistani and a different Pakistani leader.

Original post written by @drunkevil: 马拉拉：生而为政治家 | 月旦评
Translator: @chenlocus

马拉拉：生而为政治家

我梦想能登上埃勒姆顶峰，像亚历山大大帝一样，伸手抚触木星，甚至离开河谷地区。但当我看着弟弟们在屋顶上跑来跑去、放着风筝，熟练地控制手中的线绳，企图击落对方的风筝时，我不禁怀疑，身为一个女儿，我究竟能获取多少自由。

1

在巴基斯坦的西北部距离首都伊斯兰堡160公里有一个叫斯瓦特的地方，斯瓦特河谷被那里的人称为东方的瑞士，有着飞流直下的瀑布，清澈见底的湖泊，漫山遍野的野花和满园子可口的水果。

巴基斯坦的富人常常来这里度假，享受干净的空气和美景，在苏菲节庆典上尽情歌唱和舞蹈。甚至也有很多外国人来到这里。

Photo source: Wikipedia

当然，这是很久以前的景象了，自从有了塔利班，那里的一切都变了。

2

马拉拉就出生在这里。在这里的传统中，

若是家里生了儿子，大家都要鸣枪庆祝；但若是个女儿，则要被藏在布帘后。女人一生的命运在出生时就已经确定了，那就是煮饭和生孩子而已。

幸运的是，马拉拉的父母似乎不完全这么认为。在她很小的时候，父亲总是会给她讲那些关于部落间的战争，普什图领袖和圣人的故事，总是会告诉她：马拉拉会像小鸟一般的自由。

就这样，幼小的马拉拉很早就下定决心，不要过那种宿命的生活，要获得自己的自由。

在巴基斯坦，如果女人表示希望独立，人们会认为她是不想服从父亲、兄弟或丈夫的指令。但事实并非如此。我们希望独立，是希望我们能自己做决定。我们希望能够自由地去上学或者工作。《古兰经》里没有任何一句话写到女人必须依赖男人生活。真主并没有告诉我们，女人一定要听男人的话。

3

马拉拉的父亲是当地活跃的教育家，他认为：

巴基斯坦一切问题的根源，就是来自于教育的匮乏，使得政客得以愚弄人民，恶劣的官员得以在选举中连任。他认为教育应该向所有人开放，不论贫富，不论性别。

在她出生的时候，父亲和他的一位朋友共同投资创办了他们的第一所学校。像我们看到的很多的教育家一样，父亲为这所学校投入了很大的心血。但遗憾的是，其他学校的校长们都把向政客送礼当做理所当然的事，父亲则显得有些格格不入，最终，办学的梦想并没有成功。

在我们国家，太多政治人物认为偷窃不算什么。他们很富有，尽管我们国家还很穷困，但他们仍掠夺再掠夺。他们大多数人都不付税，这还是他们最低微的过错；他们向国家的银行贷款，却不还钱；他们在政府合约中，从朋友或是那些合作厂商手上拿回扣；他们之中有许多人都在伦敦拥有昂贵的公寓。

父亲所有对于教育的投入已经深深的影响了马拉拉。

4

马拉拉就是我们小时候经常听到的那种邻居家的小孩。七岁的时候，已经常常是班上的第一名，并踊跃的参加所有的活动；十一岁的时候，每次听到塔利班的枪声，都会非常害怕，为了让自己分心，开始阅读史蒂芬·霍金的《时间简史》。

马拉拉虽然还小，但她表现出了超过她的年龄的成熟，她意识到巴基斯坦除了伊斯兰宗教传统意外的更大的问题。

巴基斯坦受到了诅咒，有这么多只爱金钱的政治客。他们不在乎军队是否真的有战斗力，他们更愿意远离战场，坐在商务舱里，关上帘子享受美食和各种服务；而与此同时，人民则在温饱线上苦苦挣扎。

巴基斯坦人喜欢阴谋论，阴谋论无处不在。

有些人认为执政当局在蓄意支持塔利班。他们说军方希望塔利班留在斯瓦特，因为美国人希望使用那里的空军基地，指挥他们的无人飞机。因为塔利班在那里，我们的政府就可以对美国人说他们爱莫能助，因为他们自己的麻烦就有一大堆。

而她则清楚的认识到，塔利班毁灭了普什图人的信念，以及伊斯兰教义的真正价值。

5

2008年底，常驻白沙瓦的BBC特派员希望找到一名女教师或女学生，为她开通一个博客，用来记录塔利班统治下的斯瓦特人的生活。

马拉拉以古尔·玛凯的笔名接下了这一重任。

2009年的1月3日，马拉拉发表了第一篇博客，标题是“我很害怕”，开头是：

我昨晚做了个噩梦，梦中充斥着军方直升机与塔利班。自从军事行动在斯瓦特展开后，我就常做这样的梦。

她写道：

我害怕去上学，因为塔利班命令禁止，而且随时注意我的举动。

后来，十二岁的马拉拉陆续写了很多有关学校的事情，将塔利班的恐怖统治与那里的人们的日常生活联系在一起，这就是马拉拉版本的“安妮日记”。随着博客的影响越来越大，很多的报纸进行了摘录，马拉拉开始意识到：

一支笔以及那支笔所写出来的文字所产生的力量，可以大过机关枪、坦克及直升机。我们学会了如何在困境中求生，也了解了当我们发出自己的声音时，我们的力量有多么强大。

瞧，这就是博客的力量。

6

马拉拉变得越来越自信，除了写博客，她开始参加更多的聚会，接受电视台的访谈，录制纪录片，享受对着麦克风讲话的快乐。

2011年，14岁的马拉拉获得了巴基斯坦的首届国家青年和平奖，在接受总理的颁奖时，马拉拉告诉总理：

我们需要重建学校，斯瓦特还需要一个女子大学。

内心深处，她知道总理不会把她的请求当真，便同时告诉自己：

有一天，我会成为政治人物，去亲自实现这些愿望。

随着马拉拉的影响越来越大，自然成为了塔利班的目标。2012年10月9日，星期二，也是巴基斯坦高考的日子，马拉拉遭遇袭击成为了当天的新闻头条，幸运的是，经过救治奇迹般的康复了。

后面的故事，登上时代周刊封面，在联合国演讲，接受潘基文会面，奥巴马的会见，女王伊丽莎白的会见，直至2014年10月10日获得当年的诺贝尔和平奖，十七岁的马拉拉完成了大部分人一生都不能达到的成就。

2017年8月17日，马拉拉被牛津大学录取。

7

马拉拉之所以成为现在的马拉拉，与父亲的影响和巴基斯坦的社会环境有着深刻的关系，但也一定有其自身的独特性。从这个意义上讲，马拉拉的这本自传值得每个人去阅读，虽然成书的时候她还未成年，但足够丰富。

而未来的马拉拉会是什么样，只有时间才能给出答案。也许有一天，我们能够看到一个不一样的巴基斯坦和一个不一样的巴基斯坦的领袖。