Malala Yousafzai is my hero!

Ever since I heard about the insane Taliban shooting a 14-year old girl only because she was so keen on getting educated, I kept thinking about a video that I had shared with one class a couple of years ago.  That was a piece on the Swat Valley before the Pakistani army went in to clean up the place.  I remembered that the video featured a young girl who was anxious about her school and her education.

Could it be the same girl?

I tried different search strings.  And then it occurred to me--to do a search omitting "Malala Yousafzai."  I clicked on the one I was sure was the same video.

Nearing the fifth minute, when the narrator uttered the girl's name, I got teary eyed. It was that girl:



That was more than three years ago.

It is bloody awful that Malala is now fighting for her life, when she ought to be enjoying school and life, without any worries at all.

The screwed-up Taliban went after her life because she wouldn't stop complaining about them.  Therefore, this cowardly and horrific act:

The teenager was attacked on Tuesday as she was returning home from school in Mingora in north-western Swat.
Two armed men, on foot, stopped a van packed with about a dozen schoolgirls in a congested area of the town. One of them got into the van and asked which of the girls was Malala Yousafzai before he fired three shots, hitting Malala in the head and injuring two others. 

I don't believe in any hell or heaven.  But, dammit, I wish these Taliban nothing but the hellest of hells right here while they are alive.

The NY Times adds that "militant commanders in northwestern Pakistan reiterated their intention to kill the schoolgirl or her father."  WTF!  Screw the Taliban!

The Atlantic notes:

While prayers are being directed and praise poured on Malala and her father, Ziauddin, both of whom were on the Taliban hit-list as a result of their battle to ensure girls' education, young Malala has revived the history of Malalai of Mewand, popularly known as Malalai Anna, who rallied Pashtuns against the British during the second Anglo-Afghan war in 1880 at Maiwand, in Afghanistan.

While the Malalai of Maiwand played a heroic role in winning the battle by tending the injured Pashtuns and supplying water and weapons, the Malala of Swat fought with her pen and tongue to encourage her countrymen to send their children to school despite threats from the Taliban. Born in 1998, Malala was only 11 years old when she started her jihad (holy war) against ignorance and oppression. ...

Malala's rallying cry has proven stronger and more lasting than the gunshots from her would-be assassin and is resounding in every corner of Pakistan, inspiring her countrymen to stand up and emancipate themselves from the thugs who are out to steal the future of coming generations and snatch their individual and collective freedoms. Yesterday's Malala of Swat has become the Malala of Pakistan and the Malala of the wider civilized world.

Yes, Malala of the Civilized World.

I am going to play this video in my class on Monday. The syllabus be damned; isn't education what Malala is fighting for?