Notions (Malala)

Malala

The first time I heard about the story of a young girl shot because of her activism, I was not able to imagine such a world. I had only vague ideas of what extreme societies with little or no rights to women looked like. As a 12 year old who had just begun Jss3, I really could not wrap my head around it as I was cocooned in the safe bubble of South Eastern, Nigeria. Hence, I felt sorry for days and that was it, back to K-Drama, Philippines and India movies.

Now that I think about it, I watched all of these Bollywood entertainment with extreme ignorance about the plight of the average Indian girl, specifically in the predominant Muslim communities. I had no idea, save for what Kareena Kapoor, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee showed us on-screen.

But I digress,

Malala, as a Pakistan heroine sprung up again during a workshop organised by the Whole Woman Network led by Juliet Kego Ume-Onyido, to train aspiring prefects. Once again, I heard the name. 

This time, I carried the placard of Malala courtesy of the poem that my group was presenting, 'Today, I shall not cry...'

Like before, it was just all for the act that we were presenting. I was too concerned with the meal, beta rice with this huge chicken for the 2 consecutive days of our workshop. It's a rare indulgence for a girl in a Federal boarding school.

The next time I heard of Malala was when the she won the Nobel prize for Peace. I had come across it when I was surfing YouTube and I took to looking her up and stuff. Then I saw the news and a couple of her interviews, of her experience with the Talibans.

Then, I could not help but imagine if I had been in her shoes. I won't lie, I doubt I'd have been brave as she was. That was a time, I practically knew very little on "Women in the Middle East" and Muslim countries. 

I didn't understand how much the system in existence then trampled, trampled women. More so, that you can hardly see documentaries or personal stories of women like that, cos their rights have so much shrunken. I could only see the few who had escaped, like the girl that legit trekked to Canada for asylum and so on. 

And of course, books. I read one recently, A thousand Splendid Sun by Khaled Housseni. I was so uncomfortable, really really uncomfortable. I kept wondering, "How are these people these women, surviving in such countries?"

Picture this,

"You will stay inside your homes at all times. It is not proper for women to wander aimlessly about the streets. If you go outside, you must be accompanied by a mahram, a male relative. If you are caught alone on the street, you will be beaten and sent home.

You will not, under any circumstance, show your face. You will cover with burqa when outside. If you do not, you will be severely beaten. 

Cosmetics are forbidden. 

Jewelry is forbidden. 

You will not wear charming clothes. 

You will not speak unless spoken to. 

You will not make eye contact with men. 

You will not laugh in public. If you do, you will be beaten. 

You will not paint your nails. If you do, you will lose a finger. 

Girls are forbidden from attending school. All schools for girls will be closed immediately. 

Women are forbidden from working. 

If you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned to death." (Excerpt from A Thousand Splendid Suns)

I was aggravated when I read the above, much more angered when Malala reiterated same in her autobiography. That the situation of the Afghanistan women and later the Pakistan women were even worse when the Talibans came. It's so terrible that you can't even escape. How will I feel being born in a society that from conception, I am worth nothing??

How do you live in a world that is devoid of life?

How do you live in a system that demands that you should be attended to by only females (doctors and teachers) and yet, they prohibit schooling for the female folks?

It was then that it occurred to me that I might have probably done what Malala did, even if it means giving my life in the process other than going through the ordeal that most of them undergo in such societies. 

Also, you'd be shocked to realise the similarities between these Muslim States and Nigeria in terms of corruption, the misappropriation of funds and aids sent to the government, the 'poor' spending excess money on weddings and them reproducing more children than they can cater for, the religious brainwashing, but that's a story for another day. We are focusing on women's issues today...

In retrospect, mayhaps I am talking from the place of a person that have experienced where a reasonable amount of worth is given to women. It could be that these females there, do not know better.

So now, reading Malala's autobiography, I cannot help but be humbled with such acts of bravery, starting from an early age to advocate for the right to girl child education and risking death in order to endeavour that girls get better opportunities.

 A country where a 13 year old is raped, but accused of adultery and sent to prison because she could not provide 4 male witnesses to prove it was a crime. A country where a girl just stays at home with no basic education, seating back to be married. Yep, these were scenarios in Pakistan.(Excerpt from I am Malala) It has been abolished though, thank God!!

You know, when you're so indoctrinated in a religion that gives you no voice whatsoever, coupled with a militant institution for the enforcement of these dictations, it's hard to dream or hope for a world where things are different. Especially, if you are robbed of knowledge and the little freedom you had, like those Talibans intended to do with Pakistan as they had once done with Afghanistan in their long heated uprising/revolution.

I read that they burnt all books that are not Islamic books. Like yo, destroying any means of letting people think for themselves. A country where they "learn that there is no such thing as science or literature, that dinosaurs never existed and that man never went to the moon." (Excerpt from I am Malala) Little one would wonder why their women are in such plight, where they are not remotely enlightened.

Like I said earlier, I am humbled with what Malala did, more so that she was a child when she stood up to what she knew was right. It's not everyone that has the spunk to do that. A heroine, in the face of a heated oppression.

So, here's me saying that I am inspired by the Malalas of this world. Women who call the bluff of some institutions, look at oppression, discrimination and segregation in the eye and tell them, "Fuck you, I cannot be subjugated by you. I'd rather die trying!"

Malala Yousafzai

Soujourner Truth

Margaret Ekpo

Katherine Johnson

And the several other countless women who achieved their own freedom in whatever minuscule way, and of course several others who died trying.

Y'all prove to us over and over again that these institutions are nothing but a mirage, that can be crushed. Posterity will never forget you all. For us, it pumps the energy into us to fight in our own personal corners, with hope that we move it higher not just nationally, but globally cos mehn, there's still a whole lotta work to be done.

Then of course, we need men like Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai who recognised oppression and groomed the wings of the females to fly above the system all the while risking opposition and even death from his gender.  A man who would tell her that, "My Malala will be as free as a bird. I will protect your freedom, Malala. Carry on with your dreams" and worked to bring those words into reality.

Such men who even though they know the system favours them, make sure that the liberty and freedom extend to both genders. 

Posterity will not forget you too...