The South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) in collaboration with the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) organise seminars titled “Malala for Education Day” in various cities in Pakistan.
The South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) organised a seminar titled “Malala for Education Day”. It was held in collaboration with the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) at a local hotel. A large number of schoolchildren from various schools, educationists, rights activists and parliamentarians participated in the event.
Speakers at the seminar said that those who had attacked Malala must be brought to book and those who were trying to cover up or justify the accused terrorists were should be censured through public opinion. Educationist Saleema Hashmi deplored the fact that Pakistan was among the 10 educationally backward countries. “On this day, we demand the government to increase the education budget and provide equal opportunities to those girls, who are deprived of the right to education,” she said.
Political activist Abid Hassan Minto said that Malala had initiated a movement against ignorance, extremism and terrorism, which should be supported. Justics ® Nasira Iqbal said that those who attacked Malala were not Pakistanis and had no religion.
Schoolchildren at the event expressed their sentiments to the brave girl through their poems and speeches and prayed for her early recovery. Former minister SM Masood, PPP leader Ms Yasmeen, PML-Q leader Amina Ulfat and columnist Munno Bhai, SAWM President Shahpara Saleem and Sadiq Azhar also spoke on the occasion. Secretary General SAFMA Imtiaz Alam said no political party has taken any initiatives for Malala even though her struggle is being recognized all over the world. He said that our national political parties are busy protecting their own interests. He also criticized religious parties for their negative comments about the attack on Malala and demanded that all parties to play a positive role. Alam said the international community is coming forward to help us and now the Pakistani government should take practical measures to increase literacy also and better policies for quality education. Also Ddfferent civil society organisations presented great compliments to Malala Yousafzai for her braveness and commitment to promote girls education in Pakistan, and prayed for long life while celebrating Malala Day. Both SAFMA and SAWM and other organisations organised an event at the Sindh Assembly building in which children belonging to different schools also participated. The children presented show portraying Malala’s services for girls’ education, armed attack on Malala’s life, etc. They also organised a walk outside the Sindh Assembly building for lauding Malala’s efforts. Speaking on the occasion Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said whole nation had expressed solidarity with Malala. He vowed to continue battle started by Malala with extremists for spreading of education in deprived areas. He hoped that Malala would win her struggle with support of her country’s people. Khuhro said that the present government was also striving to promote girls education in Sindh as well as the country. Also, in his message on the Malalah Day, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that Malalah Yousufzai was the daughter of the nation and pride of the country. “She has won laurels for Pakistan all over the world by playing a leading role in such an early age,” he added.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Central Secretary Information Shafqat Mahmood, in a statement, said that the outpouring of sympathy for Malala and abhorrence over the cowardly act demonstrated the determination of the Pakistani society not to allow a handful of radicalized elements to dictate their agenda. The PTI strongly reaffirms UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon’s description of the brave girl as being a “global symbol” of every girl’s right to an education, he added.
Meanwhile, PPP’s Human Rights Wing held a ceremony and called Malala a symbol of courage and bravery, who rejected terrorism and raised the flag of peace. The Malala Peace and Education Committee held a rally in front of the Lahore Press Club to express solidarity with the young peace activist and support her cause. Various schools and colleges also organized special programmes, during which students paid homage to their young fellow and vowed to stand with her to accomplish her mission. Higher Education Commission (HEC) Project Director Wasim Hashmi Syed said there has been an increase in the female enrolment rate but a lot is needed to be done.
“Currently 90 million people aged 18 to 30 need to be registered for tertiary education, but we only have capacity for 900,000. We have asked the government for help several times, but there has been no progress to date,” he said.
Children from different Rawalpindi schools gave speeches paying tribute to Malala. They highlighted the importance of education and committed to take Malala’s message to every household in the country.
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