Malala’s quest for peace

Nobel for Malala would be a slap in the face for those who concocted conspiracy theories regarding the Taliban attack.

At just 15-years-old, Malala Yousufzai has become among the youngest persons in the world ever to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Even though a nomination by itself does not mean she has claimed the honour — just the fact that she is a contender according to an announcement made in Oslo, places her in a rare category. Were she to win, Malala would become the second Pakistani after Dr Abdus Salam to claim what is the world’s most prestigious award. Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize can be made by a large number of individuals, including former laureates, members of governments, parliamentarians and some academicians.



Malala’s closest rivals are likely to be some Eastern European activists. It is known that members of the French, Norwegian and Canadian parliaments have voted for her. Nominations do not need to be kept secret. The award for Malala would, of course, come as a slap in the face of those who have concocted conspiracy theories regarding the attack on her by the Taliban and those who have termed her a US ‘plant’.

At present, the girl is still recovering from the wounds inflicted on her by that Taliban gunman in October 2012. The extensive, five-hour surgery she underwent at the Birmingham Hospital, which specialises in treating soldiers wounded in war, has been a success. A 0.66mm titanium plate has been used to reconstruct her skull, shattered from vibrations when the bullet pumped in above her left eyebrow, travelled down under the skin and exited at the shoulder. A cochlear implant in her brain has been placed in the hope that it will give her some sense of hearing in her left ear, the ear drum and small bones of which were destroyed by the bullet.

We wonder if the details of the severity of Malala’s injuries, with a 10-member surgical team completing the reconstruction required, will help silence the many conspiracy theories at home. But the fact is that these are not really based on rationality and as such the absurd talk of ‘plots’ and ‘pretence’ in the affair may not totally fade away given our culture of blind bias.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2013.