ELLIE GERST | The Statesman The story of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai is one that has been heard around the world and has now been shared here in Duluth.
Monday, Oct 26 at the Zeitgeist Arts Theater, UMD students and community members gathered to hear a short talk by UMD professor Runa Das, followed by a showing of the movie “He Named Me Malala.”
“He Named Me Malala” is a documentary on the now-18-year-old Pakistani girl Malala. At a time when the Taliban had outlawed schooling for girls, Malala spoke out through a blog for BBC Urdu. She also appeared on television, advocating for girls’ right to education.
This made her a target for the Taliban. In 2012 they boarded her school bus and shot her in the forehead. Malala survived to become a world leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, heading the campaign for women’s education worldwide.
“She’s not like this fictional character that’s idealized,” student Kirsten Klang said. “She’s a human in an extraordinary circumstance.”
Dr. Runa Das, a political science professor at UMD who has written two books concerning India and India-Pakistan politics, gave a small talk before the movie about the historical background that she believed was missing from the film. She covered the historical context of Swat Valley and the different historical, cultural and global factors that led up to the Taliban insurgency.
“I really liked the context that Dr. Das gave before it,” Klang said. “I had heard the story a little bit but I wasn’t familiar with all the details.”
Das described how she became invested in the story of Malala.
“It is a question of depriving a human--a woman--of some basic rights,” Dr. Das said.
After the movie, a few of the viewers gathered for a discussion in the Zeitgeist lounge where they talked about their thoughts on the movie and the issues going on in the world today surrounding education and women’s rights.
“I thought it was interesting how they went in-depth into her family and how it was a little bit non-traditional from what you would expect,” Klang said. “I think there are a lot of stereotypes about Islamic societies and Muslim culture and it sort of talked about how it is in actuality.”
Students and faculty alike believed that Malala’s story represented the story of millions of other girls and not only encompassed the women who are denied rights in Pakistan but encompassed issues of gender everywhere. “The activism in Pakistan has to be really noted,” Dr. Das said. “It is easy to look at it from a western perspective but there are tremendous pockets of empowerment within Pakistan.”