Malala, Engineering Minds, Sivsena And Bodu Bala Sena
Dr. W.A. Wijewardena
The return of a girl condemned to die
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani school girl who was shot by Taliban in October 2012 when she was 15 years old for the crime of fighting for the right of Muslim girls to education and thereby defying a Taliban order that girls should not go to schools, celebrated her 16th birthday on 12 July 2013 in a way that no other girl has ever done. She did so by delivering a very powerful and inspirational speech at the UN Youth Assembly in the presence of a large number of dignitaries including the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown now a UN Ambassador on inclusive education (available here)
Her address at the UN coincided with the declaration of her birthday as ‘Malala Day’ by the UN, a rare honour which a girl of her age and status could expect from a world body. She is not big-made and could not even reach the top of the podium of the UN Assembly without the support of a low deck to stand on. Yet, the powerful speech she delivered with confidence throughout and meaning in every word spoken captivated not only the high dignitaries who were present in the Assembly but also millions of viewers and readers worldwide.
