Extra Credit - Malala

After attending the Go Big, Read seminar relating to Malala Yousafzai, I was very enlightened about what goes on in countries with constant militant occupation, such as Pakistan, Iran, and Balochistan. I also realized how fortunate I am to live in America, where the freedoms we have are taken for granted and seem so natural. The seminar was structured into three distinct parts: 1) an opening statement from a man running the lecture, 2) individual speeches by the members of the panel, and 3) an interactive section between the panel and the audience. The first speaker, Sidra Rind, touched heavily on gender inequality in Pakistan, Iran, and Balochistan. In these countries, women strive for education and empowerment but are shut down by religious extremists and a lack of sufficient school systems (due to a lack of good infrastructure and poverty). These religious extremists, whether it be the Taliban or other relatively unknown groups, take great action to prevent women from gaining a sense of themselves, empowerment, and education. They go to extreme actions, such as threatening to shut down schools or violence (schools have been set on fire and school vans have been bombed) in order to ensure that women do not receive a proper education. Sidra Rind is a rare example of an educated women from this region of the world, as she explained that she is the first woman ever from her tribal village to receive a PhD. Another interesting point Rind made was that the topic of women and education is, for the most part, ignored, unless it involves media or political advantages. Additionally, I found it interesting that the United Nations does not intervene to solve this problem at all. The last issue that she brought up is that more people in this Pakistan have been killed by drone attacks by extremists than total Cambodian deaths during the Vietnam War - a staggering statistic that highlights how violent this region and issue really is. The second speaker spoke about the relationship between religion and violence. He went on to talk about possible solution for this problem, which included coercion from the state that would bring religion more into the "private sphere" rather than the "public sphere." He explained that when religion is pushed into the "public sphere," violence is the end result. Westerners believe that extremists, especially muslim extremists, are too irrational (he states earlier in the lecture that "private sphere" is rational and "public sphere" is irrational), and because of this irrational way of thinking, only violence can stem from it. After hearing these two speakers talk, I feel lucky to live in America, away from constant persecution and violence. It is unfortunate that in developing nations, militant occupation paves the way for how every day life is ran, which ultimately leads to inequality (socially, economically, and religiously) and violence.