Pakistan Private Schools Ban I Am Malala Book As It's A 'Tool Of The West'

Malala Book Banned In EVERY Pakistani Private School
Malala Yousafzai holds her library card as she officially opens the Library of Birmingham in Birmingham city centre.
Malala Yousafzai holds her library card as she officially opens the Library of Birmingham in Birmingham city centre.
PA

Malala's memoir has been banned in every one of Pakistan's private schools as she is "representing the West", according to education officials.

The schoolgirl, who is now living in Birmingham, released I Am Malala in October, which details her fight for her right to an education and her survival after being shot by the Taliban at point blank range.

The book has been hailed as "fearless", but has proved highly controversial in Malala's home country. The All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association has banned the book from the libraries of its 40,000 schools, and urged the government to remove it from school curriculums, according to the Associated Press.

President of the group, Adeeb Javedan, said: "Everything about Malala is now becoming clear. To me, she is representing the West, not us."

Kashif Mirza, chairman of the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, said his group has also barred Malala’s book from its affiliated schools, the Independent reported.

The federation thought we should review the book, and having reviewed it we came to the decision that the book was not suitable for our children, particularly not our students," he said. "Pakistan is an ideological country. That ideology is based on Islam.... In this book are many comments that are contrary to our ideology."

Bina Shah, a Karachi-based novelist and education campaigner, added:"The decision to ban the book is the result of a deliberate smear campaign run against Malala and the book by right-wing commentators.

"There has been complete confusion about the book, sown very deliberately in the minds of adults because of this right-wing talk."

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