Radio FM4

Kate Farmer

Cutting to the chase

Alle Stories

Erstellt am: 16. 10. 2012 - 15:50 Uhr

The Malala effect

Reality Check: The wider effect of the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, World Food Day, US presidential debates, EU sanctions on Iran, Uni tuition fees.

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14 year old Malala Yousafzai campaigned to change attitudes to girls' education in her homeland of Pakistan. The touching blog she wrote for the BBC gives a down to earth and very human picture of day to day family life in the Swat valley. It describes the hopes and fears of Malala, her family and friends, and her determination to get an education despite the Taliban.

Poignant and fascinating as her story is, it has taken the Taliban's brutal attempt on her life to draw the world's attention to her and her campaign for girls' education. Yesterday, she was flown to a hospital in Birmingham, England for specialist treatment for her injuries, and doctors there are optimitistic that she will make a good recovery. The world was shocked and horrified at the attack on her as she travelled home from school, and there have been demonstrations in support of her across Pakistan - but will it really change anything?

Tragically, people getting killed for their beliefs, even people as young as Malala, are not out of the ordinary in Pakistan, and incensed as some sections of Pakistani society might be, the incident is unlikely to have much impact on the Taliban and the people who support them, according to Shaun Gregory of the Pakistan Security Research Unit at Bradford University in England. He told Steve Crilley how he believes it will take a complete shift in the politics and society of Pakistan to really make any difference.