Malala: Heroine To The World, Despised In Pakistan

Early July, Malala posted her first tweet. It is only natural that she earned hundred of thousands of followers within hours.

A Nobel Prize-winning advocate for female education worldwide, she was praised all over the Twittersphere.

Except in Pakistan.

Her fellow Pakistanis called her a traitor, and when Michael Kugelman, the author of this piece, came to her defense, they responded with disapproval.

According to previous surveys and more recent reactions, Malala is no hero in Pakistan.

On the one hand, she is, since the shooting, based in the West — which is widely mistrusted by Pakistanis. Many believe the West is using her for its own purposes.

On the other hand, her father is associated with Awami National Party, a leftist and secular political party in a conservative and deeply religious country. Before the shooting, they were both already advocating for girls' education, which was viewed as suspicious as well.

Apart from conspiracy theories that claim the attack on her was staged — and that make no sense — there are less 'conspiratory' arguments against her gaining presence in Pakistan.

Jealousy.

"According to a 2015 study by Oxfam and the Lahore University of Management Sciences, 40 percent of the Pakistani children in the lowest economic quintile are expected to remain there for life."

According to Kugelman, Pakistanis are not used to see such a rapid transformation. While some show admiration, others are just jealous, or skeptical.

Her gender, of course, is also controversial in a patriarchal country such as Pakistan.

It is an interesting analysis about how such a relevant figure like Malala can fall in disgrace on her own country.