Pakistani girls don’t want college to be named after Malala Yousafzai
14 Dec 2012 2:05 AM GMT
Scores of students of a girls' college in the erstwhile Pakistani Taliban stronghold of Swat have protested the renaming of their institution after teenage rights activist Malala Yusafzai, saying the move could make them vulnerable to attacks by militants.
Over 100 students of the Government Malala College for Girls in Saidu Sharif, one of the main towns in Swat district, on Wednesday boycotted classes and tore up pictures of 15-year-old Malala, currently being treated in a British hospital after being shot in the head during a Taliban assassination bid in October.
The students gave the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province three days to restore the institution's earlier name of Government Girls Degree College. During the protest, several students claimed the new name could make their school a target for Taliban fighters. The students also criticised Malala and her family for leaving Pakistan after the attack on her life. They said most of them were from poor families and could not flee Swat if they were targeted. Some girls claimed militants had made phone calls threatening to attack the school.
Over 100 students of the Government Malala College for Girls in Saidu Sharif, one of the main towns in Swat district, on Wednesday boycotted classes and tore up pictures of 15-year-old Malala, currently being treated in a British hospital after being shot in the head during a Taliban assassination bid in October.
The students gave the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province three days to restore the institution's earlier name of Government Girls Degree College. During the protest, several students claimed the new name could make their school a target for Taliban fighters. The students also criticised Malala and her family for leaving Pakistan after the attack on her life. They said most of them were from poor families and could not flee Swat if they were targeted. Some girls claimed militants had made phone calls threatening to attack the school.
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