Chapter 17

Malala documents the injustices suffered by the citizens of the Swat Valley at the hands of the Pakistani army and the Taliban. Women particularly faced financial hardship when their men were caught in the crosshairs between the Pakistani army and the Taliban. They could not remarry unless their husbands were declared dead. Often, they had no means of legal redress when their husbands were taken by the Pakistani army. These missing men left their families destitute and in dire need. Muslim women were not the only ones who suffered. Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, currently sits on Pakistan's death row under the country's Blasphemy Law. Meanwhile, Salman Taseer (a former Muslim governor of Punjab who openly supported Bibi) was assassinated for opposing the Blasphemy Law. Ziauddin himself received death threats for speaking out against Fazlullah.

Meanwhile, the CIA's drone strikes troubled Malala, and ordinary Pakistanis questioned why the presence of American spies like Raymond Davis was tolerated in Pakistan. The highlight of this chapter is Malala's mention of Osama bin Laden's killing by US Navy SEALS in Abbottabad. Malala reports that many Pakistanis were horrified when they discovered that the Pakistani intelligence services had no prior knowledge of the stealth raid. Later in the chapter, we learn that Malala was nominated for the Amsterdam KidsRights international peace prize and awarded Pakistan's first National Peace Prize. With numerous award prizes, Malala and her family were able to pay for family necessities, renovate the Khushal School, and pioneer an education foundation for girls.

Chapter 18

Malala finds it ironic that Pakistan, a country that boasts a former female head of state and Muslim women in professional capacities, continues to make little progress in expanding women's rights. Despite her concerns, Malala is heartened by the results of her activist work. In January 2012, the Sindh government in Karachi renamed a girls' secondary school after Malala. The entire family flew to Karachi for the ceremony. While there, the Yousafzais visited numerous schools and Mohammad Ali Jinnah's mausoleum. The mausoleum contained a small museum where Malala's family were able to view Jinnah's historic speeches. In contemplating Jinnah's contribution to Pakistan, Malala theorized that Jinnah would have been saddened by the divisions in modern Pakistan. She wishes that Muslims in her country would address practical concerns instead of spending time fighting among themselves or making war against people of other religions. In this chapter, we also learn that a Pakistani journalist, Shehla Anjum, was instrumental in warning Ziauddin about threats to Malala's life. In response, the Swat Valley police offered bodyguards, but Ziauddin knew that this wouldn't deter the Taliban. Instead, he suggested that Malala attend boarding school in Abbottabad. Meanwhile, an army colonel warned that such a move could be counterproductive; his advice prompted Malala to stay put. The chapter ends with Malala contemplating her bittersweet decision. Although she relished the idea of staying, she was still disappointed that she came in second in the March exams.

Analysis

In Chapter 17, Malala notes the precarious relationship between Washington and Islamabad. Malala's mention of CIA agent Raymond Davis is significant. In January 2011, Davis shot and killed two armed men in Lahore. He was rumored to have known the men, supposed militant operatives from the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Area) region. Pakistan's ISI was said to have been monitoring Davis. The Obama administration heavily lobbied Pakistan for Davis's release. In the end, after a diyat payment (financial compensation to the victims' families), all charges were dropped against Davis. He was released, but the incident continues to affect Washington's relations with Islamabad.

To date, Pakistan has demanded the removal of all CIA operatives, but Washington shows little inclination of complying. The Americans argue that billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan has failed to stem the growth of militant Islam in the North West Frontier Province and FATA regions and that Pakistan's intelligence services are severely compromised. Meanwhile, Pakistan accuses the US of overreach through indiscriminate drone attacks, many resulting in civilian deaths. For its part, the Taliban has exploited this charged political climate to stir up anti-American sentiment in predominantly Pashtun communities.

In this chapter, the Navy SEAL raid also highlights the divide between Washington and Islamabad. After the raid, Ziauddin and many others were horrified that four American helicopters managed to fly undetected into Pakistani airspace. The raid humiliated Pakistan, but the Americans argued that they could ill afford to trust their operational integrity to ISI's keeping. Many Pakistani civilians also privately worried that India could exploit the same vulnerabilities in Pakistan's military infrastructure to unleash terror attacks on the country. In this chapter, we learn that a number of factors continue to affect the war against radicalism: conflicts of interest between Washington and Islamabad, the ISI's compromised operations, anti-American sentiment, and the Taliban's twin campaigns of indoctrination and intimidation among poverty-stricken Pashtun communities.

In Chapter 18, Malala maintains that misguided religious conflicts have mired the people of Pakistan in ignorance and systemic poverty. She states that many Pakistani civilians have little access to reliable supplies of electricity and that many women remain uneducated, thanks to the Taliban's campaign of intimidation. Again, we see this theme of progressive Islam versus militant Islam casting a shadow over Pakistan's future. Differences in interpretation of the Quran have led to conflict and bloodshed. What Malala proposes for Pakistan is similar to what Americans enjoy under the Bill of Rights. According to the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." These progressive rights are antithetical to militant Islam. Instead, members of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS favor fundamentalist theocracies, where the government doubles as the prime religious authority in a country. In this chapter, Malala maintains that she does not fear death at the Taliban's hands. It can be argued that her progressive views on religion and politics are the basis for her existentialist approach to death. Existentialists believe in personal freedom and the right to choose one's destiny in life, rights militant Islam does not acknowledge. In Malala's view, a rational acceptance of the inevitability of death lends meaning to life. Thus, her philosophical approach to death is a source of her courage.