UAE girls inspired by Malala voice right to education

DUBAI // Schoolgirls inspired by the courage and determination of Taliban shooting victim Malala Yousafzai have declared their right to an education.

In a series of passionate speeches, students at Pakistani schools across the UAE took part in a special oratory competition in honour of the 15-year-old, who was gunned down on her way to classes.

Malala is currently recovering from her injuries in the UK.

"Getting an education is the right and duty of every Muslim, be they a boy or girl," said Sitara Zehra, 15, from Pristine Private School in Dubai. "Great leaders takes centuries to come through, but we are lucky that we have found one in Malala Yousafzai."

The competition, entitled "I am also Malala, no one can stop me from getting an education", was organised by the professionals wing of the Pakistan Association Dubai.

The auditorium at Rashid Hospital Library was filled with about 300 girls from across the country.

In a fiery speech, Fatima Mehvish, from Al Sadiq Islamic Private School in Dubai, told the audience that, according to the Quran, it was the duty of every Muslim to seek knowledge.

"All over the world there are inspiring women, who have proven that we can do just as well as men," she said. "There was a time when women were born to run the household, but this is changing. Imagine the heights we can achieve, once we have gained knowledge."

Syeda Urooj Fatima, from Pakistan Islamic Private School in Al Ain, won the English language category and the Dh1,000 first prize.

After the event, she admitted to being a little nervous but soon got into her stride. "Malala has really inspired me, because she is a very young girl, who started to fight for the rights of girls who were not able to get an education," Syeda said. "There is no one like her."

Seven schools from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Sharjah and Ajman took part.

Ambreen Shaukat, 15, from Pakistan Islamic Higher Secondary School in Sharjah, was awarded first prize in the Urdu category.

"I feel very proud for winning this award," she said. "Malala inspired us when she stood up for her and our rights.

"I hope she can encourage other school girls to achieve their best, and I really hope she recovers as quickly as possible."

Participants had five minutes to impress the judges and were marked on their delivery and clarity of speech.

Most made repeated reference to the benefit to countries of having an educated female population.

Abeer Aijaz Qureshi, from Pakistan Islamic Higher Secondary School in Sharjah, said that Pakistan was falling behind other Asian countries economically because of illiteracy among its female population.

"In Dubai, parents scold their children for not taking their studies seriously, but in Pakistan a girl was shot because she was so determined to get an education," she said.

"Malala was named after a famous Afghan poet, who inspired the Afghan people against British rule. Malala has been true to her name and is now inspiring a whole generation of women and young girls."

Pakistan's Ambassador to the UAE, Jamil Ahmed Khan, the guest of honour at the event, told the audience that Malala has inspired a movement within Pakistan.

He said she was now able to walk and talk and, following discussions with her father and the Pakistan high commissioner to the UK, she was expected to undergo corrective surgery, potentially within weeks.

"Doctors just want to make sure her brain swelling has subsided and is ready to accept a patch earlier taken from the skull," Mr Khan said.

The support of the UAE leadership in providing an air ambulance to take Malala from Pakistan to the UK was praised by Munir Mahmood, chairman of the Pakistan professionals wing.

He said the organisation had increased the number of needy children in the UAE that it was helping to get an education from 230 last year to 425 this year.

nhanif@thenational.ae

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Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Meydan card

6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m

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Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
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Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.

The Bio

Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959

Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.

He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses

Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas

His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s

Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business

He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery

Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.