Iqbal Masih and Malala Yousafzai - Pakistan's hope.

Iqbal Masih, a child labourer spoke out against abuses that were committed against him and his peers in a factory in Pakistan. His mother sold him off into child labour at the age of 4 to pay off a $12 debt. He was quickly put to good use in a carpet factory - for his small hands were swift in the loom and his tiny fingers made tight, intricate knots which in turn wove beautiful carpets. Iqbal and his friends were fed little food, since it was against the master's interest to let them grow bigger - their hands would not remain so small. After a few failed attempts  Iqbal was able to run away at the age of 10 from his bonded servitude and join the Pakistan Bonded Labour Liberation Front. He made impassioned speeches about child labour around the world and helped numerous kids flee their lives of servitude. After his trip to America and Sweden, Iqbal returned to Pakistan where he was shot dead at the age of 13.

Malala Yousafzai, born to an educational activist father who runs a school in Pakistan was named after a Pashto warrior woman who is also known as the Afghani Joan of Arc. She definitely lives up to the courage of her namesake by speaking out against the voices of suppression and those who dare to take away her right to education. She is egged on by her father who by all reports loves and encourages his daughter's spunk and thirst for knowledge. She wants to be a politician and have her own political party so she can vocalize the need for education from a public platform in all four provinces in Pakistan. She vehemently claims that which is her right - education. She wants to give a voice to those who are denied one. She is the face of the people in Pakistan who yearn for the fresh air of progress and the light of education.

Iqbal and Malala represent the spirit which refuses to be suppressed. They are the ones who dare to speak out against the denial of their rights, they are the ones who dare to challenge the norm, the slipping further into the abyss of darkness. They dare to dream of a brighter future when they will see an end to all the injustices which plague them, their nation and the children of their motherland. This is why they need to be silenced. Because, to allow those dreams to fester would mean an end to the darkness in which the Taliban live and their ideas and views thrive. They are silenced because those cowards are afraid of being challenged by children - by their innocent, fearless, and vociferous rebellion.

Iqbal died in 1995 - his voice was silenced but not forgotten. Malala came along in 1998 and now fights for her life. Their spirit lives on through children who dare to dream and have the courage to question - that will never be snuffed out. Pakistanis must come together to stop those who aim to trample on them. Silence those voices of darkness and decline - come together and give Malala a voice while she fights for hers.

Aqsa: The farthest light.

Aqsa, whoever named you probably did not mean for this to happen. Your name tragically has come true today. Today, you are far, far away from what you seem to have hated the most: the feeling of being trapped. My thoughts lie with you today, and I hope afterlife or whatever comes after life turns out to be better for you.


I was on the subway yesterday and in front of me sat a mother and 3 young girls. Almost certainly the three girls had not yet hit puberty. The youngest one was barely 4 years old. That really bothered me. All of them wore a hijab.


I am not Muslim, but I have read a little about the Islamic Religion. And as far as I know Muslim girls are supposed to decide on their own once they hit puberty whether or not they want to wear the head scarf. There are many websites online which discuss the pros and cons of wearing the hijab. The woman who have written on these posts all have a mind of their own and all speak for themselves. There are women who dont wear the scarf but are thinking about it. There are women who wear the scarf but regret making that decision years ago. There are mothers who have always worn the hijab, and dont want their daughters to.


Yeah, I can be naive and believe that all Muslim women have a choice. But I'd be wrong. In many cases there is the pressure of the norm. For example, if I was brought up in a conservative family wherein my mother, my aunts, my sisters all wore the hijab, I would definitely be under much more pressure to "decide" to wear the hijab when the time came.

I used to have a friend who wore the hijab, she had three younger sisters, none of whom who had decided to wear the hijab. By the time she finished University she had decided to also abandon the hijab. She was not a different person, she was the same funloving girl, except now we all got to see her hair.


I also know a girl who was one of the most timid girls I knew, she wore a hijab. Slowly as she went through University she went through an amazing change of personality. The last change was when she shed the hijab, and decided to cut her hair "short" to shoulder length.


I have a close friend, who is a mother of three children and wears the hijab. She has an amazing personality. She wrote two children's books, was a Part Time student Governor of the Governing Council of the University of Toronto and just recently was a candidate in the Ontario Provincial Election. She well-spoken, articulate, and speaks with fiery passion.


Many western feminists believe that the hijab is oppressive, that covering a woman's head inhibits their growth. Media portrayal also helps a little bit in this case. In reality though I doubt that is true in its entirety. Like so many arguments that deal with cultural tug-of-wars not everything in this argument is black and white. So, as I am not a muslim woman, I will refrain from commenting on what women in Islam should or should not do.


It is true crazy fanatics like Aqsa'a father, Parvez do exist. From the way that CBC online reads it seems to be evident that the fanaticism is being seamlessly passed down to his son, Waqas. But these fanatics do not just exist in the Islamic Religion. They exist amongst the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Christians, the Jews and every other religion on this planet. However, this is simply not just a question of religious fanaticism, it is also a situation of domestic violence against women and children perpetrated by men behind the closerd doors of a household. Violence is so rampant in our society. I wish I could ask what were Aqsa's mom and other siblings doing when she was being killed by her father?


Aqsa's story should not become a reason for so many to hate all Muslims as fanatics. I just hope that all the Aqsa's who feel trapped in a household of any religion, dont feel pressured to do what they are told to do. Being in Canada means, that women and children have the basic human right to their own opinions. Aqsa's death should remind parents of their basic duty to their children: to provide protection to their offspring.

Rest In Peace Aqsa. I hope you have found in death what you were searching for in Life.