Go Big Read Event-Wilson Teddy

I went to a Go Big Read event on Thursday, October 30. The event was called “Putting Malala Yousafzai in Context” and the guest speaker was Amitabh Pal, Managing Director of The Progressive magazine. The talk centers about the history of Pakistan and the chain of events that helped Pakistan become what it is today. Mr. Pal talked about the split of East Pakistan and North Pakistan which created Bangladesh and present day Pakistan. He also mentioned about the relationships between India and Pakistan through the prominent figures for both sides. Mahatma Gandhi from India, and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan from Pakistan were good friends. Khan actually opposed the separation of Pakistan from India. Because of his support towards India, he was jailed for another 15 years in Pakistan after serving 15 years in prison under British colonial rule. Mr. Pal also touched on several prominent characters in Pakistan politics like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan did not have a good relationship with India, and the Pakistani leaders were afraid that India would invade their territory. So, Pakistan formed strong ties with the neighboring Afghanistan, making sure that they have some place to fall back to incase India takes over Pakistan. Besides that, Mr. Pal discussed about the CIA involvement in training Mujahideen personnel in Afghanistan during the Soviet War in Afghanistan. However, this policy backfired because the Mujahideen radical group became the root of terrorism and helped the creation of Al-Qaeda.

I thought the talk was really interesting. I learned a lot about the history of the nations in South Asia, especially about Pakistan. I was amazed by the fact that Malala actually won the Nobel Peace Prize at a really young age. Through the event, I gained more knowledge about how society operates in Pakistan. The government has experienced a lot of instability since the creation of the state. There are even some areas which are lawless and thus vulnerable to the control of Islam extremists. I continue to admire Malala and her bravery in trying to build her own homeland. There have been some improvements in how Pakistan is run, as it tries to become a democracy. I believe Malala deserved the Nobel Prize, and it will motivate her to do more for her country, especially in the sector of education and gender equality.