Social media users object to the inclusion of Malala Yousafzai in Punjab’s school book under a lesson on important people of Pakistan.
A social media user shared a picture of the textbook that shows Malala Yousafzai with Allama Iqbal, Chaudhary Rehmat Ali, Liaquat Ali Khan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Begum Rana Liaquat Ali, and Abdul Sattar Edhi.
A score of social media users asked the provincial government to take note and remove Malala Yousafzai from the book. Another user asked to share the date the book was published on. Others said the picture might be fake. The provincial government of Punjab is yet to respond to the concerns of social media users.
Let's not change the history. Seth Kooverji Khimji Lohana Gujarati School renamed after @Malala Yousazai. We request Sindh Education Minister @SaeedGhani1 to revisit the decision. Government should rather open new schools to honour our icon Malala.@ZiauddinY https://t.co/qMlPdMBvhj
— Kapil Dev کپل دیو (@KDSindhi) July 8, 2021
Dear @KDSindhi & @sanjaysadhwani2 ,
This school was officially renamed after @Malala on February 6, 2012.
If its first name was Seth Kooverji Khimji Lohana Gujarati School, then we request @SaeedGhani1 sab to revert it to its original name. We are bound to respect our history. https://t.co/QixeenDTLN— Ziauddin Yousafzai (@ZiauddinY) July 8, 2021
In a similar incident, the Sindh government has decided to revert the name of the government school which was changed to Malala Yousafzai in Karachi.
A picture of the school originally named Seth Koovarji Khimji Lohana Gujrati School was renamed Malala Yousafzai Government Girls Secondary School at Karachi’s Mission Road. The image of the school went viral on Twitter with citizens demanding it to revert the name and not to destroy the city’s history.
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Human Rights activist Kapil Dev responded to the tweet and said “We request Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani to revisit the decision,” he remarked. He remarked that another school should be constructed with the name of Malala Yousafzai.
Another user wrote that Seth Kooverji Khimji Lohana is the name in history that needs to be protected. His name highlights the contribution of the Gujrati Sindhi community to the making of Karachi.
Malala Yousafzai’s father also reacted to the controversy. He seems to agree with the demand of the citizens to protect the history of the community. “We are bound to respect our history.”
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He, however, informed that the school was renamed in 2012. But he extended the request to Saeed Ghani to change the name of the school.