Scared Pakistani Girls Protest Naming College After Malala

While the world is embracing young Malala Yousafzai, praising her courage (in spite of death threats) to fight for education for females in a region that frowns on it, with some even campaigning to get her nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, girls are still running scared in Pakistan.  After all, Malala was shot and left for dead by the Taliban for her role in bringing their savagery to light through a blog sponsored by the BBC.

In honor of Malala's efforts, the Government Girls Degree College in the northern city of Saidu Sharif (smack dab in the restive Swat Valley, home to the Taliban)  decided to rename the school after Malala. But that did not sit well with some of the young women at the college, for obvious reasons:

On December 12, some 150 students tore down the picture of Malala and boycotted classes, demanding the government revoke the renaming of Government Girls Degree College in Saidu Sharif, the main city in the northern Swat Valley.

The students fear that the new name will make their institution a target for Taliban extremists.

The students postponed their demonstration after local officials assured them they would convey their demands to the provincial government.

How sad to live in fear.