How Malala’s Marriage Comment was Misrepresented by Media and Lessons Afterwards.
By Musa Abdullahi Sufi
AREWA AGENDA – The injustice of the untold statement by Malala in the same interview is alarming. Malala, a Muslim from a Muslim family is enough to require more thoughts before one quickly jump into a conclusion with an excerpt from the interview.
Revisiting the interview message, here is my finding and the need to remind ourselves, clarification and justice are key to avoid misinformation and misquotation.
“I still don’t understand why people have to get married. If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers, why can’t it just be a partnership?” Malala said in an interview in July 2021.
However, In the same interview, She further added that.
“Even until my second year of University, I just thought, I am never going to get married, never going to have kids — just going to do my work. I am going to be happy and live with my family forever.’ I didn’t realise that you’re not the same person all the time. You change as well and you’re growing.”
But people ignored her additional information in the interview as the media took the statement that will favour their business.
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Immediately after Malala’s statement went viral across social media, a well known cleric from Peshawar, Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, asked Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousafzai on Twitter to clarify Malala’s comment on Marriage.
“A news report has been making the rounds on social media since yesterday that your daughter Malala Yousafzai has categorically rejected the institution of marriage and said that ‘partnership’ is better than getting married. We are all deeply disturbed by this statement. Please explain,” cleric Shahabuddin tweeted.
Malala’s father Yousafzai responded to Mufti quickly “Respected Mufti Popalzai Sahib, there is no truth in it. The media and social media have taken an excerpt of her interview out of context and shared it with their interpretations. And that’s it.”
My lesson is, people need to ask more questions about such reports. In an interview, is it just to interpret someone with a single point he said or are there some other points? We can move to get the full and original interview to judge.
In such a scenario, the victim of misquotation, misrepresentation and misinformation could be you.
I am wishing Muslim sister Malala Yousafzai and brother Asser Malik Happy Married Life.
Malala was shot by a Tehrik Taliban Pakistan gun man in an assassination attempt, in retaliation for her activism in promoting Girls-Child Education, she was hit in the head with bullet and remained unconscious in 2012
Musa Abdullahi Sufi
Wrote from Kano, Nigeria.
Arewa Agenda is a Publication of Young writers/journalist from Northern Nigeria towards Peaceful Coexistence and National Development through positive narratives
