My daughter, Malala
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0:01 - 0:05In many patriarchal societies and tribal societies,
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0:05 - 0:10fathers are usually known by their sons,
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0:10 - 0:14but I'm one of the few fathers
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0:14 - 0:16who is known by his daughter,
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0:16 - 0:17and I am proud of it.
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0:17 - 0:22(Applause)
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0:24 - 0:27Malala started her campaign for education
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0:27 - 0:30and stood for her rights in 2007,
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0:30 - 0:34and when her efforts were honored in 2011,
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0:34 - 0:38and she was given the national youth peace prize,
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0:38 - 0:39and she became a very famous,
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0:39 - 0:43very popular young girl of her country.
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0:43 - 0:47Before that, she was my daughter,
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0:47 - 0:50but now I am her father.
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0:51 - 0:52Ladies and gentlemen,
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0:52 - 0:56if we glance to human history,
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0:56 - 0:58the story of women
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0:58 - 1:02is the story of injustice,
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1:02 - 1:04inequality,
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1:04 - 1:09violence and exploitation.
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1:09 - 1:11You see,
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1:11 - 1:15in patriarchal societies,
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1:15 - 1:18right from the very beginning,
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1:18 - 1:21when a girl is born,
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1:21 - 1:25her birth is not celebrated.
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1:25 - 1:27She is not welcomed,
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1:27 - 1:30neither by father nor by mother.
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1:30 - 1:32The neighborhood comes
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1:32 - 1:34and commiserates with the mother,
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1:34 - 1:39and nobody congratulates the father.
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1:39 - 1:43And a mother is very uncomfortable
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1:43 - 1:48for having a girl child.
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1:48 - 1:51When she gives birth to the first girl child,
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1:51 - 1:55first daughter, she is sad.
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1:55 - 1:59When she gives birth to the second daughter,
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1:59 - 2:01she is shocked,
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2:01 - 2:04and in the expectation of a son,
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2:04 - 2:07when she gives birth to a third daughter,
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2:07 - 2:13she feels guilty like a criminal.
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2:13 - 2:16Not only the mother suffers,
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2:16 - 2:18but the daughter, the newly born daughter,
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2:18 - 2:20when she grows old,
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2:20 - 2:23she suffers too.
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2:23 - 2:25At the age of five,
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2:25 - 2:28while she should be going to school,
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2:28 - 2:30she stays at home
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2:30 - 2:34and her brothers are admitted in a school.
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2:34 - 2:37Until the age of 12, somehow,
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2:37 - 2:40she has a good life.
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2:40 - 2:41She can have fun.
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2:41 - 2:44She can play with her friends in the streets,
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2:44 - 2:46and she can move around in the streets
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2:46 - 2:49like a butterfly.
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2:49 - 2:53But when she enters her teens,
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2:53 - 2:55when she becomes 13 years old,
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2:55 - 2:59she is forbidden to go out of her home
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2:59 - 3:02without a male escort.
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3:02 - 3:08She is confined under the four walls of her home.
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3:08 - 3:13She is no more a free individual.
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3:13 - 3:16She becomes the so-called honor
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3:16 - 3:19of her father and of her brothers
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3:19 - 3:22and of her family,
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3:22 - 3:25and if she transgresses
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3:25 - 3:28the code of that so-called honor,
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3:28 - 3:32she could even be killed.
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3:32 - 3:36And it is also interesting that this so-called
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3:36 - 3:38code of honor,
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3:38 - 3:41it does not only affect the life of a girl,
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3:41 - 3:43it also affects the life
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3:43 - 3:48of the male members of the family.
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3:48 - 3:55I know a family of seven sisters and one brother,
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3:55 - 3:57and that one brother,
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3:57 - 4:00he has migrated to the Gulf countries,
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4:00 - 4:03to earn a living for his seven sisters
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4:03 - 4:05and parents,
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4:05 - 4:11because he thinks that it will be humiliating
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4:11 - 4:14if his seven sisters learn a skill
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4:14 - 4:16and they go out of the home
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4:16 - 4:20and earn some livelihood.
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4:20 - 4:22So this brother,
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4:22 - 4:25he sacrifices the joys of his life
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4:25 - 4:29and the happiness of his sisters
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4:29 - 4:33at the altar of so-called honor.
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4:33 - 4:35And there is one more norm
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4:35 - 4:37of the patriarchal societies
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4:37 - 4:42that is called obedience.
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4:42 - 4:45A good girl is supposed to be
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4:45 - 4:51very quiet, very humble
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4:51 - 4:55and very submissive.
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4:55 - 4:56It is the criteria.
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4:56 - 5:00The role model good girl should be very quiet.
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5:00 - 5:02She is supposed to be silent
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5:02 - 5:05and she is supposed to accept the decisions
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5:05 - 5:07of her father and mother
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5:07 - 5:11and the decisions of elders,
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5:11 - 5:13even if she does not like them.
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5:13 - 5:16If she is married to a man she doesn't like
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5:16 - 5:19or if she is married to an old man,
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5:19 - 5:21she has to accept,
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5:21 - 5:23because she does not want to be dubbed
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5:23 - 5:26as disobedient.
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5:26 - 5:27If she is married very early,
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5:27 - 5:29she has to accept.
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5:29 - 5:33Otherwise, she will be called disobedient.
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5:33 - 5:36And what happens at the end?
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5:36 - 5:38In the words of a poetess,
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5:38 - 5:40she is wedded, bedded,
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5:40 - 5:45and then she gives birth
to more sons and daughters. -
5:45 - 5:48And it is the irony of the situation
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5:48 - 5:51that this mother,
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5:51 - 5:54she teaches the same lesson of obedience
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5:54 - 5:55to her daughter
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5:55 - 5:59and the same lesson of honor to her sons.
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5:59 - 6:04And this vicious cycle goes on, goes on.
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6:06 - 6:09Ladies and gentlemen,
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6:09 - 6:12this plight of millions of women
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6:12 - 6:15could be changed
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6:15 - 6:17if we think differently,
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6:17 - 6:21if women and men think differently,
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6:21 - 6:25if men and women in the
tribal and patriarchal societies -
6:25 - 6:27in the developing countries,
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6:27 - 6:30if they can break a few norms
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6:30 - 6:35of family and society,
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6:35 - 6:40if they can abolish the discriminatory laws
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6:40 - 6:43of the systems in their states,
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6:43 - 6:45which go against the basic human rights
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6:45 - 6:49of the women.
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6:49 - 6:54Dear brothers and sisters, when Malala was born,
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6:54 - 6:56and for the first time,
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6:56 - 6:57believe me,
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6:57 - 7:02I don't like newborn children, to be honest,
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7:02 - 7:06but when I went and I looked into her eyes,
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7:06 - 7:08believe me,
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7:08 - 7:12I got extremely honored.
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7:12 - 7:14And long before she was born,
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7:14 - 7:17I thought about her name,
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7:17 - 7:21and I was fascinated with a heroic
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7:21 - 7:25legendary freedom fighter in Afghanistan.
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7:25 - 7:30Her name was Malalai of Maiwand,
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7:30 - 7:34and I named my daughter after her.
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7:34 - 7:37A few days after Malala was born,
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7:37 - 7:39my daughter was born,
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7:39 - 7:40my cousin came --
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7:40 - 7:42and it was a coincidence --
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7:42 - 7:45he came to my home
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7:45 - 7:48and he brought a family tree,
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7:48 - 7:51a family tree of the Yousafzai family,
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7:51 - 7:54and when I looked at the family tree,
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7:54 - 8:00it traced back to 300 years of our ancestors.
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8:00 - 8:04But when I looked, all were men,
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8:04 - 8:07and I picked my pen,
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8:07 - 8:09drew a line from my name,
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8:09 - 8:12and wrote, "Malala."
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8:14 - 8:16And when she grow old,
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8:16 - 8:20when she was four and a half years old,
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8:20 - 8:23I admitted her in my school.
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8:23 - 8:26You will be asking, then, why should I mention about
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8:26 - 8:29the admission of a girl in a school?
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8:29 - 8:31Yes, I must mention it.
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8:31 - 8:34It may be taken for granted in Canada,
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8:34 - 8:38in America, in many developed countries,
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8:38 - 8:40but in poor countries,
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8:40 - 8:44in patriarchal societies, in tribal societies,
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8:44 - 8:47it's a big event for the life of girl.
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8:47 - 8:51Enrollment in a school means
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8:51 - 8:57recognition of her identity and her name.
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8:57 - 8:59Admission in a school means
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8:59 - 9:02that she has entered the world of dreams
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9:02 - 9:04and aspirations
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9:04 - 9:07where she can explore her potentials
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9:07 - 9:11for her future life.
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9:11 - 9:13I have five sisters,
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9:13 - 9:16and none of them could go to school,
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9:16 - 9:18and you will be astonished,
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9:18 - 9:22two weeks before,
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9:22 - 9:26when I was filling out the Canadian visa form,
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9:26 - 9:31and I was filling out the family part of the form,
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9:31 - 9:33I could not recall
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9:33 - 9:37the surnames of some of my sisters.
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9:37 - 9:39And the reason was
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9:39 - 9:42that I have never, never seen the names
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9:42 - 9:48of my sisters written on any document.
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9:48 - 9:51That was the reason that
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9:51 - 9:54I valued my daughter.
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9:54 - 9:59What my father could not give to my sisters
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9:59 - 10:00and to his daughters,
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10:00 - 10:05I thought I must change it.
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10:05 - 10:08I used to appreciate the intelligence
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10:08 - 10:11and the brilliance of my daughter.
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10:11 - 10:14I encouraged her to sit with me
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10:14 - 10:15when my friends used to come.
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10:15 - 10:20I encouraged her to go with
me to different meetings. -
10:20 - 10:22And all these good values,
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10:22 - 10:25I tried to inculcate in her personality.
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10:25 - 10:29And this was not only she, only Malala.
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10:29 - 10:32I imparted all these good values
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10:32 - 10:36to my school, girl students
and boy students as well. -
10:36 - 10:40I used education for emancipation.
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10:40 - 10:42I taught my girls,
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10:42 - 10:44I taught my girl students,
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10:44 - 10:49to unlearn the lesson of obedience.
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10:49 - 10:52I taught my boy students
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10:52 - 10:58to unlearn the lesson of so-called pseudo-honor.
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11:02 - 11:06Dear brothers and sisters,
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11:06 - 11:10we were striving for more rights for women,
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11:10 - 11:14and we were struggling to have more,
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11:14 - 11:18more and more space for the women in society.
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11:18 - 11:21But we came across a new phenomenon.
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11:21 - 11:24It was lethal to human rights
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11:24 - 11:27and particularly to women's rights.
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11:27 - 11:32It was called Talibanization.
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11:32 - 11:36It means a complete negation
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11:36 - 11:38of women's participation
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11:38 - 11:44in all political, economical and social activities.
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11:44 - 11:48Hundreds of schools were lost.
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11:48 - 11:54Girls were prohibited from going to school.
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11:54 - 11:58Women were forced to wear veils
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11:58 - 12:01and they were stopped from going to the markets.
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12:01 - 12:04Musicians were silenced,
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12:04 - 12:06girls were flogged
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12:06 - 12:09and singers were killed.
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12:09 - 12:11Millions were suffering,
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12:11 - 12:14but few spoke,
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12:14 - 12:16and it was the most scary thing
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12:16 - 12:23when you have all around such people
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12:23 - 12:25who kill and who flog,
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12:25 - 12:26and you speak for your rights.
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12:26 - 12:30It's really the most scary thing.
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12:30 - 12:32At the age of 10,
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12:32 - 12:36Malala stood, and she stood for the right
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12:36 - 12:39of education.
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12:39 - 12:43She wrote a diary for the BBC blog,
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12:43 - 12:45she volunteered herself
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12:45 - 12:49for the New York Times documentaries,
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12:49 - 12:54and she spoke from every platform she could.
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12:54 - 12:58And her voice was the most powerful voice.
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12:58 - 13:05It spread like a crescendo all around the world.
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13:05 - 13:06And that was the reason the Taliban
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13:06 - 13:11could not tolerate her campaign,
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13:11 - 13:14and on October 9 2012,
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13:14 - 13:19she was shot in the head at point blank range.
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13:19 - 13:24It was a doomsday for my family and for me.
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13:24 - 13:29The world turned into a big black hole.
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13:29 - 13:31While my daughter was
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13:31 - 13:34on the verge of life and death,
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13:34 - 13:38I whispered into the ears of my wife,
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13:38 - 13:41"Should I be blamed for what happened
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13:41 - 13:45to my daughter and your daughter?"
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13:45 - 13:48And she abruptly told me,
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13:48 - 13:50"Please don't blame yourself.
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13:50 - 13:53You stood for the right cause.
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13:53 - 13:55You put your life at stake
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13:55 - 13:57for the cause of truth,
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13:57 - 13:58for the cause of peace,
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13:58 - 14:00and for the cause of education,
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14:00 - 14:02and your daughter in inspired from you
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14:02 - 14:04and she joined you.
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14:04 - 14:06You both were on the right path
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14:06 - 14:10and God will protect her."
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14:10 - 14:13These few words meant a lot to me,
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14:13 - 14:17and I didn't ask this question again.
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14:17 - 14:21When Malala was in the hospital,
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14:21 - 14:24and she was going through the severe pains
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14:24 - 14:27and she had had severe headaches
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14:27 - 14:30because her facial nerve was cut down,
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14:30 - 14:33I used to see a dark shadow
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14:33 - 14:38spreading on the face of my wife.
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14:38 - 14:44But my daughter never complained.
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14:44 - 14:46She used to tell us,
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14:46 - 14:48"I'm fine with my crooked smile
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14:48 - 14:51and with my numbness in my face.
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14:51 - 14:53I'll be okay. Please don't worry."
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14:53 - 14:55She was a solace for us,
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14:55 - 14:58and she consoled us.
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15:00 - 15:04Dear brothers and sisters,
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15:04 - 15:07we learned from her how to be resilient
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15:07 - 15:10in the most difficult times,
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15:10 - 15:13and I'm glad to share with you
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15:13 - 15:19that despite being an icon
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15:19 - 15:22for the rights of children and women,
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15:22 - 15:27she is like any 16-year old girl.
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15:27 - 15:32She cries when her homework is incomplete.
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15:32 - 15:34She quarrels with her brothers,
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15:34 - 15:38and I am very happy for that.
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15:38 - 15:41People ask me,
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15:41 - 15:44what special is in my mentorship
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15:44 - 15:47which has made Malala so bold
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15:47 - 15:51and so courageous and so vocal and poised?
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15:51 - 15:57I tell them, don't ask me what I did.
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15:57 - 16:01Ask me what I did not do.
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16:01 - 16:07I did not clip her wings, and that's all.
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16:07 - 16:09Thank you very much.
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16:09 - 16:15(Applause)
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16:15 - 16:19Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause)
- Title:
- My daughter, Malala
- Speaker:
- Ziauddin Yousafzai
- Description:
-
Pakistani educator Ziauddin Yousafzai reminds the world of a simple truth that many don’t want to hear: Women and men deserve equal opportunities for education, autonomy, an independent identity. He tells stories from his own life and the life of his daughter, Malala, who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 simply for daring to go to school. "Why is my daughter so strong?” Yousafzai asks. “Because I didn’t clip her wings."
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 16:36
Tulio Leao edited English subtitles for My daughter, Malala | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for My daughter, Malala | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for My daughter, Malala | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for My daughter, Malala | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for My daughter, Malala | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for My daughter, Malala | ||
Madeleine Aronson accepted English subtitles for My daughter, Malala | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for My daughter, Malala |