If you go to a private school in Pakistan, you probably won't be able to read Malala Yousafzai's new book. Two umbrella organizations for private schools in the country have banned I Am Malala from their libraries.
Malala attracted global attention last year when the Taliban shot her in the head in north-west Pakistan for criticising the group's interpretation of Islam, which limits girls' access to education. Her profile has risen since then, and she released a memoir in October, I Am Malala, co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb.
While Malala has become a hero to many for opposing the Taliban and standing up for girls' education, conspiracy theories have flourished in Pakistan that her shooting was staged to create an icon for the west to embrace.
Adeeb Javedani, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association, said his organisation had banned Malala's book from the libraries of its 40,000 affiliated schools and called on the government to bar it from school curriculums.
"Everything about Malala is now becoming clear," Javedani said. "To me, she is representing the west, not us."
Kashif Mirza, the chairman of the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, said his group had also banned Malala's book in its affiliated schools.
Malala "was a role model for children, but this book has made her controversial," Mirza said. "Through this book, she became a tool in the hands of the western powers."
He said the book did not show enough respect for Islam because it mentioned the prophet Muhammad's name without using the abbreviation PBUH – "peace be upon him" – as is customary in many parts of the Muslim world. He also said it spoke favourably of the author Salman Rushdie, who angered many Muslims with his book The Satanic Verses, and Ahmadis, members of a minority sect who have been declared non-Muslims under Pakistani law.
This is a pretty critical development. Pakistan's public school system is so inadequate that less than half of the country's kids finish school, and those that do usually end up going to private schools. Which means a good number of the country's educated kids won't get a chance to read this book.
Kashif went further in an interview with Pakistan Today, the country's answer to USA Today. He claimed that the book will leave students in a "confused state of mind" and would create doubt about their Muslim values. Besides her defense of Rushdie and her failure to write "PBUH" after Muhammad's name, Malala objects to the Quran's restrictions on women giving testimony. Sounds a lot like some of the arguments Christianists use to get books banned here.
This could potentially backfire on the private school leaders. After all, there's nothing stopping more enlightened families from buying this book for themselves.