In another gem from courts, a judge from the Kerala High Court has advised girls to emulate Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai and not listen to parents’ advice. The judge said that girls should be brave and jump into life bravely. While the judiciary projects Malala as a brave girl, scores of Hindu girls are kidnapped and forcibly converted in Pakistan. Neither the judiciary nor Malala have time for them.
Justice Alexander Thomas while hearing the habeas corpus petition of a man seeking to reunite with his wife, the judge advised the Muslim wife to “Be brave like Malala”. The man had gone to court after his wife and 11 month old child were detained by his in-laws. The petition was heard through Zoom and the woman appeared in hijab.
Looking at her, judge Alexander Thomas turned to the other judge Sophy Thomas and asked “Who was the young girl that got the nobel prize? She looks like that”. Prior to that the woman had confessed that she wanted to live with her husband against her parents’ wishes. Following this exchange, the judge advised her to “Be brave like Malala. Jump into life bravely. No need to always do as your parents wish”. He also advised her to pursue her studies as she had dropped out after 12th standard.
The media jumped in and used his words to paint a holistic picture of Malala and encourage girl children to go against their parents’ wishes. It encourages girls like Hadia who, despite being brought up in a ‘secular’ household (religious Hindu mother and atheist Communist father), chose to follow Islam and her husband to Syria. Malala herself had spoken against marriage in an interview but chose to follow her parents’ wish and got married. But the left liberal cabal wants to impose her on Bharatiya girls who face dangers at the hands of her brethren at every turn.
The judge’s comments not only reek of elitism but show his ignorance about the ground reality in Kerala. When churches are talking about love jihad and Christian organisations are taking measures to protect their girls from grooming, the judge thrusts Malala as a role model for young girls. It is unconvincing to think that he is ignorant of the human rights violations on the minority Hindu and Christian population in Pakistan, especially on Hindu girls who are forced to convert to Islam and marry men their fathers’ age.
