The schools contend the contents of the book would ‘confuse our children’ and may lead to others following in Malala’s footsteps.
Girls pay tribute to Malala in Abu Dhabi (Photo: © Reuters)
Malala Yousafzai’s recently released book, I Am Malala: The Girl who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, has been banned in Pakistan in all private schools throughout the country.

The president of the All Pakistan Private School Federation announced the decision, as reported by Pakistan Today, saying that the contents of the book would “confuse our children.” Particularly objectionable, he said, were passages that did not purport the proper respect to certain prohibitions found in the Quran restricting the activities of women and Malala’s support of free speech.

“Our academics have thoroughly studied her (Malala’s) book and have concluded that reading that book will only confuse our children. Malala’s defence of Salmaan Rushdie in the name of freedom of expression, not writing Peace Be Upon Him after the name of prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and criticising the Quranic injunctions about the status of women in testifying as witnesses are only a few things which will challenge the ideological foundations of our next generation,” school federation president Mirza Kashif said.

Kashif further contended that Malala did not write the book herself. Kashif added that, “Even if she has, it creates a lot of doubt amongst our kids regarding religion which we, being Muslims, can never allow.”

Kashif also explain that “It (the book) is not part of the curriculum and hence the government has nothing to do with our decision. The federation has taken the decision on its own in order to save children from getting confused.”

Included in the ban is the prohibition of any private school having a copy of the book in its school library or using the book in any curricular or extra-curricular capacity.

However, Pakistan Today reports that school officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters that the real reason behind the ban was security concerns.

Since its publication, I Am Malala has been controversial in Malala’s home country of Pakistan, with academic and journalists, among others, lining up to criticize as well as defend her.