In what can be described as a shocking, insensitive and hypocritical move on the part of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, she blocked Twitter user asking for justice for two Hindu girls who were kidnapped and coerced into marrying Muslim men in Pakistan. The Twitter user had tagged the Nobel Peace Prize winner and stated, “Two Hindu girls of your age were kidnapped from their home, were molested and forcefully converted to your religion, Islam. The world should know about this barbaric act by Islamists. Please RT in support of those two poor Hindu girls. Thank you.”

Malala Yousafzai is widely propagated as the epitome of women empowerment and girls’ education. Given her image, one would have expected her to speak at length about the atrocious crime that was committed in Pakistan recently. However, her reaction to the tweet in which she was tagged was both shocking and saddening. She simply blocked the Twitter user who had tagged her. One can only wonder why she would want to block a Twitter user who was only drawing her attention towards the heart wrenching incident.

Malala Yousafzai has maintained deafening silence about the issue despite being described as a symbol of courage and confidence and as someone who stood up for girls’ education by Pakistan. It is shocking why she is silent about the atrocity that was committed against the Hindu teenager girls in Pakistan.

Noted journalist, Aarti Tikoo Singh also urged Malala to speak about this issue. Singh tweeted, “Dear @Malala, if & when you are a bit free from your busy schedule, please do raise your voice for girls like Raveena & Reena who are forcibly converted & married to the men waiting to rape them. Do listen to the helpless cries of their father & dare to question Pakistan Army.” However, even her Tweet was met with deafening silence on Malala’s part. In another tweet, Singh also stated that the United Nations stands with Malala but the question is if Malala stands with persecuted girls and women of religious minorities in Pakistan.

Dear @Malala, if & when you are a bit free from your busy schedule, please do raise your voice for girls like Raveena & Reena who are forcibly converted & married to the men waiting to rape them. Do listen to the helpless cries of their father & dare to question Pakistan Army. https://t.co/BwhGXxwRsR — Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) March 24, 2019

The @UN stands with @Malala but does she stand with persecuted girls & women of religious minorities in her country, the Islamic republic which she is proud of? Has @UNHumanRights ever stood up for religious minorities, cleansed systematically by theocratic fascists in Pakistan? https://t.co/7tTPIkrpw5 — Aarti Tikoo Singh (@AartiTikoo) March 25, 2019

It seems that Hindus who are second class citizens in Pakistan face discrimination in the cause of women empowerment as well. It seems that the symbol of women empowerment in Pakistan, Malala is not concerned about the empowerment of Hindu girls because oppression of Hindus in general and Hindu women in particular is business as usual in Pakistan. Malala Yosafzai is clearly part of a larger agenda. Either the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s women empowerment initiative is just a sham or she simply represents the deep rooted Pakistani ideology of subjugating Hindu minority in the terrorist country. In either case, her silence about this issue speaks volumes about her hypocrisy and false claims of fighting for women empowerment.