Manal Masoud Al Manal Alsharif
We all know about Malala Yousafzai,the child right activist from Pakistan who was shot by Talibanis. Today,she is a youth icon. She is appreciated all over the world for her courage and determination.
For the first time, Talibanis are scared of a teenager !
But Malala was not alone. Her family,her father even the USA supported her since the beginning.
The story of Manal Alsharif is different. She is not fighting against a terrorist group. But against a whole system from top to bottom,against the Saudi Arabian government. She is fighting for the rights of women in Saudi Arabia,the richest yet conservative nation in the world.
The women in Saudi are educated. They can be scientists ,teachers,or even models. But they are not the part of government, in the sense they are not allowed to vote. Born in 1979,in Mecca,Manal was an ordinary girl. She blindly followed the rules and regulations of Saudi Arabia. She was even associated with a group of fundamentalists. Osama Bin Laden was one of her role models !
But everything changed after 9/11 attack. She saw the pictures of horrifying incident in TV. Her heart sank all of a sudden. Her role models did not attain the same position in her heart anymore. She was ashamed of herself.
Soon after the introduction of Internet,she was able to interact with the women of other countries. She realized that world is vast and colorful. She came to know about the 'actual' rights of women. And then she decided, she had a new goal- to 'change' the system.
She started giving lectures on the rights of women. The government did not take her seriously. In 2011, she launched a drive campaign. She drove the car on the streets of Saudi Arabia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNpmq6Ok-QQ). Soon she was arrested for violating the laws (note that there is no particular law in Saudi Arabia which states that women shouldn't drive). But after a lot of protests, she was released on bail.
Soon after the incident, her enemies increased. The ones, who were close to her in the past, threatened to kill her. Her son was beaten up by his own classmates. Her husband received many threatening calls everyday. But she dint budge.
Finally, the Saudi Arabian government knelt before this iron lady. It has allowed the women to vote in 2015's elections. She received many awards for her heroic act. But still a part of the world doesn't know who is Manal Alsharif (link to her official blog http://manal-alsharif.com/ )
I personally feel that the whole world should know about Manal and her long battle for rights. It is just not because of her goal but because of her determination ,dedication and courage.
After all, the world needs 'heroines' too...
