On Sunday, Indian Twitters users hit out at Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. The Pakistani advocate had written an account in which she claimed a Kashmiri girl told her: “I feel purposeless and depressed because I can’t go to school. I missed my exams on August 12 and I feel my future is insecure now. I want to be a writer and grow to be an independent, successful Kashmiri woman. But it seems to be getting more difficult as this continues.”
On Sunday, Indian Twitters users hit out at Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. The Pakistani advocate had written an account in which she claimed a Kashmiri girl told her: “I feel purposeless and depressed because I can’t go to school. I missed my exams on August 12 and I feel my future is insecure now. I want to be a writer and grow to be an independent, successful Kashmiri woman. But it seems to be getting more difficult as this continues.”
Read: Katie Hopkins slams Malala for staying silent on murder of Hindu girl in Pak
However, a lot of Twitter users pointed out, that August 12 was Eid which would mean that schools would be closed across India, meaning the likelihood of an exam on that day is as possible as Imran Khan speaking sense.
Also, schools had been shut for 15 days in the Valley, in the wake of elaborate security arrangements put in place by the Centre following the abrogation of Article 370.
Schools were reopened on August 20.
Please don't lie
— gab.ai/TheCol (@desertfox61I) September 15, 2019
It's blatant Falsehood
12 Aug 2019 was a Holiday on account of Eid up Zuha
Via @OpIndia_com pic.twitter.com/uvyBCKfH82
Hey you paid activist, its was a holiday on 12th of August in India. And guess what, it was EID AL ADHA on that day. #ShameonyouMalala pic.twitter.com/BzifZv3B9G
— Harsh Bhardwaj (@iAdvocate_Harsh) September 15, 2019
12 August was a holiday in India bcz of EID. So plz update your date with same girl reference n make it 13 Aug. Don't make 11 Aug as that was sunday.
— Shivam (@Shivam26s) September 15, 2019
I don't know on POK but Aug 12th was eid holiday all over india...so try faking news by atleast looking at ur calendar. pic.twitter.com/7G6ozb070q
— yathish (@yathish066) September 15, 2019
This woman is a pure hypocrite... U should have checked the facts before tweeting @Malala... 12th August was a holiday on the occasion of Eid... All u wanna do is spread hate in Kashmir...U guys can never gain control over integral part of India.. Get a life & stop spreading hate https://t.co/U7UyceqpIM
— Aditya Srivastav (@imaditya_s) September 15, 2019
1. Ask UNGA leaders intervene
“I am asking leaders, at #UNGA and beyond, to work towards peace in Kashmir, listen to Kashmiri voices and help children go safely back to school," Yousafzai said in a series of tweets on Saturday.
Restrictions were imposed in the Kashmir Valley since India on August 5 revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and also bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.
2. 'Deeply concerned'
"I am deeply concerned about reports of 4,000 people, including children, arbitrarily arrested and jailed, about students who haven't been able to attend school for more than 40 days, about girls who are afraid to leave their homes," she wrote.
In her tweets, Malala also shared her account of corresponding with people over the past week belonging to various walks of life, including journalists, human rights lawyers and students.
"I wanted to hear directly from girls living in Kashmir right now. It took a lot of work from a lot of people to get their stories because of the communications blackout. Kashmiris are cut off from the world and unable to make their voices heard," she said.
3. Yousafzai appeals for end of conflict
Yousafzai has also commented on the Kashmir issue in the past where she had appealed for an end to the conflict in the region after relations between India and Pakistan nosedived following the revocation of Article 370.
She had called on all South Asians, the international community and authorities to respond to the Kashmiris' suffering.