As Americans celebrated Veteran’s Day Nov. 11 and our own university’s Military Emphasis Week came to a close, we were reminded of those who fought so hard for our freedoms.
One of those freedoms is the right to free speech. Last month, three teenage girls decided to speak up against members of the Taliban in Pakistan, demanding that they be given rights to an education. Because of their petition for independence as women, they were brutally shot in the head by Taliban hitmen for instituting “Western thinking.”
The Pakistan government placed a $1 million bounty on the head of the Taliban spokesman who announced the command to attack those girls.
One of them, 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai, survived the attack and was placed in a rehabilitation hospital in London, England. Doctors and officials said that she has responded well to treatments and will ultimately recover from her injuries. The conditions of the other two girls are unknown, but doctors are amazed at how Yousufzai was able to survive a gunshot wound to the head.
Some doctors said that she survived because her brain is still developing, while others believe that her character and individualism kept her alive. No matter what the case, it is a miracle that Yousufzai will even make a recovery.
While social inequality still happens in American society, extreme actions such as this one are virtually non-existent. We are blessed to live in a nation that allows us to speak our minds without repercussion.
After witnessing the results of the presidential election and the disgust of many when President Obama remained in office, I was reminded of two things. Remember that in other nations, they do not allow citizens to speak negatively about their government.
Remember that social media websites that gave a voice to the people, such as Twitter and Facebook, are likely blocked.
People like Yousufzai exist in different countries worldwide, yearning for their rights and wanting their opinions to be heard peacefully, something we so often take for granted. Contrast the effort they must go through with how easy it is to voice our opinion in our own country. We even have pages in our newspapers dedicated to the sole purpose of giving our opinion.
Never forget, especially this time of year, to be thankful for those who have given us these freedoms.