Asteroid Named After Malala

Asteroid named after Malala

Now this is a pretty interesting piece of news. I just came across a post on Times of India  – Amy Mainzer and astronomer at NASA has named an asteroid after Malala. The asteroid was identified in the belt between Mars and Jupiter and was identified by Amy which gives her the right to name it.

It is quite interesting that she chose to name it after Malala, a young girl the most recent recipient of the Nobel peace prize. There have been quite a few critics about Malala and her deserving the nobel prize. Well I think the naysayers will always have their side of the story and the portrayers will have their own. But for us, we try to focus on the message and what we can derive and learn out of it instead of the debate which probably isn’t going to lead us anywhere fruitful.

  1. The year has been phenomenal in identifying Malala and the number of awards recognizing Malala too have been on the rise. Very recently she received the US liberty medal and was the youngest to win it. 
  2. She was in the Britain’s most influential people’s list of 2015 – a list which includes people of the order of Price of Wales, Emma Watson.
  3. Malala received the Grammy for best children’s album.
  4. She holds the record as the most searched female on google in 2013
  5. She won the European Parliament’s coveted Sakharov human rights prize
  6. She has won the Harvard foundation humanitarian award, Clinton global initiative – Global citizen award, Amnesty International — Ambassador of Conscience Award, Observer Ethical Awards — International Campaigner of the Year,  Pakistan’s National Peace Prize, Kids Rights — Children’s Peace Prize, OPEC Fund for International Development – Annual Award for Development

and so on. Quite impressive for a 16 year old don’t you think?

For all those who said she did not deserve it or there were people who deserved it more, I do not know how to answer them or even silence them.

Like Malala says – “I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it is not” 

It is a story we can all relate to, it is a story of a young girl, her grit and determination.

It is a story of a simple young girl in a region controlled by fundamentalists or oppressive forces.

It is a story of standing up to ones own rights and not falling to the feet of oppressive forces cos the society or the order around you commands you to.

Yes, she was shot in the head – some of them have even argued that she got lucky. How many of us can even fathom or imagine a plight like that?

Sometimes it is very easy to sit in a far place and pass judgement over an occurrence. I am not saying it is wrong, we all are entitled to our own views and opinions, but at the same time, we can try and place ourselves in the real challenges that these people have gone through and try to relate to their lives and our lives and the lives of people connected to us.

That to us is inspiration in its own essence. Three cheers to Malala


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11 thoughts on “Asteroid Named After Malala”

  1. Three cheers to malala indeed, an amazing story, a thorough inspiration and all of it at such a young age. The maturity in her talks amazes me to the core..

  2. Superb! Malala inspires! Totally deserves the asteroid 2 b named after her! :) Thanks for compiling all the info on this gr8 individual fighting for girls’ education!

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