Continuing challenge

The tragic story of Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, who stood for girls’ right to education, is unbelievable (“It is business as usual in Pakistan,” Oct. 31). The attack on her has reinforced that education for girls is still a challenge in many societies across the world. In India too, Muslim women are at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid. In rural India and the slums of urban India, young Muslim girls are forced to stay at home. A complex web of circumstances makes their schooling a daunting task.

The worldwide support for Malala shows that she is not alone in her fight. No right-thinking person will buy the conspiracy theories being advanced by the fundamentalists.

K.P. Saidalavi,

Puducherry

The Taliban, the so-called guardians of Islam, attempted to assassinate a 14-year-old whose ambition was to study the law and dream of a country where education prevails and no one sleeps hungry. Can a religion feel threatened by a young girl’s desire to study?

Mira Swaminathan,

Secunderabad