Would our UMNO leaders, Hasan Ali, Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Nordin and Ridhuan Tee have said the same thing that Malala Yousafzai said

The following is an extract from John Dean's article, "Malala's message to Malaysia".

And if there’s one contemporary symbol and personification of such daring, it is Malala Yousafzai, the young Muslim girl who was shot by the Taliban last October for the “crime” of attending school.

In her recent address to the United Nations General Assembly on the occasion of her 16th birthday, Malala put the advocates and supporters of warring sectarian “truths” to shame by speaking of “the compassion I have learned from Muhammad, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha... the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela (right) and Mohammad Ali Jinnah... (and) the philosophy of non-violence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Theresa.”

Later in her eloquent and intelligent address, she criticised those who misuse Islam, “a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood”, for their own personal benefit, before closing with the clarion call for the world to use education “to wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism.”