Father says Malala’s comments on marriage taken out of context

Youngest Noble laureate Malala Yousafzai's father has said that his daughter's comments about marriage during an interview to UK's Vogue magazine were taken out of context.

The 23-year-old advocate for girls education gave a detailed interview to the British magazine, covering a wide range of topics, including love and family.

Malala told Vogue although all her friends were finding partners, she’s not sure if that’s what she wants.

Malala’s parents had an “arranged love marriage”, and would like her to get married one day, but she isn’t sure if she’ll ever marry herself.

“I still don’t understand why people have to get married. If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers, why can’t it just be a partnership?” she said.

Malala's comment sparked a debate on social media with some defending her comments and others slamming her for ‘promoting the Western culture’.

Amid a war of words on social media, a cleric from Peshawar city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Mufti Shahabuddin Poplazai shared a tweet, seeking clarification from Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai.

The Imam of Qasim Ali Khan Mosque tagged the post to Ziauddin and wrote, “A report is circulating on social media since yesterday that your daughter Malala Yousafzai has categorically rejected the institution of marriage and said that ‘partnership’ is better than getting married."

محترم جناب ضیاء الدین یوسفزئی صاحب !@ZiauddinY

کل سے سوشل میڈیا پرایک خبر زیر گردش ہے کہ آپ کی بیٹی ملالہ یوسفزئی نے رشتہ ازدواج کو یکسر مسترد کرتے ہوئے کہا ہے شادی کرنے سے بہتر ہے کہ پارٹنر شپ کی جائے نہ کہ نکاح ۔
اس بیان سے ہم سب شدید اضطراب میں مبتلا ہیں۔
آپ وضاحت فرمائیں۔

— Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai (@MuftiPopalzai) June 3, 2021

In response, Malala's father said his daughter's comments were taken out of context, twisted and shared on media. He said there was no truth in the comments being attributed to her on social media.  

محترم مفتی پو پلزئ صاحب
ایسی کوئی بات نہیں۔ میڈیا اور سوشل میڈیا نے انکی انٹرویو کی اقتباس کو سیاق و سباق سے نکال کر تبدیل کرکے اپنی تاویلات کے ساتھ شئیر کیا ہے۔ اور بس۔

— Ziauddin Yousafzai (@ZiauddinY) June 3, 2021