Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai will reportedly be the keynote speaker at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) convocation this year. However, the LUMS crowd has mixed reactions to this arrangement.
Some LUMS grads to be and even people who are not even from LUMS are excited about the prospect.
@Malala will be joining the virtual convocation of #LUMS class of 2020 as a guest speaker. Wouldn't be surprised if LUMS face another backlash this month on all social medias. pic.twitter.com/qM4cGpT2hK
— Zeeshan Khan (@Zes_hn) June 29, 2020
So happy for 2020 LUMS kids getting Malala as their convocation keynote speaker, while we got a shady philanthropist later arrested for financial fraud (Arif Naqvi, 2017)
— Ali (@AliRafi) June 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/Shanzasiddiquee/status/1277590172956274688
LUMS is getting Malala as their keynote speaker!! https://t.co/KCv1cReUUe
— Ayesha Noor (@khigirlinlhr) June 29, 2020
Wish I was a student graduating from #LUMS so I could hear #Malala speak. Incredibly lucky!
— Marium Chaudhry (@MariumCh) June 30, 2020
I hope @Malala Yousafzai knows that the vast majority of students & faculty are absolutely thrilled to hear she might be our convocation speaker! Have never been so excited about any of our potential convocation speakers before!
— Nida Kirmani (@NidaKirmani) June 30, 2020
https://twitter.com/saljuria75/status/1278039135987605504
Proud moment. ❤️ When she graduated from Oxford, a South African and Belizian from my cohort congratulated my Afghan friend thinking she is from Afghanistan. I don’t blame them, as I do believe that a lot of Pakistanis don’t seem to own her as they should.
— Noor Zafar (@NoorZafar2) July 1, 2020
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However, there are also people who argue that the education activist isn’t good enough to be the keynote speaker for the LUMS convocation. Seeing as the activist just graduated from Oxford, people feel she is not qualified enough to be a keynote speaker.
Abhe Malala ko graduate huay ek maheena bhi nhe hua or Pohnch gye LUMS walay usko convocation pe bulanay. Ajeeb monopolists na hon tou.
— ✨ (@goldrushh____) June 30, 2020
Read a comment by a kid on a forum who says Malala is not suited for being a key note speaker because apparently she is an equal and the institute should invite more accomplished alumni from LUMS as guest speakers. I can’t even…
I need this confidence in life :’)@LifeAtLUMS— oni (she/her) (@onisawai) June 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/aimalkn/status/1278015058627514368
Keynote speaker of LUMS class of 2020 is Malala Yousafzai. 😷
Is this true?
Now Greta Thunberg can join LUMS as a full time professor of environmental science.— …. (@iamPachkali) June 29, 2020
Others list reasons why LUMS isn’t good enough for Malala Yousafzai.
https://twitter.com/adilshahji162/status/1277966310895316992
Bilal Khan who?
Then there were some students who actually suggested replacing the Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist with Bilal Khan the singer.
Malala is the keynote speaker for batch 2020 convocation, but the students want bilal khan instead 🙌🏻❤#Bilalkhan #LUMS #malala pic.twitter.com/wpDDxpFv7Q
— Sarah Gillani (@iSadSara) July 1, 2020
Malala is the keynote speaker for batch 2020 convocation at Lums. But they want Bilal khan instead Malala ,😄
— M Sulaiman (@MRanaSalman) June 29, 2020
Although some of lums kids think Bilal khan is an appropriate choice of for convocation as opposed to Malala. https://t.co/MXc4Ie7y6c
— M Sulaiman (@MRanaSalman) June 29, 2020
Then there were some other suggestions on who the keynote speaker should be.
https://twitter.com/KhitranNadeem/status/1277994097102524416
Word is that only a few students suggested that Malala Yousafzai be replaced as the keynote speaker for LUMS convocation.
You’ve heard correctly. But these are “some” students. Not all.
— Dr. Taimur Rahman (@Taimur_Laal) June 30, 2020
https://twitter.com/Shehzad89/status/1277913822586683393
That’s when Netizens started asking why do some LUMS students want to uninvite Malala Yousafzai?
Hearsay but some of have claimed it hurts their sentiments as they have family in the army and Malala is apparently anti-army…
— Farid Ahmed (@MFaridAhmed) June 30, 2020
https://twitter.com/FaraaahKhan/status/1278205547800522753
LUMS graduates not wanting Malala as their keynote speaker are the logical consequence of the unbroken, sustained campaign to post anyone as anti-state that dares asks questions in the country.
Some classes in liberal arts arent going to help much.— gal galoch (@antifatwa) June 30, 2020
Based on the mixed responses online it’s unclear what the LUMS management will do regarding this situation.
Malala recently graduated from Oxford University. Her online exams just ended just recently in June. She had a celebratory moment with her family in London
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Malala Yousafzai Graduates From Oxford With Flying Colors
Previously she was a speaker at the virtual ‘Graduate Together‘ ceremony with people from all across the world, when she herself had not even graduated.
There are conflicting opinions about Malala in Pakistan. The education activist was shot on the head by the Taliban in 2012. She was evacuated to UK and then stayed there as she was offered a scholarship to study at Oxford.
However, her silence on key issues in Pakistan such as Kashmir has irked the public.
Unsure what’s their criteria for inviting a keynote speaker but seems a bit lame. What has she really accomplished? A degree from a prestigious institute & then what? Noble prize winner? Anyone who speaks against Talibans may become credible in the eyes of the west…
True that. What has she truly accomplished? Many girls and boys go through what happened to her. She is the trophy girl for the west. I bet the west will use her later on for accomplishing things in their favour.
Malala barley graduated last month, what qualifies her to be a keynote speaker at such a prestigious institute?? Where are our think tanks with huge practical experience and wisdom to share. Had i been a graduating student or a faculty i rather shame the speaker as well as those who try to nominate her to speak to our youth..
Activist since childhood, as a young girl resisted the mullaban, Nobel laureate. Only disgraceful misogynistic mullaban apologists will keep speaking against her. No shame in that lot..!