We Are Displaced

Yousafzai reminisces about her childhood in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, which she says is referred to as the “Switzerland of the East” due to its forested mountains and natural beauty. Her early childhood was a peaceful and happy one, and while she had some awareness of a group called the Taliban, their presence felt like a very distant problem. However, her family’s fears about a Taliban occupation grew as the group became more prominent in their region.

While the beginning of the 21st century saw some advancement for women’s rights in Pakistan, in the Swat Valley, a growing number of people adhered to more conservative interpretations of Islam. Yousafzai says that because an extremist organization donated aid to locals after an earthquake, they gained legitimacy in the eyes of some people in the community, causing more people in the Swat Valley to become interested in their belief system. These people, who Yousafzai explains were aligned with the Taliban, advocated for women to cover their faces, for men to maintain long beards, and that activities such as dancing or watching Western movies were “sinful” (Location 109). Ultimately, they encouraged Pakistanis to burn their electronic devices and claimed that allowing girls to attend school was not Islamic.