Trolls target Malala... for being friends with a Tory
INTERNET trolls have attacked Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai for her friendship with a Conservative.
The activist, who was shot in the head by the Taliban when she was 15 for campaigning for girls’ education rights in Pakistan, was accused of being a ‘disingenuous careerist’.
It came after she was said to have posted an endorsement on Facebook of her friend Kia Williams, who is standing for president in the Oxford University Conservative Association elections.
Miss Yousafzai, 23, who graduated from Oxford this summer, wrote: ‘Kia has worked so hard putting her team and manifesto together, and I genuinely think she and her team will do an amazing job if elected. Whether you’re an active OUCA member or not, they have something for everyone.’
She added her endorsement of Miss Williams ‘is not a reflection of my personal political views – I just really think my friends are talented ented people who deserve the opportunity to improve the association they care about’.
The post was then shared on Twitter, where trolls began attacking Miss Yousafzai.
One wrote: ‘Not the least bit surprised Malala is a Tory. Had my about her from early. Always suspected she was disingenuous careerist.’
Another said: ‘Sis went to Oxford and now she’s a Tory. Why am I not surprised?’ A third claimed the human rights activist had been ‘churned through the imperialist system’.
Miss Yousafzai appears to have later deleted her Facebook post. Her spokesman did not respond to a request for a comment.
But others spoke out on social media to condemn the attacks.
Environment minister Zac Goldsmith tweeted: ‘I wonder what these weirdos attacking Malala (for having a Conservative friend) think qualifies them to judge this extraordinary woman? What have they done with their lives, other than pouring incoherent and trivial hatreds through their keyboards.’
Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said: ‘ Twitter… just invalidated itself. I mean it’s Malala. A girl who was shot through the head by the Taliban for trying to go to school and get an education.’
Author Matt Haig said: ‘ The privileged self-righteousness of those trolling Malala for having a Conservative friend is astounding, even by Twitter standards.’
Miss Yousafzai came to Britain in 2012 after being shot. She was awarded the Nobel prize in 2014.
‘Incoherent and trivial hatreds’