Karachi school's name to be restored after social media backlash

Sindh has decided to restore the original name of the Malala Yousafzai Government Girls Secondary School on Karachi’s Mission Road after social media users demanded the government to protect the city's history.

The school was originally named Seth Kooverji Khimji Lohana Gujarati School after a Gujrati social worker. The name was renamed after Malala Yousafzai on February 6, 2012.

SAMAA TV's Sanjay Sadhwani had tweeted a picture of the school and in which he said that it was not appropriate to rename the school after Malala Yousafzai. “Stop playing with history,” he remarked and asked the government to restore the school’s original name.

تاریخ کو مذہب سے ہٹ کر دیکھا جائے تو مناسب نہیں ہوگا سیٹھ کورجی کھیم جی لوہانہ گجراتی اسکول کراچی کا نام ملالہ یوسف زئی گورنمنٹ گرلز سیکنڈری اسکول رکھنا کسی طور پر اچھا عمل نہیں ہے ۔ حکومت سے اپیل ہے یہ نام واپسی کورجی کھیم جی رکھا جائے ۔ تاریخ سے کھلواڑ بند کیا جائے @SaeedGhani1 pic.twitter.com/cQykExDk7J

— sanjay sadhwani (@sanjaysadhwani2) July 8, 2021

Let's not change the history, said human rights activist Kapil Dev while responding to the tweet. “We request Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani to revisit the decision,” he remarked, adding that new schools should be opened to honour Malala Yousafzai.

Another user wrote that Seth Kooverji Khimji’s name is history that needs safeguarding and highlights the Gujrati Sindhi contribution in the making of Karachi.

Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala’s father, reacted to the news and said that the school’s original name must be restored. “We are bound to respect our history.”

Dear @KDSindhi & @sanjaysadhwani2 ,
This school was officially renamed after @Malala on February 6, 2012.
If its first name was Seth Kooverji Khimji Lohana Gujarati School, then we request @SaeedGhani1 sab to revert it to its original name. We are bound to respect our history. https://t.co/QixeenDTLN

— Ziauddin Yousafzai (@ZiauddinY) July 8, 2021

He went ahead and thanked activists for pointing this out. “Due apologies if our Hindu community has felt hurt and alienated.”

On this, Saeed Ghani shared that he has asked for a comprehensive report on the matter. “The name will be restored officially after due process but surely any other school will be named after Malala,” he promised.