A launch event for Malala Yousafzai’s memoir was canceled in Pakistan today due to government pressure and security concerns. Co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb, I Am Malala covers the nearly fatal 2012 Taliban attack on Yousafzai, who was singled out for criticizing the group for limiting girls’ access to education. The book has been banned in private schools in Pakistan, where Yousafzai is increasingly seen as “a tool of Western powers.” Today’s event was organized by Peshawar University’s Area Study Centre and a local education nonprofit. According to the BBC, the police would not provide security for the event and the university received direct pressure from provincial ministers to cancel it. Yousafzai now lives in the U.K. and was not expected to attend the event.
