DHAKA: Officials say they have banned teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai’s book from private schools across Pakistan, calling her a tool of the West.

Malala attracted global attention last year when the Taleban shot her in the head in north-west Pakistan for criticising the group. She released a memoir in October, I Am Malala, that was co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb.

Mr Adeeb Javedani, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association, said on Sunday his group had banned Malala`s book from the libraries of its 40,000 affiliated schools. He said Malala was representing the West, not Pakistan.

Malala has become an international hero for opposing the Taleban and standing up for girls` education. But conspiracy theories have flourished in Pakistan that her shooting was staged to create a hero for the West.

BDST: 1920 HRS, NOV 10, 2013
RoR/RK