Washington welcomed Malala Yousafzai, 16, with a standing ovation:
Malala waved to the excited audience as she confidently walked down the
steps of the World Bank Atrium for her public conversation with World
Bank President Jim Yong Kim. Dressed in a traditional shalwar kameez, she spoke proudly of her
campaign for education for all girls and boys, at times joking about how
she and her brothers argue at home. Although she did not win
the Nobel Peace Prize, Malala said she was determined to keep
campaigning for global education, adding that even the Taliban cannot
stop her. "They cannot stop me from continuing my campaign," she said firmly. In
fact, Malala said, it only encourages her. "I have already seen death
and I know death is supporting me in my cause for education." One year ago, Malala was shot at point-blank range in the head by the
Taliban while on her way home from school.
Malala with Christiane Amanpour at CNN said "They cannot shoot my dreams":
“In Swat, before the terrorism, we were going to school,” Malala told
Christiane Amanpour, . “It was just a normal life and carrying a heavy bag and doing
homework daily and being good and getting high marks.” Why are we going to school, she and her friends asked themselves. “When the terrorists came, when they stopped us from going to school,
I got the evidence,” she said. “And they showed me a proof that, yes,
the terrorists are afraid of education. They are afraid of the power of
education.” “They did a mistake, the biggest mistake. They ensured me, and they
told me, through their attack, that even death is supporting me, that
even death does not want to kill me.” “The thing is, they can kill me. They can only kill Malala. But it
does not mean that they can kill my cause, as well; my cause of
education, my cause of peace, and my cause of human rights. My cause of
equality will still be surviving. They cannot kill my cause.” “They only can shoot a body,” she said, “but they cannot shoot my dreams.”
Malala met President Barak Obama:
President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their 15-year-old
daughter, Malia, also met with Malala in the Oval Office on Friday. In a
statement, the first lady said, "Investing in girls' education is the
very best thing we can do, not just for our daughters and
granddaughters, but for their families, their communities and their
countries." Malala along with her father, Zaiuddin Yousafzai, spoke at Sidwell
Friends School, where Obama's daughters attend.
Story of Malala Yousafzai:
Malala Yousafzai (
Pashto:
ملاله یوسفزۍ [mə ˈlaː lə . ju səf ˈzəj];
[1] Urdu:
ملالہ یوسف زئی
Malālah Yūsafzay, born 12 July 1997)
[2] is a
Pakistani school pupil and education activist from the town of
Mingora in the
Swat District of Pakistan's northwestern
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She is known for her activism for rights
to education and
for women, especially in the Swat Valley, where the
Taliban had at times
banned girls from attending school. In early 2009, at the age of 11–12, Yousafzai wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the
BBC
detailing her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control
of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls. The
following summer, a
New York Times documentary was filmed about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the
Second Battle of Swat. Yousafzai rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and she was nominated for the
International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist
Desmond Tutu.
On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an
assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school
bus. In the days immediately following the attack, she remained
unconscious and in critical condition, but later her condition improved
enough for her to be sent to the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Birmingham,
England, for intensive rehabilitation. On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a
fatwā against those who tried to kill her, but the Taliban reiterated its intent to kill Yousafzai and
her father.
The assassination attempt sparked a national and international outpouring of support for Yousafzai.
Deutsche Welle wrote in January 2013 that Malala may have become "the most famous teenager in the world."
[3] United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education
Gordon Brown
launched a UN petition in Yousafzai's name, using the slogan "I am
Malala" and demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the
end of 2015 – a petition which helped lead to the ratification of
Pakistan's first Right to Education Bill.
[4] In the 29 April 2013 issue of
Time magazine, Yousafzai was featured on the magazine's front cover and as one of "
The 100 Most Influential People in the World". She was the winner of Pakistan's first
National Youth Peace Prize and was nominated for the 2013
Nobel Peace Prize (although Malala was widely tipped to win the prize,
[5] it was awarded to the
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons).
On 12 July 2013, Yousafzai spoke at the UN to call for worldwide access
to education, and in September 2013 she officially opened the
Library of Birmingham.
[6] Yousafzai is the recipient of the
Sakharov Prize for 2013.
Thoughts of People:
Seven thousand miles away, Samia Raheel Qazi, one of the leading members
of Jamaat-e-Islami, the women's wing of the Islamist political party,
questioned why more action wasn't taken after the Taliban issued a death
threat against Malala for her activism. "Why was her security not
tightened?" Qazi said. "I am just a bit concerned about this making her a bigger target for
extremists," said Shaukat Hamdani, a Lahori native who now lives in New
York. "In the end, we have to realize that she is still just a kid."
Todd Shea, an American who has been living and working in Pakistan for
the past eight years, says it's possible others are using Malala for
their own agenda. "I think she is a strong enough girl (and) as she matures and grows that
it will be basically impossible for anyone to do that and get away with
(it)," he said. "I think she is smart enough to understand her place
and position." Shea runs the non-profit Comprehensive Disaster Response Services and
has worked in many dangerous areas in Pakistan. He remembers Malala as a
"lady-like, cultured and intelligent" girl. He had dinner with her and
her family when they were both nominated for an award in Pakistan in
March 2012, six months before she was shot.
Today, Malala said she hopes she can return to Pakistan. "I am hopeful
that a day will come when I can go back to my homeland," she said. In the meantime, Zaiuddin Yousafzai stood strongly by his daughter, and
in a Washington school room packed with people of all ages, he quoted
his daughter in response to a question about political culture, saying,
"Send pens not guns, books not tanks, send teachers not soldiers."
Source: CNN. wusa9, Wikipedia.
12:31 AM
Maksuda
Posted in: My Writings
