Malala’s visit
Nobel winner returns to Pakistan for first time since 2012 Taliban attack
ISLAMABAD — Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Thursday said she was excited to be back in Pakistan for the first time since she was shot in 2012 by Taliban militants angered at her championing of education for girls.
Yousafzai said in a brief speech at a ceremony at Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s office that she will continue to campaign for the education of girls and asked Pakistanis to be united on issues like providing better healthcare and education.
She said she remembered having to leave Pakistan for treatment after she was attacked. Covering her tearfilled eyes with her hands, Yousafzai said it was hard to wait for more than five years to return home. “It is now actually happening and I am here,” she said.
Abbasi praised Yousafzai for her sacrifices and role in the promotion of girls’ education. He said he was happy to welcome her home, where terrorism had been eliminated.
As news broke about Yousafzai’s arrival, many of her fellow Pakistanis welcomed her.
Cricketer turned opposition leader Imran Khan’s party said Yousafzai’s return was a sign of the defeat of extremism in the country.
Javeria Khan, a 12-year-old schoolgirl in Yousafzai’s hometown, said she was excited about Yousafzai’s return.
“I wish I could see her in Swat. I wish she had come here,” she said.
Yousafzai was just 14 years old but already known for her activism when Taliban gunmen boarded the school van in which she was sitting and demanded to know “who is Malala?” before shooting her in the head. Two of her classmates were also injured. In critical condition, Yousafzai was flown to the garrison city of Rawalpindi before being airlifted to Birmingham in England.
She has since spoken at the United Nations, mesmerizing the world with her eloquence and her unrelenting commitment to the promotion of girls’ education through the Malala Fund, a book, meetings with refugees and other activism.