MALALA HOME AgAin
Brave Nobel winner hailed in Pakistan shoot scene return
PAKISTAN’S NOBEL Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai returned to her hometown Saturday for the first time since she was shot in the head there in 2012 over her work as an advocate for young women’s education.
Yousafzai and her family arrived in a helicopter provided by the Pakistani military, which took her from Islamabad to the town of Mingora in the Swat Valley. She had arrived in the capital before dawn on Thursday flanked by heavy security and plans to return to Britain on Monday.
Yousafzai, 20, won international renown after she was shot by the Taliban in Mingora. She received initial treatment in Pakistan and later was taken to England for further care. She stayed on in the United Kingdom to continue her education and in 2014 became the youngest person to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
Yousafzai visited her childhood home Saturday accompanied by her father, mother and brother. She sobbed upon entering the home where relatives, former classmates and friends had been anxiously waiting since morning to welcome her with flowers and hugs.
Youzafzai said she waited for the moment for more than five years and said she often looked at Pakistan on the map, hoping one day to return. She plans to go back to Pakistan permanently after completing her studies in Britain.
“It is still like a dream for me. Am I among you? Is it a dream or reality?” she said.
Yousafzai later returned to Islamabad, where she met with human rights activists.
Arooj Bibi, a neighbor, said she was happy to meet with Youzafzai, but was sad because her visit was so brief. Bibi said Yousafzai “lit the candle of education. God willing, there will be thousands of girls like Malala getting an education” in the area.
Yousafzai also attended a gathering at the army’s Cadet College in Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban led by Mullah Fazlullah had taken over the scenic valley in 2007, marking the height of its strength there. The Pakistani military would later evict militants from the valley.
Security had been visibly beefed up in Mingora the previous day. The Pakistani Taliban had warned after the attack on the then-14-year-old that they would target her again if they got the chance.
In October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban militant who jumped inside her school van and yelled, “Who is Malala?” She was targeted for speaking out on education for young women. The Taliban at the time claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying she was promoting “Western thinking,” adding that they had warned her family three times before deciding to kill her.
Since the attack and her recovery, Yousafzai has led the Malala Fund in which she said has invested $6 million for schools and books and uniforms for schoolchildren.