Malala Yousafzai is a courageous girl who began at
the age of eleven to speak to reporters and journalists about the right of all girls
to study, free of fear and obstacles.
Malala's town of Mingora, located in the Swat Valley of northern
Pakistan, once a vacation destination known as the "land of
waterfalls," was invaded not long ago by some 3,000 Taliban fighters led
by twenty or more hateful commanders. It
was bad enough that the women of Mingora were forbidden by the invading
extremists to shop in their own traditional market, but then one day the
Taliban also announced over the radio that after January 15, 2009, no girls in
Swat Valley would be permitted by them to attend school. Malala's father, Ziauddin, himself the
director of a private girls' school in Mingora, did not close his doors for
fear of reprisal. Nor did he choose to
leave his beloved Swat Valley with his wife, two young sons and Malala. Setting an example, Ziauddin, a social
activist, continued to provide schooling for girls whose families were not
intimidated. Malala stopped wearing her
school uniform but continued to walk to lessons, although she was afraid that
the Taliban might throw acid on her, or inflict some other harm. Many teachers, terrified at the sight of
beheadings and public floggings, left their jobs. Most female students quit. Meanwhile, Malala had begun speaking openly
with visiting TV crews. She even had a
televised encounter with an influential foreign diplomat. She told the world of her and her companions'
wish to resume a normal life. At that
time, Malala wanted very badly to become a medical doctor, so badly that she
wept in front of the camera as she expressed her frustration. Some time in 2009, the Pakistani Army arrived
to liberate the valley from the Taliban.
Only then did Malala's family leave, but only for three months. The
fighting decimated large areas of Mingora
and caused many residents to move away permanently. Ziauddin's school had been occupied by the
Army which left it in bad condition, but he resumed educating girls. Over two-hundred other schools in the valley
remained closed. The first thing Malala
did when the family returned to their home in Mingora was check to see that her
school bag and notebooks were intact.
Finding them where she had left them, she wept once more in front of a camera,
this time in relief. Unfortunately, the
Army had not managed to oust the Taliban entirely. Some Talibani may have been hiding among the
refugees. So that life has never gotten
back to normal for people in Mingora.
One day in October 2012, Taliban fighters halted the van in which 14-year-old
Malala and her classmates were riding.
When she answered to her name, she was shot in the head along with a
classmate. Malala was airlifted to Queen
Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, a facility that treats wounded
military personnnel. Miraculously,
Malala and the other victim survived.
Malala's face, which was unusually pretty by all standards, has been somewhat
disfigured thanks to the trajectory of the bullet that was meant to kill her,
but her hands have remained as beautiful and expressive as ever. After a first round of reconstructive
surgery, she recently talked to reporters and assured them that her eyesight is
all right and that she is steadily regaining her ability to speak. She attributes her "second life" to
the prayers of men, women and children all over the world. People have written songs and poems for
her. Many are calling for her to receive
the next Nobel Peace Prize. (She has
already received Pakistan's own National Prize.) She and her father have started the Malala
Fund, a non-profit cause intended to help educate all Pakistani girls and boys,
as well as well as the millions of females worldwide who are still
denied schooling. As Ziauddin says, "When you educate a
girl, you educate an entire family."
Who knows, maybe Malala will become a doctor someday, or else, if she
regains her strength, she will strive as a politician to make it possible for
all Pakistanis to study and live in peace.
In any event, she will always be remembered for having been a very brave
and very willing spokesperson for human rights.
May God bless the Yousufzai family and keep them safe, wherever they may
live in future. And may all people
everywhere someday be free to study. A AMERICAN READER
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