Malala – A Little Girl as Brave as a Lion

 

Hi guys,

 

A few days back as I was skipping thru the pages of the newspaper with my usual alacrity I came across the name “Malala”. The article didn’t offer many details. I asked my family and friends and it seemed everyone knew about her while I had totally managed to sidestep her. When I finally unravelled the Malala story, I was held spellbound by her valor, grit and was amazed at the passion of her conviction.

 

For those of you who like me don’t know much about her, Malala is a 15 year old (12 July 1997) school girl from Swat Valley in Pakistan. She has been fighting against the Taliban from the tender young age of 11 for girls right to education. As a result of which, on 9th October 2012, she was shot down by Taliban gunmen while returning from school in a school bus.

 

Malala sustained critical bullet wounds in her head, neck and shoulder and was rushed to local hospital. Swelling developed in her left brain, necessitating a decompressive craniectomy, in which part of the skull is removed to allow room for the brain to swell. She remained critical and was moved from one hospital to another in Pakistan and finally to Birmingham, U.K, where she received a titanium skull plate and a cochlear implant in her left ear on 2nd February 2013.

 

Malala’s journey started in 2009, when the Taliban banned girl’s education in the valley and shut down schools.  With her father’s encouragement, an education activist himself, Malala protested by writing a BBC blog under the pseudonym “Gul Makai” - corn flower in Urdu. The blog which gave a young girls account of the happenings in the valley under the Taliban rule, gained popularity both nationally and internationally. Malala’s wrote her blog entries in Urdu and passed them onto a reporter who scanned and e-mailed them to be posted.

 

Malala received massive support from all sections.Eventually her identity was revealed leading to numerous print and television interviews. It was at this time that New York Times did a documentary on her, which gave her an international platform to raise her voice against the Taliban. She also became the chairperson of the District Child Assembly Swat and was nominated International Children's Peace Prize by Desmond Tutu and won Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize. There is also a school in her name in Pakistan.

 

Since then many people have been joined her cause. The Taliban assassination attempt on Malala, was condemned all over the world. The list of her exponents includes the likes of Angelina Jolie and Madonna to name a few. Gordon Brown, former British Prime Minister, started a campaign “I am Malala” to have all children in school by 2015. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon announced 10th November as “Malala Day”. Malala is currently the youngest nominee in history for the Nobel Peace Prize 2013.

 

There is much more to the Malala story then what I have mentioned here. As I read more and more about her I feel that the term, Courage Under Fire, will not find a better example than Malala Yousafzai. At present, Malala is recovering at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, U.K.

 

You can contact Malala through her facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/malalayousafzaiofficial

 

 

You can view Malala’s journey through this cartoon trip from www.zenpencils.com by Gavin Aung Than.