Welcome home, Malala

A dream came true for Malala Yousafzai on Thursday when the 20-year-old Nobel peace laureate made a tearful return to Pakistan for the first time since she was shot in the head by a gunman nearly six years ago.
The gruesome attack left an indelible mark on the young education crusader, who openly defied repressive teachings on educating girls and encouraged her peers to do the same. For this very reason, Malala received a bullet in the head. She was airlifted to Britain for medical treatment and the rest is history. Pakistan has changed in many ways since that dreadful day. Malala, too, has changed since that dreadful day. The military has defeated the menace of terrorism and Malala has grown stronger and louder. Her journey has been tragic, yet triumphant. In 2012, she became a global symbol for human rights and a vocal campaigner for girls’ education after a gunman boarded her school bus in the Swat Valley, asked “Who is Malala?” and shot her. Unafraid, yet battling one of the world’s most feared terror groups, Malala prevailed against all odds and prevailed against the desires of her attackers, who wanted to suppress education. Away from home, she bagged a Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless struggle against the suppression of children and for the universal right of all children to education. As much as the Taliban craved to see her fade away, Malala emerged as an inextinguishable light of hope for the hopeless. She was received by royalty and leaders across the world and she recently secured a spot at the University of Oxford to study philosophy, politics and economics. Her story of defiance has sparked movements worldwide demanding girls’ education and world leaders have hailed the ‘Malala effect’ that made young girls even more determined to get an education. All in all, Malala’s unwavering courage has provided Pakistan the determination to reject the threats and intimidations of terrorism against education and its women. So thank you, Malala Yousafzai — our intrepid warrior and welcome home!

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2018.

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