Malala Yousufzai. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI: On October 9, 2012, the ideology of hate attacked Pakistan, in the form of an assassination attempt on a 14-year-old girl.
In a harrowing incident that shocked the nation, three armed men intercepted a van carrying schoolgirls, identified their target and then shot her, point blank.
Their target: iconic child activist and blogger Malala Yousafzai.
A year on, Malala - Nobel Peace Prize nominee - is now living in the UK where she was flown after the incident for treatment.
Below are few excerpts from articles by people who met Malala in person - before and after the shooting incident.
Mishal Husain writes for BBC:
Malala is an extraordinary young woman, wise beyond her years, sensible, sensitive and focused. She has experienced the worst of humanity, and the best of humanity - both from the medics who cared for her and the messages from many thousands of well-wishers.
Kamila Shamsie writes for The Guardian:
Malala is so entirely sparkling and alive, with no sign of the Taliban or education or responsibilities intruding on her memories of playing cricket on the rooftop of her house with the mountains as backdrop, that I wish I could take her to Lord's instead of plying her with questions.
Adam B Ellick narrates for the New York Times:
The Malala I know transformed with age from an obedient, rather shy 11-year-old into a publicly fearless teenager consumed with taking her activism to new heights.
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COMMENTS (43)
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Neda Soltan's Stone
Bullet scared Your stone bears your purity Your stone bears their hate And I have been accused of idolatry Praying at your martyr's grave.
Basiji's Bullet Piercing so many hearts Tearing through your flesh Striping away the veil Your soul's innocents.
The bullet Opened the wounds of my corruption Now my soul bears the acid of their hate So, I kneel at your martyr's grave Gasping at your beauty Here is Karbala.
Nope,Ideas attract bullets and that is why she got it in her head.Some do not like ideas and do not want you to think.they do all the thinking for you and yours is to follow.this is true of some religions as well!
@Fareed: Obviously you are a victim of your own assumptions. Go get some professional help. Malala is the future of Pakistan, and you are the past. Bye bye.
@Express Tribune: heheheh just wrote some facts/ground realities and it didn't appeared @ an un-biased media!!! :)
From darkness of fears, Malala stood with unshakeable determination, not only for the children of Pakistan, but for the children of entire world, who do not go to schools for one reason or the other, Malala has become a beacon for every one in the world.
Girls like Malala are born in centuries. She has extra ordinary capabilities which are God given.
There is a long way to go for Malala to put the foundation of education in the correct manner. With it she has to fight with the children of Pakistan against the Taliban, who tried to kill her, but she survived.
Malala is born to eradicate the cancer of Taliban from the grace root level so that no one should stop the girls going from schools, no Taliban should be able to bomb any school in Pakistan and no Taliban should have the courage to point his gun towards the girls of Pakistan.
God has given steel hands to Malala. She can twist the barrel of the guns of Taliban in one go.
People of Pakistan love Malala, as she is the daughter of every single Pakistani, no matter where he or she lives in the world.
The entire nation is standing behind Malala Yousufzia with the commitment that our primary goal is education and not the guns which kills innocent people.
When there is a girl like Malala, no body can dare to stop the children of Pakistan from going to schools.
It has been a year since Malala was brutally shot in the head by the Taliban. To make matters worse, they proudly claimed responsibility of shooting a 15 year old girl. Recently, again they issued new threats to kill her. Should we be surprised? No! What else would we expect from cowards who shoot little girls? Some cynics question as to why the western world is so interested in Malala, and why has she been awarded numerous peace prizes. The reason is very obvious. Since she was 10 years old, Malala has been an advocate for girl’s education, when the Taliban closed down Schools in the Swat Valley. She had become a symbol of “girl power” worldwide with her blog on the BBC, titled, “A Dairy of A Pakistani Girl.” Today, Malala has survived and is a great ambassador of peace for Pakistan. In her speech at the United Nations, and elsewhere, she promotes Pakistan and her quest for education. Can anyone deny that the Taliban have always shown that they are afraid of the power of education. They betray the very name they have taken for themselves “Taliban”. “Talibs” do not stop others from gaining knowledge, it is the birth right of every human being. A nation can only progress if its children are educated and have the ability to think. Taliban have shown over and over that they do not adhere to that thinking.
Abdul Quddus DET-United States Central Command,
@Candid1: and by the way, as if you are part of the solution ;-)
@AliKuliKhan: @Candid1: you people are so naive - you think the people out there hail you because she stands up for women education? really? they spit on you and your country - as to what you have done to your country and want to portrait to the world that this country needs some intervention because malalas cannot go to school - google intervention. As far as me speaking up publicly - hmm - who wrote those hidden diaries? Again have nothing against the innocent child.
One has to feel for the child. All the investment being done on this poor soul, once it fails to accomplish its mission, the same girl will become the most hated personality on the planet.
Thank you, ET! Long live Malala!
@Fareed: Did you ever speak up against TTP publicly? If so please tell me where, when, and what you said? Have you done anything to further the cause of education, specifically female education in Pakistan? Did you take a bullet in the head for your stand? Malala has done and endured all of this. Just sitting behind the anonymous safety of your iPad/computer and saying you don't like the TTP means nothing.
And, exactly what kind of "pretense" is this girl being used for? Is campaigning for an educated Pakistan a pretense? Is not bowing to the terror of TTP a pretense? Do you even know what you are talking about?
You are just jealous that someone is getting global recognition for her courageous stand, which goes to the credit of Pakistanis' unsuppressable spirit to improve their lives through learning and achievement, and there is no element of defamation here. I am further delighted not to be liked by ignorant, narrow minded, and jealous individuals such as yourself.
As I said before: If you can’t be part of the solution, then don’t be part of the problem.
PTI trolls are out in full strength mocking a little girl who had the courage to stand up against the Taliban unlike their pseudo hero also known as Taliban khan who is in bed with the Taliban. How low can people get?
Wonderful job Web Desk ! loved the way you did it!
@g: "Your comment also intimates that the west has jumped ...." ?? ahmm ... read the article: starts blogging for bbc ?! All that you said - i don't disagree - but do you think the solution to the TTP menace is to go public world over and shout that the TTP is the bad boy? Why isn't the govt./army doing something about it? If you quarrel at home - would you go on the street and start shouting about your problem?? An interview with a kid only shows how terribly shattered, dumb and stupid the country is that has allowed some fanatics to attack that little, beautiful, innocent and angelic kid. But having said all that, its just that the govt. should control these ppl instead of letting loose the world on a wild chase about what stupidity the country is doing. Mullahism has destroyed the country on all fronts - more bad reputation makes it just more worse.
She is the real face of this beautiful nation, not those ugly animals and their supporters.
Drama, Drama, Drama...... west is preparing her to be Pakistan's PM as long as she is 26.....
*She deserves
Malala is a brave girl.. But given way too much importance then he deserves!!
@Fareed
An interview with Malala shows both that she is courageous and extraordinary in the face of the cowards that would kill her and that Paksitan is a lawless country without freedom for women or religious tolerance. These are not mutually exclusive as you suggest.
Your comment also intimates that the west has jumped on the Malala bandwagon and we don't perpetually fight tyrants and regimes that persecute innocents. You probably write comments about how he drones should be stopped as well.
Malala, you are SUPER GIRL. But going for Nobel prize before Edhi is a bit too much.
@Candid1: its people like you i dont like - irrationality at its best - you didn't read what i wrote - i did say that wht TTP did was heinous! What those ttps are doing is wrong and i also say force should be used against them (so be assured i'm not pti) .. but using the girl as a pretense .. zzz... Just analyze how much defamation Pakistan gets as a side affect! And refrain from blindly labeling others.
Oh please give me a break. Too much of Malala!
@Candid1: Courage to speak up against TTP. OMG! What valid point. 170/180 million people are against the TTP . Let's all start speaking up against them. I am going to start blogging for the BBC from now on. Yay!! I am going to be famous soon.
Excellent point made by Candid1. The haters should be ashamed of themselves.
Too much MALALALALALA. Realy boring now....
@Athar: @Fareed: @Dock Pound: @Ali: @tanvir: @Mubashir:
Shame on all of you. None of you had the courage to speak up against the TTP, and now you are pho phooing someone who did. What have you done to further the cause of education in Pakistan? If you can't be part of the solution, then at least don't be part of the problem.
2009 Starts blogging for the BBC.
says it all !! Everybody who wants to get famous, start blogging for BBC!!!!!
Haters gonna hate - more power to Malala
Fareed, At least she is giving Pakistan a soft image. Logic that other sacrifices by children dying in drone attacks or attacks by Taliban are being ignored does not hold water. We should take full advantage of Malala's achievements and make our place in the world instead of living in isolation.
Long live Malala Yousufzai. Long live her message of hope and girls' rights. So long as Pakistan has people like her, there's still a flicker of hope left that the country is not completely failed.
For all those who think Malala is being groomed by west to be sent back to Pakistan later to control it:
Do you seriously think the west has to do this much effort to 'control' Pakistan? I mean can't they simply buy an already groomed politician here? That would be much easy, no?
PTI's trolls mocking Malala again. Feeling big and "manly" right, ridiculing a 16 year old girl? Why not take your anger instead at the savages that attacked her? But I can see why you all feeling inferiority complex. Because Malala has shown more bravery than the Imran Khan you guys worship and all his lackeys who are destroying Pakistan.
she is not safe here
@Ali as if they discussed their agenda with you first!
If you are so afraid of this 'game' about her coming back to Pakistan in future as a CIA-funded-politician, prepare a better alternate here in Pakistan!!
It's one of those stories where you think thrice before penning down something. The fact that the girl went through all the pain - there is no doubt about it - its tragic and heinous.
But why does everyone want to jump on the Malala Bandwagon. Anyone who does not endorse the western portrayal of her is not a 'Journalist' and cannot call himself an enlighted person. Everything that she says does perfectly make sense and is all true - but - saying all that sitting besides western show hosts (who snarl for controversial issues) isn't a good idea.
I recently watched an interview of her and her father in a german talk show. The impression i got in the end was that it wasn't Malala who was able to narrate the heinous things that the Talibans do - rather it was the host who was able to portrait Pakistan as a very terrible country that gives no rights to its citizens, women or girls (altho Pakistan has to improve here).
In summary, my contention is only - why does the western/pak media portrait this so much now and why didn't it have such an idea before with thousands of girls with whom such happens daily in Pakistan ??
What the fuss is all about?? Malala Malalaaaa
Another Bibi in making by the West for us..It's all part of the game...
this constant malala drama by ET is disgusting
Lets declare it as Malala Day globaly and mark it as a symbol of Education for Girls, women right and blah blah...
Too much of Malala these days on ET!!
Malala is extra-ordinarily brilliant and intelligent.
More power to you Malala! I wish the adults in Pakistan demonstrated a modicum of courage that you have shown.
Long live Malala.
Waiting for the comments in this space.