Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever Nobel Laureate, on Thursday arrived in Pakistan, six years after she was shot in head by the Taliban militants for advocating for girls’ education.
Malala, now 20 and a vocal human rights activist, was shot by a gunman for campaigning for female education in 2012 in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.
Accompanied by her parents, Malala was escorted through Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport under tight security. Malala was dressed in Pakistani shalwar kameez and dupatta. She was smiling and looked happy as she was greeted at the airport.
Her arrival and stay in Pakistan has been kept secret due to security threats.
But official sources said she is expected to stay for four days and meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Malala Yousafzai, the world’s youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate, pauses to wipe away tears during an emotional speech on her first return to Pakistan since she was shot by the Taliban in 2012. https://t.co/gEqECNVdTV pic.twitter.com/SHHPLYTllM
— ABC News (@ABC) March 29, 2018
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is back in Pakistan for the first time since she was attacked by Taliban militants in 2012. pic.twitter.com/7oXwLEuD3y
— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 29, 2018
CEO of Malala Fund is also with her and she is expected to participate in the ‘Meet the Malala’ programme in Pakistan.
It is not known if she will travel to her native Swat in northwestern Pakistan where she lived and was attacked while returning from a school in October 2012 when she was 14.
Severely wounded, Malala was taken by helicopter from one military hospital in Pakistan to another, where doctors placed her in a medically induced coma so an air ambulance could fly her to Great Britain for treatment.
After she was attacked, the Taliban released a statement saying they would target her again if she survived.
Welcome back to homeland @Malala, your courage inspires millions. Proud of you! #MalalaYousafzai
— Naz Baloch (@NazBaloch_) March 29, 2018
The Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai has returned to #Pakistan after 5 years and being honoured by the Prime Minister of Pakistan at a special ceremony. MoS for MOIB @Marriyum_A was also present on the occasion along with PM's Special advisor Mussadiq Malik.#MalalaYousafzai pic.twitter.com/uYTNSu5ipP
— Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) March 29, 2018
At age 17, Malala became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her education advocacy.
Unable to return to Pakistan after her recovery, Malala moved to Britain, setting up the Malala Fund and supporting local education advocacy groups with a focus on Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, Syria and Kenya.
She is currently studying at Oxford University.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed her as UN Messenger of Peace to promote girls’ education in April last year. Malala began her campaign aged just 11, when she started writing a blog for the BBC’s Urdu service in 2009 about life under the Taliban in Swat, where they were banning girls’ education.
In 2007, the Islamist militants had taken over the area and imposed a brutal rule.
Oh Brave Brave @Malala You made us cry. š¢
— Asma Shirazi (@asmashirazi) March 29, 2018
You are Pride of Pakistan šµš°and your cause is bigger. Your country, your people are with you.
Stay Blessed #MalalaYousafzai @MalalaFund @ZiauddinY pic.twitter.com/iu3y1H1ruH
Opponents were murdered, people were publicly flogged for supposed breaches of sharia law, women were banned from going to market, and girls were stopped from going to school.
The Taliban, who are opposed to the education of girls, have destroyed hundreds of schools in Pakistan.
