Last October, when Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai
was returning home in a school bus, in the remote North-West Frontier
Province town of Mingora, she could never have imagined that on her 16th
birthday she would be in faraway New York, receiving accolades from the
United Nations for being a blazing symbol of women’s right to education
in a region subject to the harsh diktats of Taliban rule.
Yet
that is precisely where she found herself this Friday, as she donned a
pink head scarf, and in her first speech since the Taliban in Pakistan
tried to kill her nine months ago, told United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon and around 1,000 students from around the world attending a
Youth Assembly at the U.N that education was the only way to improve
lives.
“Let us pick up our books and pens. They are
our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book
can change the world. Education is the only solution,” Ms. Yousafzai
said.
After images of the prone body of a girl shot
in the head and neck, being transported via helicopter to a Peshawar
hospital shocked many across the world last year, Ms. Yousafzai, still
unconscious, was eventually sent to a hospital in the United Kingdom for
intensive rehabilitation.
Receiving several standing
ovations this week at the U.N., she reflected, “They thought that the
bullet would silence us, but they failed... The terrorists thought that
they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in
life, except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength,
courage and fervour was born.”
At the Youth Assembly,
Ms. Yousafzai also presented Mr. Ban with a petition reportedly signed
by 4 million people in support of 57 million children who are not unable
to attend school, and “demanding that world leaders fund new teachers,
schools and books and end child labour, marriage and trafficking.”
Even
as Mullah Fazlullah, the cleric who allegedly ordered the attack on Ms.
Yousafzai, was said to be hiding out in eastern Afghanistan, and his
capture remains bogged down by the complexity of ISAF operations in the
border region near the Durand Line, Ms. Yousafzai has displayed defiance
in the face of the Taliban reiterating threats to harm her and her
family.
Since the incident of the attack against her,
former U.K. Prime Minister and current U.N. Special Envoy for Global
Education Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Ms. Yousafzai’s name,
titled “I am Malala” and calling for children worldwide be attending
school by the end of 2015.
Mr. Ban has announced that November 10 will be celebrated as Malala Day.
‘Standing ovation’
Her
continuing popularity as an ambassador for women’s rights and human
rights were summed up more broadly in a tweet by former Pakistan
Ambassador to the U.S., Sherry Rehman, who said, “Standing ovation for
Malala at the UN. Proud of this brave young Pakistani woman. May she
inspire thousands more to lead.”
One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world
Malala Yousafzai
Source:- The Hindu
