Malala Yousafzai - The Youngest Novel Laureate In The World

Malala Yousafzai - The Youngest Novel Laureate In The World

Malala- Md. Lutful Huda

General

1. Malala Yousafzai, was born on July 12, 1997 at Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan. As a teenager, she spoke out publicly against the Taliban’s forbidden on girl's education. She became an advocate for girls' education when she herself was still a girl child, which resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. On Oct 9, 2012, a gunman shot Malala when she was traveling home from school. She survived and continued to speak out on the importance of education. She was able to gain global attention when she survived an assassination attempt in 2012. In 2013, she gave a speech to the United Nations and published her first book, 'I Am Malala'. In 2014. Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize recognizing her efforts on behalf of children’s rights. 

Early Life and Family

2. For the first few years of her life, her hometown Swat Valley, Pakistan, remained a popular visiting place that was known for its summer festivals. However the area began to change as the Taliban tried to take control. Malala attended a school that her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, had founded. After the Taliban began attacking girls' schools in Swat, Malala gave a speech in Peshawar, Pakistan, in September 2008. The title of her talk was, "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" In early 2009, Malala began blogging for the BBC about living under the Taliban's threats of stopping study and education. In order to hide her identity with BBC, she used the name Gul Makai. However she was revealed to be the BBC blogger in December of that year.

Tragic Incident

3. On Oct 9, 2012, when 15 year old Malala was riding a bus with her friends on their way home from school, a masked gunman boarded the bus and demanded to know which girl was Malala. When her friends looked towards Malala, her location was given away. The gunman fired at her, hitting Malala in the left side of her head; the bullet then traveled down her neck. Two other girls were also injured in the attack. The shooting left Malala in critical condition. So she was flown to a military hospital in Peshawar. A portion of her skull was removed to treat her swelling brain. To receive further care, she was transferred to UK. Malala was taken out of a medically induced coma in UK. Though she would require several surgeries including repair of a facial nerve to fix the left side of her face she had suffered. No major brain damage was identified. In March 2013, she was able to begin attending school in Birmingham. The shooting resulted in a massive support for Malala Yousafzai, which continued during her recovery. Unfortunately, the Taliban still considers Malala Yousafzai a target.

Achievements

4. Malala could achieve a lot within her short span of lifetime. The achievements of her, in nutshell, are appended below:

a. Awards. On Oct 10, 2013, in acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament awarded Malala ''the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. "With a growing public platform, Malala continued to speak out about her right, and the right of all women, to education. Her activism resulted in a nomination for the International Children's Peace Prize in 2011. In December of that year, she was awarded Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize. That same year, she was awarded Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize. In 2013, She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 but passed over that year, she, in 2014, became the youngest recipient's of the Novel prize in the history.

b. Nobel Peace Prize. After winning the Nobel, Malala continued to study in England while using her enhanced public profile to bring attention to human rights issues around the world. In July 2015, with support from the Malala Fund, she opened a girls’ school in Lebanon for refugees from the Syrian Civil War. Her life, before and after the attack she endured, was examined in the documentary in 2005 named "He Named Me Malala". The title referenced the fact that Malala had been named for the Afghan heroine Malalai, or Malala, who purportedly led her people to victory against the British in the 1880 Battle of Maiwand. As a young girl, Malala Yousafzai defied the Taliban in Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. 

c. Recognition's. In congratulating Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said, “She is the pride of Pakistan. She has made her countrymen proud. Her achievement is unparalleled and unequaled. Girls and boys of the world should take lead from her struggle and commitment." Former UN SG, Mr Ban Ki Moon described Malala as "a brave and gentle advocate of peace who, through the simple act of going to school, became a global teacher.”

d. UN Speech. Nine months after being shot by the Taliban, Malala Yousafzai gave a speech at the United Nations on her 16th birthday in 2013. she highlighted her focus on education and women's rights, urging world leaders to change their policies. She also urged action against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism. She irriterated on “The extremists were, and they are, afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”

e. Malala Day. At Malala Yousafzai’s 2013 speech at the UN, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon pronounced July 12th that is the birthday of Malala's birthday as the 'Malala Day' in honour of the young leader’s activism to ensure education for all children. 'Malala chose to mark her 16th birthday with the world,' said SG Ban ki MNoon that “No child should have to die for going to school. Nowhere should teachers fear to teach or children fear to learn. Together, we can change the world scenario.”

f. Documentary. In oct 2015, a documentary about Malala's life was released. 'HE NAMED ME MALALA', directed by Davis Guggenhe gives viewers an intimate look into the life of Malala, her family, and her commitment to supporting education for girls around the world. 

g. Oxford University. Malala Yousafzai tweeted in August 2017 that she was accepted to Oxford University, where she will study philosophy, politics and economics.

Advocacy

5. Leanin.Org held a live chat on Facebook with Sheryl Sandberg and Malala Yousafzai in August 2014 about the importance of education for girls around the world. She talked about her story, her inspiration and family, her plans for the future and advocacy, and she answered a variety of inquiries from the social network’s users. For her 18th birthday, in July 2015, the young activist continued to take action on global education by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon. Its expenses covered by the Malala Fund, the school was designed to admit nearly 200 girls from the ages of 14 to 18. "Today on my first day as an adult, on behalf of the world's children, I demand of leaders that we must invest in books instead of bullets. That day, she also wrote on The Malala Fund website that “The shocking truth is that world leaders have the money to fully fund primary and secondary education around the world but they are choosing to spend it on other things, like their military budgets. In fact, if the whole world stopped spending money on the military for just 8 days, we could have the $39 billion still needed to provide 12 years of free, quality education to every child on the planet.”

Note:
Prepared by Major (R) Md. Lutful Huda, presently Chairman of TIDAC and Dreamwork Limited, Chief Editor of 'Crime and Judgement' Magazine