BiharoneTeam
28 october 2012
By the time she was 11 years old, Malala Yousafzai dreamed of becoming a doctor. This wouldn’t be such a dramatic goal in much of the world, but Malala lives in a tiny, remote village in Pakistan where most elementary schools don’t even have roofs and most students are boys. Since she was born, Taliban extremists with guns and bombs have tried to stop girls from going to school. They have blown up hundreds of schools. They have beheaded fathers, beaten mothers and killed or injured hundreds of police and Army soldiers.
Three years ago the Pakistan Army launched an offensive in the Swat Valley where Malala lives to regain control from the extremists. Swat was once a beautiful tourist destination with unmatched skiing. But it had become a rubble-strewn battleground between residents, the Army and violent Muslim extremists who preyed on children and unarmed civilians. Malala and her family had been forced to flee along with some 2 million other Swatis.
The Army sweep forced most of the Taliban into the northwest, to an inaccessible part of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, a no-man’s land called Konar Province. Malala thought she was safe, and she and her girlfriends began attending school again. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafsai, reopened his school for girls.
But on Oct. 9, two gunned stopped her rickety school bus in her hometown Mingora, jumped inside and shot her twice point-blank in the skull and neck. She survived, is off the ventilator that kept her breathing and is now recovering in a British hospital. Millions of people around the world, and especially schoolgirls, are cheering her on and condemning her attackers and other extremists who think like they do.
Malala has become an international symbol of hope for girls throughout the Muslim world–in Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Indonesia and elsewhere–who want the same rights and opportunities as their brothers.
The man who ordered Malala’s assassination, Mullah Fazlullah, has vowed to try again. He has said his men targeted her because she opposed the Taliban’s view of life and looked up to westerners like President Barack Obama.
Fazlullah, who is in his 30s and wears the full beard and black turban of many radical clerics in that region, is also known as “Mullah Radio” because he once hosted a clandestine radio program that made him famous and won him supporters among Swat valley’s poorest and least educated citizens.
Fazlullah advocates the burning of books, CDs, cell phones, video recorders and musical instruments. His gang of fanatics want to impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law, called Sharia. According to their interpretation of Sharia law, women and girls cannot go to school, are forced into marriage when they are young teens and are allowed to be beaten by their families and stoned in public if they break the rules.
Fazlullah is in hiding in Konar Province, Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are stationed to help bring stability and to destroy the Taliban and the few remaining Al Qaeda followers of one-time leader Osama bin Laden who ordered the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and the Pentagon.
Two of Malala’s classmates were also wounded but are improving. Pakistani authorities have arrested several suspects but not Fazlullah.
28 october 2012
By the time she was 11 years old, Malala Yousafzai dreamed of becoming a doctor. This wouldn’t be such a dramatic goal in much of the world, but Malala lives in a tiny, remote village in Pakistan where most elementary schools don’t even have roofs and most students are boys. Since she was born, Taliban extremists with guns and bombs have tried to stop girls from going to school. They have blown up hundreds of schools. They have beheaded fathers, beaten mothers and killed or injured hundreds of police and Army soldiers.
Three years ago the Pakistan Army launched an offensive in the Swat Valley where Malala lives to regain control from the extremists. Swat was once a beautiful tourist destination with unmatched skiing. But it had become a rubble-strewn battleground between residents, the Army and violent Muslim extremists who preyed on children and unarmed civilians. Malala and her family had been forced to flee along with some 2 million other Swatis.
The Army sweep forced most of the Taliban into the northwest, to an inaccessible part of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, a no-man’s land called Konar Province. Malala thought she was safe, and she and her girlfriends began attending school again. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafsai, reopened his school for girls.
But on Oct. 9, two gunned stopped her rickety school bus in her hometown Mingora, jumped inside and shot her twice point-blank in the skull and neck. She survived, is off the ventilator that kept her breathing and is now recovering in a British hospital. Millions of people around the world, and especially schoolgirls, are cheering her on and condemning her attackers and other extremists who think like they do.
Malala has become an international symbol of hope for girls throughout the Muslim world–in Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Indonesia and elsewhere–who want the same rights and opportunities as their brothers.
The man who ordered Malala’s assassination, Mullah Fazlullah, has vowed to try again. He has said his men targeted her because she opposed the Taliban’s view of life and looked up to westerners like President Barack Obama.
Fazlullah, who is in his 30s and wears the full beard and black turban of many radical clerics in that region, is also known as “Mullah Radio” because he once hosted a clandestine radio program that made him famous and won him supporters among Swat valley’s poorest and least educated citizens.
Fazlullah advocates the burning of books, CDs, cell phones, video recorders and musical instruments. His gang of fanatics want to impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law, called Sharia. According to their interpretation of Sharia law, women and girls cannot go to school, are forced into marriage when they are young teens and are allowed to be beaten by their families and stoned in public if they break the rules.
Fazlullah is in hiding in Konar Province, Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are stationed to help bring stability and to destroy the Taliban and the few remaining Al Qaeda followers of one-time leader Osama bin Laden who ordered the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and the Pentagon.
Two of Malala’s classmates were also wounded but are improving. Pakistani authorities have arrested several suspects but not Fazlullah.
Recent Update
Recent News:
– Malala Yousafzai has been reunited with her family. Her father says, “She is improving with encouraging speed.”
- Six suspects have been arrested in connection with her shooting, but the main suspect, 23-year-old Atta Ullah Khan, remains at large.
‘Like’ our Malala Yousafzai page here to get the latest, important updates
Timeline
2012
2012
Foreign Policy
October 19
Malala wakes from her coma and is able to stand up with some help. Doctors are optimistic about her recovery.
The Daily Beast
October 18
Authorities say they have identified one of Malala’s attackers. The suspect was previously arrested in 2009 but released due to lack of evidence.
International Business Times
October 15
Though the bullet has already been removed, Malala is flown to a British hospital for specialized treatment.
The Washington Post
October 9
Malala Yousafzai and two other students are shot on their way home from school by Taliban gunmen.
October 19
Malala wakes from her coma and is able to stand up with some help. Doctors are optimistic about her recovery.
The Daily Beast
October 18
Authorities say they have identified one of Malala’s attackers. The suspect was previously arrested in 2009 but released due to lack of evidence.
International Business Times
October 15
Though the bullet has already been removed, Malala is flown to a British hospital for specialized treatment.
The Washington Post
October 9
Malala Yousafzai and two other students are shot on their way home from school by Taliban gunmen.
2009
Hindustan Times
May
The Pakistan military launches an offensive to flush the Taliban out of Swat Valley. Two to three million civilians are evacuated, including Malala and her family.
BBC
January
She is just 11, but Malala authors a blog for the BBC about the challenges of attending school in Swat. Soon after, the Taliban forbids girls from attending school.
May
The Pakistan military launches an offensive to flush the Taliban out of Swat Valley. Two to three million civilians are evacuated, including Malala and her family.
BBC
January
She is just 11, but Malala authors a blog for the BBC about the challenges of attending school in Swat. Soon after, the Taliban forbids girls from attending school.
2008
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