Malala Yousafzai's UN speech - transcript .. full Taliban letter to her below ..
The text of Malala Yousafzai’s speech at the United Nations
In the name of God, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful.
Honourable UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon,
Respected President General Assembly Vuk Jeremic
Honourable UN envoy for Global education Mr Gordon Brown,
Respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters;
Today, it is an honour for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honourable people is a great moment in my life.
I don't know where to begin my speech. I don't know what people would be expecting me to say. But first of all, thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and a new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me.
I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and all of the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the UAE government who have helped me get better and recover my strength. I fully support Mr Ban Ki-moon the Secretary-General in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of the UN Special Envoy Mr Gordon Brown. And I thank them both for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action.
Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing. Malala day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights. There are hundreds of Human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them.
So here I stand... one girl among many.
I speak – not for myself, but for all girls and boys.
I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.
Those who have fought for their rights:
Their right to live in peace.
Their right to be treated with dignity.
Their right to equality of opportunity.
Their right to be educated.
Dear Friends, on the 9th of October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed. And then, out of that silence came, thousands of voices. The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. My dreams are the same.
Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorists group. I am here to speak up for the right of education of every child. I want education for the sons and the daughters of all the extremists especially the Taliban.
I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me. I would not shoot him. This is the compassion that I have learnt from Muhammad-the prophet of mercy, Jesus christ and Lord Buddha. This is the legacy of change that I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of non-violence that I have learnt from Gandhi Jee, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learnt from my mother and father. This is what my soul is telling me, be peaceful and love everyone.
Dear sisters and brothers, we realise the importance of light when we see darkness. We realise the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realised the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns.
The wise saying, “The pen is mightier than sword” was true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. And that is why they killed 14 innocent medical students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they killed many female teachers and polio workers in Khyber Pukhtoon Khwa and FATA. That is why they are blasting schools every day. Because they were and they are afraid of change, afraid of the equality that we will bring into our society.
I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist, “Why are the Taliban against education?” He answered very simply. By pointing to his book he said, “A Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book.” They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would send girls to the hell just because of going to school. The terrorists are misusing the name of Islam and Pashtun society for their own personal benefits. Pakistan is peace-loving democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. And Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. Islam says that it is not only each child's right to get education, rather it is their duty and responsibility.
Honourable Secretary General, peace is necessary for education. In many parts of the world especially Pakistan and Afghanistan; terrorism, wars and conflicts stop children to go to their schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many parts of the world in many ways. In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labour. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by the hurdles of extremism for decades. Young girls have to do domestic child labour and are forced to get married at early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems faced by both men and women.
Dear fellows, today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women social activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But, this time, we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights rather I am focusing on women to be independent to fight for themselves.
Dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up.
So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace and prosperity.
We call upon the world leaders that all the peace deals must protect women and children's rights. A deal that goes against the dignity of women and their rights is unacceptable.
We call upon all governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world.
We call upon all governments to fight against terrorism and violence, to protect children from brutality and harm.
We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of educational opportunities for girls in the developing world.
We call upon all communities to be tolerant – to reject prejudice based on cast, creed, sect, religion or gender. To ensure freedom and equality for women so that they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.
We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave – to embrace the strength within themselves and realise their full potential.
Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education for everyone. No one can stop us. We will speak for our rights and we will bring change through our voice. We must believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the world.
Because we are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.
Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty, injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright peaceful future.
So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism and 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.
====== .. a very special 16 year old .. she has more wisdom about how the world should work in her little toe, than the Taliban have between the ears .. collectively, i mean, too ..
Here’s the Full Text of the Taliban Letter to Malala Yousafzai
A peek at Taliban educational philosophy.
Malala Yousafzai. (PHOTO: PUBLIC DOMAIN)
July 18, 2013 • By Marc Herman • 1 Comment
Late last year we published an interview .. http://www.psmag.com/politics/new-york-times-on-malala-yousafzai-pakistan-49715/ .. with Irfan Ashraf, a Pakistani freelance reporter. Ashraf played a central role in the rise to prominence of Malala Yousafzai, the young advocate for girls education, gravely injured in an attempted assassination when a Taliban-linked gunman boarded her school bus and opened fire, hitting Yousafzai and three classmates. Since surviving the shooting, Yousafzai has risen to international fame, speaking this week at the United Nations, receiving thousands of votes to be Time magazine’s famous “Person of the Year,” and a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Reporter Ashraf, who is now studying for a Ph.D. in Illinois, had published a column in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper questioning whether he and foreign media had gone too far in thrusting Yousafzai into the spotlight alone—a fame that may have led to her targeting. This week, following Yousafzai’s U.N. speech, which received a standing ovation, a Taliban senior officer, Adnan Rasheed, sent a letter to Yousafzai, the full text of which is reproduced below. In it, he addressed several of the same points Ashraf had in our interview—if in drastically different ways.
The letter deepens the story. The attack on Yousafzai, Rasheed argues, was not designed to deter girls from going to school, but was motivated by Yousafzai’s own attacks on the Taliban. The motivation was to shut her up, or punish her for criticizing Taliban tactics, not her actions to promote her right to an education, Rasheed claims.
It’s a thin hair to split: Yousafzai’s criticisms of Rasheed’s Taliban faction were, precisely, about Taliban attacks on her school. But the argument recalls statements by Ashraf in our interview last year, in which he parsed the complex motivations behind the Taliban anti-education campaign. Though the Taliban had made clear their opposition to girls studying, Ashraf claimed the initial attacks on schools were intended as strikes against the Pakistani state, which was at war with Taliban forces. The goal was to hit state property, and complicate life for the government. Education for girls was one of several targets at the time, but the larger issue was political control of the region.
Why does that distinction matter? In a practical sense, it probably doesn’t—the end of girls’ education was a particularly toxic item on the Taliban platform, and violence resulted. Yousafzai and three other girls were near-fatally attacked, the schools closed, and the world recoiled.
But Rasheed’s letter provides more of the deeply weird context around the events that would culminate in Yousafzai’s shooting, and the broader Taliban war on girls. His letter quotes the educational goals of once-colonial power Britain, and references drone strikes, modern war crimes, and the Freemasons. It all adds up to a portrait of a belief system that makes it impossible for girls to study because, he seems to believe, studying suggests secularism and imperialism. The problem with Yousafzai learning geography or math, at least as far as Rasheed’s letter goes, isn’t that biblical law forbids it. It’s that he doesn’t like Yousafzai’s particular curriculum.
~~~~~~ You say a teacher, a pen and a book can change the world, yes I agree with, but which teacher which pen and which book? It is to be specified, Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him said I am sent as a teacher, and the book He sent to teach is Quran. So a noble and pious teacher with prophetic curriculum can change the world not with satanic or secular curriculum. ~~~~~~
Surprisingly few outlets have published the original text of the letter, below. It contains several spelling and grammatical mistakes, but is not difficult to read, and represents one of the few times an English-speaking audience has had access to a direct statement by a Taliban leader on the controversial case. Here it is.
~~~~~~ IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST MERACIFULL AND BENEFICEINT
From Adnan Rasheed to Malala Yousafzai
Peace to those who follow the guidance
Miss Malala Yousafzai
I am writing to you in my personal capacity this may not be the opinion or policy of Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan or other jihadi faction or group.
I heard about you through BBC Urdu service for the first time, when I was in bannu prison, at that time I wanted to write to you, to advise you to refrain from anti-Taliban activities you were involved in. but I could not find your address and I was thinking how to approach you with real or pseudo name, my all emotions were brotherly for you because we belong to same Yousafzai tribe.
Meanwhile the prison brake happened and I was supposed to be in hiding. when you were attacked it was shocking for me I wished it would never happened and I had advised you before.
Taliban attacked you, was it islamically correct or wrong, or you were deserved to be killed or not, I will not go in this argument now, let’s we leave it to Allah All mighty, He is the best judge.
Here I want to advise you as I am already late, I wish I would have advised u in my prison time and this accident would never happened.
First of all please mind that Taliban never attacked you because of going to school or you were education lover, also please mind that Taliban or Mujahideen are not against the education of any men or women or girl. Taliban believe that you were intentionally writing against them and running a smearing campaign to malign their efforts to establish Islamic system in swat and your writings were provocative.
You have said in your speech yesterday that pen is mightier than sword, so they attacked you for your sword not for your books or school.
There were thousands of girls who were going to school and college before and after the Taliban insurgency in swat, would you explain why were only you on their hit list???
Now to explain you the second point, why Taliban are blowing up schools? The answer to this questions in that not only Taliban in KPK or FATA are blowing up the schools but Pakistan Army and Frontier Constabulary is equally involved in this issue. The reason for this action is common between them that is turning of schools into hide outs and transit camps once it comes under control of either party Pakistan Army or Taliban.
In 2004 I was in Swat, I was researching on the causes of failure of the first revolution attempt by Sufi Muhammad. I came to know that FC was stationed in the schools of swat in tehsil Matta and FC was using schools as their transit camps and hid outs. Now tell me who to blame???
Dozens of schools and colleges are being used by Pakistan Army and FC as their barracks in FATA, you can find out easily if you like. So when something sacred is turned lethal it needs to be eliminated this is the policy of Taliban.
Blowing up schools when they are not using strategically is not the Taliban job, some black sheep of local administration may be involved to extract more and more funds in the name of schools to fill their bank accounts.
Now I come to the main point that is EDUCATION, it is amazing that you are Shouting for education, you and the UNO is pretending that as you were shot due to education, although this is not the reason, be honest, not the education but your propaganda was the issue and what you are doing now, you are using your tongue on the behest of the others and you must know that if the pen is mightier than the sword then tongue is sharper and the injury of sword can be hailed but the injury of the tongue never hails and in the wars tongue is more destructive than any weapon.
I would like to share with you that Indian sub-continent was highly educated and almost every citizen was able to read or write before British invasion. Locals used to teach British officers Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and Persian. Almost every mosque was acting as school too and Muslim emperors used to spend a huge sum of money on education. Muslim India was rich in farming, silk, and jute and from textile industry to ship building. No poverty, no crises and no clashes of civilization or religion. Because the education system was based on noble thoughts and noble curriculum.
I want to draw your attention to an extract from the minute written by Sir T.B Macaulay to British parliament dated 2nd February 1835 about what type of education system is required in Indian sub-continent to replace the Muslim education system.
He stated “We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, –a class of persons Indian in blood and color, but English in tastes, inopinions, in morals and in intellect”
This was and this is the plan and mission of this so called education system for which you are ready to die, for which UNO takes you to their office to produce more and more Asians in blood but English in taste, to produce more and more Africans in color but English in opinion, to produce more and more non English people but English in morale. This so called education made Obama, the mass murder, your ideal. isn’t it?
Why they want to make all human beings English? because Englishmen are the staunch supporters and slaves of Jews. Do you know Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder and symbol of English education in India was a freemasons.
You say a teacher, a pen and a book can change the world, yes I agree with, but which teacher which pen and which book? It is to be specified, Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him said I am sent as a teacher, and the book He sent to teach is Quran. So a noble and pious teacher with prophetic curriculum can change the world not with satanic or secular curriculum.
You have given the example that once a journalist asked a student that why a talib afraid of this education he replied a talib didn’t know what was in this book. The same I say to you and through you to whole world that why they afraid from the book of Allah because they don’t know what is in it.
Taliban want to implement what is in the book of ALLAH and UNO want to impleme nt what they have in man-made books. We want to connect the world to their creator through the book of Allah and UNO want to enslave the world to few evil creatures.
You have talk about justice and equality from the stage of and unjust institution, the place where you were standing uttering for justice and equality, all the nations are not equal there, only five wicked states have the veto power and rest of them are powerless, dozens of time when all the world untied against the Israel only one veto was enough to press the throat of justice.
The place you were speaking to the world is heading towards new world order, I want to know what is wrong the old world order? They want to establish global education, global economy, global army, global trade, global government and finally global religion. I want to know is there any space for the prophetic guidance in all above global plans? Is there any space for Islamic sharia or Islamic law to which UN call inhumane and barbaric?
You have talk about attack on polio team, would you explain why the then American foreign secretary of state Henry Kissinger, a Jew, said in 1973 to reduce the third world population by 80%.Why the sterilization and eugenics programs are running in different countries in one way or another under the umbrella of UNO. More than 1 million Muslim women have been sterilized in Uzbekistan forcibly without their consent.
Bertrand Russell writes in his book the impact of science on society, “diet, injections and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable and any serious criticism of power that be will become psychologically impossible”. This is why we have the reservation on so called polio vaccination program.
You say Malala day is not your day it is the day of every person who has raised voice for their rights, I ask you why such a day in not assigned to Rachel Corrie, only because the bulldozer was Israeli? Why such a day in not assigned to Affia Siddique because the buyers are Americans? Why such day is not assigned to Faizan and Faheem because the killer was Raymond Davis? Why such a day in not assigned to those 16 innocent afghan women and children who were shot dead by an American Robert Belas because he was not a talib.
I ask you and be honest in reply, if you were shot but Americans in a drone attack, would world have ever heard updates on your medical status? Would you be called ‘daughter of the nation? Would the media make a fuss about you? Would General Kiyani have come to visit you and would the world media be constantly reporting on you? Would you were called to UN? Would a Malala day be announced?
More than 300 innocent women and children have been killed in drones attacks but who cares because attackers are highly educated, non-violent, peaceful Americans.
I wish, the compassion you learnt from Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him should be learnt by Pakistan Army so they could stop shedding of Muslim blood in FATA and Baluchistan. I wish, the compassion you learnt from Prophet Jesus should be learnt by USA and NATO so they should stop shedding blood of innocent Muslims across the world and I wish the same for followers of Buddha to stop killing of innocent unarmed Muslims in Burma, and Sri Lanka and wish the same for Indian army to follow Gandhi jee and stop genocide in Kashmir, And yes, The followers of bacha khan, the ANP has an example of non-violence in their five years regime in KPK province, for example Swat, where a single shot was not fired and we witnessed the followers of bacha khan implemented the philosophy of nonviolence in its true soul, with support of jets, tanks and gunships.
At the end I advise you to come back home, adopt the Islamic and pushtoon culture, join any female Islamic madrassa near your home town, study and learn the book of Allah, use your pen for Islam and plight of Muslim ummah and reveal the conspiracy of tiny elite who want to enslave the whole humanity for their evil agendas in the name of new world order.
All praises to Allah the creator of the Universe. ~~~~~~
Kainat Riaz (16) said the letter – in which Adnan Rasheed, a notorious terrorist, said he had wanted to warn Malala against criticising the movement out of "brotherly" concern – was nothing more than a public relations stunt.
"There's no truth that writer Adnan Rasheed is shocked at Malala's attack," she said. "The Taliban consider her a great enemy and what has been described in the letter is a pack of lies."
The four-page letter, which surfaced on Wednesday, claimed that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) did not oppose education for girls and that Malala was attacked because she was running a smear campaign against the group.
Rasheed, who escaped from prison last year, drafted the letter after Malala addressed the UN last week to worldwide acclaim.
He invited her to return to Pakistan but only if she attended a madrassah, an offer dismissed out of hand by those who know her best. "Malala would never come to Pakistan upon the Taliban's invitation and would never seek admission to a Taliban-run seminary," said Kainat, who was wounded in the shoulder as she sat alongside her friend in the school bus.
October 5, 2013 | Filed under: World | Posted by: Jahangir
All credits to news.msn.com
By Maureen O’Hare of Ed Sol | Andrew Burton/Getty Images 1 of 11
Twelve months after teenage Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman, we look back at her incredible year. When 15-year-old Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, a fearless and outspoken advocate for girls’ education, was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in an attempted assassination on Oct. 9, 2012, her enemies had hoped to silence her. Instead, Malala survived, and the attempt on her life ensured that her name and her cause became known throughout the world. In the past 12 months, she has addressed the U.N. on worldwide access to education, appeared on the cover of Time magazine, and received dozens of awards and honors, including a nomination for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.
One year on from the attack — and days before the world celebrates International Day of the Girl on Oct. 11 — we look back at Malala’s incredible year.
Malala Yousafzai: A timeline
STR/AFP/Getty Images 2 of 11
Oct. 9, 2012: 15-year-old Pakistani children’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt as she boarded a school bus in Mingora, a town in the former Taliban stronghold of Swat. Yousafzai had been an education rights campaigner for four years, had blogged on BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban, and had gained prominence after winning Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize in December 2011. An outspoken critic of the Taliban, the death threats began as her public profile increased, culminating in the attack in Mingora. The outcry around the world was fierce and immediate.
October 2012: Treatment in the UK
Photo by Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham via Getty Images 3 of 11
* Oct. 10, 2012: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik stated that the Taliban gunman who shot Yousafzai had been identified as 23-year-old Atta Ullah Khan. The police also arrested six men for involvement in the attack, but they were later released for lack of evidence. No one has yet been convicted of the attack. * Oct. 15, 2012: Malala’s condition improved enough for to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK, for intensive rehabilitation. She came out of her coma on Oct. 17, and was reported to have a good chance of a full recovery, without brain damage. She is pictured above in hospital with her father and two younger brothers, Atal Khan, right, and Khushal Khan.
October 2012: ‘I am Malala’ campaign
AP Photo/Michel Euler 4 of 11
15 October 2012: On the same day that Malala arrived in the UK, UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, a former British Prime Minister, launched a petition in Yousafzai’s name and “in support of what Malala fought for”. Using the slogan “I am Malala”, the petition’s principal demand was global access to education for all children by 2015. Pakistan’s President Ali Zardini (left) and Brown (right) are pictured above shaking hands on 10 December at a ceremony to honour Malala at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova and France’s Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault are seated in the background.
Nov. 10, 2012: ‘Malala Day’ in Pakistan
Getty Images: Rizwan Tabassum, AFP 5 of 11
Nov. 10, 2012: Gordon Brown handed a million-strong petition in support of Malala to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. Pakistan marked the day as ‘Malala Day’ — in Karachi supporters held photographs and stood alongside burning candles. In her home town of Mingora, however, security fears meant her schoolmates could not honor her in public. Nearly 100,000 people had already signed an online petition calling for Malala to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
December 2012: Protests at school in Mingora
Reuters Photo: Hazrat Ali Bacha 6 of 11
Dec. 12, 2012: A student tears up a poster of schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai as part of protests after the naming of Saidu Sharif College in Mingora after Malala in Swat. Students boycotted classes for two hours and said that Malala had nothing to do with the college and the name should not be changed. Girls at the school said they feared for their safety.
January 2013: Release from hospital
Photo by Queen Elizabeth Hospital Via Getty Images 7 of 11
* Jan. 3, 2013: Malala is released from the hospital to continue her rehabilitation at her family’s temporary home in England. * Jan. 18, 2013:Deutsche Welle reports that Malala may have become “the most famous teenager in the world.” * Feb. 2, 2013: Malala undergoes a five-hour operation to reconstruct her skull and restore her hearing. * March 4, 2013: Malala is revealed as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize 2013. * April 29, 2013: Yousafzai features on the front cover of Time magazine and as one of “The 100 Most Influential People In The World”.
July 12, 2013: Addresses the UN
Reuters Photos: Brendan McDermid, Files 8 of 11
* July 12, 2013: Yousafzai, wearing a white shawl that had belonged to former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, speaks at the UN in New York to call for worldwide access to education. It was on her 16th birthday, and her first public speech since the assassination attempt. The UN dubbed the event ‘Malala Day’. * 12 July 2013: The Pakistani government did not comment on Yousafzai’s UN appearance, amid a backlash against her in Pakistan’s press and social media. Dawn columnist Huma Yusuf summarized three main complaints of Yousafzai’s critics: “Her fame highlights Pakistan’s most negative aspect (rampant militancy); her education campaign echoes Western agendas; and the West’s admiration of her is hypocritical because it overlooks the plight of other innocent victims, like the casualties of U.S. drone strikes.”
Sept. 6, 2013: International Children’s Peace Prize
AP Photo: Peter Dejong 9 of 11
Sept. 6, 2013: Malala is awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize 2013 during a ceremony in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, Netherlands.
September 2013: New portrait unveiled
AP Photo: Jonathan Yeo, British National Portrait Gallery 10 of 11
Sept. 10, 2013: The National Portrait Gallery in London unveiled this new portrait of Malala by celebrated British artist Jonathan Yeo.
Sept. 27, 2013: Honored at Harvard
AP Photo: Jessica Rinaldi 11 of 11
* Sept. 27, 2013: Malala receives the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award at Harvard University. * Oct. 8, 2013: One year after the attack, Yousafzai’s memoir, ‘I am Malala,’ is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. * Oct. 11, 2013: The world marks International Day of the Girl.
Pakistani activist Malala given Sakharov Prize for bravery against Taliban
By Ben Brumfield, CNN November 20, 2013 -- Updated 1325 GMT (2125 HKT)
Malala Yousafzai with European Parliament president Martin Schulz, on November 20, 2013 in Strasbourg, France.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* The teen activist survived a Taliban assassination attempt * The prize has a cash award equivalent to about $67,000 * Malala turned her acceptance speech into a plea for help for children everywhere * The EU parliament's president also heaped praise on her father for encouraging her
(CNN) -- It's easy to guess what Malala Yousafzai would do with roughly $67,000. Spend it to educate children, particularly girls in her native Pakistan, she has said in the past.
But it wasn't about the money when the 16-year-old, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt for her activism, picked up the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday.
She tried not to make the occasion about herself, after accepting the blue framed plaque and walking up to the microphone in high heels. She had worn them to be seen over the podium, she explained to the audience.
Instead, Malala turned her acceptance speech into a plea on behalf of nearly 60 million children around the world, who can't go to school. Starving children, who live in fear. Children who dodge bullets and bombs. Girls whose families lock them away from the world inside their homes.
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Who is Malala Yousafzai?
"This must shake our conscience," she admonished parliamentarians gathered to celebrate her win. She told them that she hoped those in the West would see beyond their own borders to help them.
She pleaded specifically for help in her own country.
She told them that the prize would encourage her to keep standing up against the Pakistan Taliban for the sake of education and would continue her work.
"Because of terrorism, hundreds of schools have been destroyed," she said.
Making an impression
To the crowd, which included 22 former prize winners, the ceremony, which took place on World Children's Day, was very much about Malala. They gave her a standing ovation.
The teen, who still contends with nerve damage caused by a Taliban bullet, has impressed leaders in the parliament's chambers and around the world with her "incredible strength," as Parliament President Martin Schulz put it when first announcing that she had won the award on October 10.
The date was laden with symbolism.
A year and a day before, she had faced down almost certain death to stand up for a girl's right to go to school, when a Pakistan Taliban gunman fired at her nearly point blank as she rode home from school on an improvised bus.
It nearly killed her. Doctors in Pakistan scrambled to save her life -- as her brain swelled -- before flying her to the UK, where a medical team worked on her recovery.
Malala is used to making public speeches on bravery and education. Her first, in September 2008, was titled "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to an education?" the EU parliament said.
In 2009, the Taliban banned girls from schools in Swat Valley, which she called home. She anonymously blogged for the BBC in opposition to that order and became an open advocate for girls' education.
In 2011, Malala told CNN, "I have the right of education. I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk."
Shared praise
Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, sat silently next to her while Schulz, of Germany, heaped praise upon her.
While he listened to the translation from German into English through an earphone, Schulz singled him out.
Malala would not be who she is without her father, he said.
"Your father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, is a teacher," he said. "He has expressed his views that boys and girls are equal." He encouraged her to blog and give interviews to the media, to protest against the Taliban, Schulz pointed out.
"Malala, I'm sure you are as proud of your father as he is of you," he said.
While applauding her bravery in the face of an assignation attempt, Schulz reminded the audience that Malala has said that this is not what she wants to be remembered for.
She wants to be known as a girl who fought oppression to build education for all.
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