Pakistan’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai yesterday visited her hometown for the first time since a Taliban militant shot her there in 2012 for advocating girls’ education.
Yousafzai and her family arrived in a helicopter provided by the Pakistani military, which took her to the town of Mingora in the Swat valley from Islamabad.
She had arrived in the capital before dawn on Thursday flanked by heavy security, and plans to return to England tomorrow.
Photo: AFP
Yousafzai, now 20, won international renown after she was shot by the Taliban in Mingora. She received initial treatment in Pakistan and later was taken to England for further care. She stayed on in the UK to continue her education and became the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
Yousafzai yesterday entered her childhood home accompanied by her father, mother and brother. She sobbed upon entering the home where relatives, former classmates and friends had been anxiously waiting since morning to welcome her with flowers and hugs.
Youzafzai said she waited for the moment for more than five years and said she often looked at Pakistan on the map, hoping one day to return.
She said she plans to permanently return to Pakistan after completing her studies in the UK.
“It is still like a dream for me, am I among you? Is it a dream or reality,” she said.
Youzafsai later returned to Islamabad, where she met with human rights advocates.
Arooj Bibi, a neighbor, said she was happy to meet with Youzafzai, but was sad because her visit was so brief.
Yousafzai “lit the candle of education. God willing, there will be thousands of girls like Malala getting an education,” Bibi said.
Yousafzai also attended a gathering at the Pakistani army’s Cadet College in Swat.
Security had been visibly beefed up in Mingora the previous day.
The Pakistani Taliban had said after the attack on the then-14-year-old that they would target her again if they got the chance.
Yousafzai had asked authorities to allow her to go to Mingora and Shangla village in the Swat valley, where a school has been built by her Malala Fund.
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