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Congratulations, Malala!

When death threats failed to dissuade Malala from her girls' education advocacy, the Taliban leadership decided to end her life. On October 9, 2012, a masked Taliban gunman approached the bus Malala was riding home on and shouted: "Which one of you is Malala?" After identifying her shot he from point-blank range.

Fakhruddin Ahmed
IT has been quite a life so far for the 17-year old Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai! A global celebrity since the age of eleven, a miraculous survivor of the Taliban's assassination attempt at fifteen, Malala has now become the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Prize.
Malala dedicated her Nobel to voiceless children: "This award is for all those children who are voiceless, whose voice must be heard. I speak for them and I stand with them."
Malala will share the $ 1.1 million prize money with the co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, aged 60. “If with my humble efforts the voice of tens of millions of children in the world who are living in servitude is being heard, congratulations to all," said the soft-spoken Mr. Satyarthi in a television interview. “I am sharing the prize with a great man," Malala added.
Born on July 12,1997 into a Pashtun family in the Swat District of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Malala (the name means "grief-stricken") first
came into prominence in early 2009 when she wrote a blog under a pseudonym, "Gul Makai" (cornflower) for the BBC, documenting life under the Taliban. She was especially forthright in her views about the importance of education for girls. Taliban had closed schools for girls in the area.
After the Pakistani army pushed the Taliban out of the area by the middle of 2009, Malala began to appear on television disseminating her views on female education to a larger audience.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu's nomination of Malala for "International Children's Peace Prize" in October 2011 and Pakistani prime minister's awarding her "National Peace Award for Youth” two months later raised Malala's profile even higher.
When death threats failed to dissuade Malala from her girls' education advocacy, the Taliban leadership decided to end her life. On October 9, 2012, a masked Taliban gunman approached the bus Malala was riding home on and shouted: “Which one of you is Malala?" After identifying her shot he from point-blank range. The bullet went through her head and neck, and ended in her shoulder.
On October 15, 2012, Malala was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, a hospital that specialises in the treatment of war wounded. After surgeons inserted a titanium plate in her head, Malala made a quick recovery.
Malala came out of coma by October 17, 2012. By November 8, she could sit up in bed. On January 3,2013, Malala was discharged from the hospital. On February 2, she underwent an operation to reconstruct her skull and restore her hearing. In March 2013, Malala enrolled at the all-girls' Edgbaston High School in Birmingham, where she learned of her Nobel Peace Prize while attending a chemistry class.
Guided by her father Ziauddin Yousafzai, and a top notch public relations firm, Malala shifted her focus away from criticism of the Taliban to women's education activist, and co-authored the best seller, I am Malala (2013).This year, she travelled to Nigeria to speak out against the kidnapping of 200 schools girls by Boko Haram. None of these would have been possible if Malala was not exceptionally brave, charismatic and eloquent. Former British prime minister and the current UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, has also joined Malala's team as a mentor.
On July 12,2013, her 16th birthday, Malala spoke at the UN to call for universal education. The UN labeled the event “Malala Day." It was her first public speech since the attack, and the first ever youth takeover of the UN with an audience of over 500 young education advocates from around the globe. Malala ended her speech with the famous words: "One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first."
Her youth notwithstanding, Malala's Nobel was not a surprise. She had already won the Sakharov Prize, Simone de Beauvoir Prize and was awarded the Honorary Canadian citizenship. She had met President Obama and the Queen, among other dignitaries.
The Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland did not have to be so condescending while explaining the
awards to the two subcontinentals: It was important, he said, for "a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in common struggle for education and against extremism." Spare me the organ recital, please! This is a blatantly patronising attempt by Mr. Jagland to shame two errant boys, India and Pakistan, into making peace!
A Norwegian jurist, Fredrik Heffermehl, criti-
cised the award of the prize to Malala and Kailash. "This is not for fine people who have done nice things and are glad to receive it. All of that is irrelevant. What Nobel wanted was a prize that promoted global disarmament," he said.
Well said! But, can the Nobel Peace Committee please explain why it awarded the Peace Prize to former terrorists (Menachem Begin, Yasser Arafat) and missionaries (Albert Schweitzer)? What about Ms. Aung San Suu kyi? The Nobel committee praised her "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights," yet she has refused to speak up for the human rights of Myanmar's perpetually persecuted Rohingya minority.
Ironically, the most scathing criticism of the two awards came from the Indians and Pakistanis themselves. Indians are not happy that Kailash Satyarthi has focused the searchlight on Indian child labour and child trafficking issues.
Things are much harsher for Malala in Pakistan. A columnist in the Dawn summed it up: "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 US drone strikes." Many Pakistanis call Malala a CIA agent.
Although recipient of several death threats, Kailash Satyarthi can at least live in India. Sadly, no one can guarantee Malala's safety in Pakistan. As Bangladeshis, we admire both and say: Congratulations, Kailash and Malala! You have done the subcontinent proud!
The writer is a Rhodes Scholar.