Amazing People: Malala Yousafzai

On October 10th, 2012 on the bus ride home from school a Taliban militant shot Malala Yousafzai in the head.

"Which one of you is Malala? Speak up, otherwise I will shoot you all," the militant said.

Malala Yousafzai is a 14-year-old Pakistani, outspoken activist for girls' education rights. She became well known when she started speaking out and blogging about her opposition of Taliban's ban on the education of girls in the Swat valley. She blogged for the BBC under a different name because she knew if she didn't she would likely be killed.

"She is propagating against the soldiers of Allah, the Taliban. She must be punished," the militant on the bus shouted. He then recognized her and shot her point blank.

Here is one of the news stories about the shooting from Reuters:

Miraculously, Malala survived the shooting and is now being treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Since the shooting, Malala and the girls' education rights have come in to the global spotlight. Marches, protests and rallies in support of Malala broke out all over Pakistan.

Just a few weeks after the shooting, Newsweek put Malala on its cover naming her "The bravest girl in the world."

This story from the BBC from October 13th shows some video of Malala before the attack:

Her dad thanks hospital staff and tells a little but about his perspective on what happened to his daughter.

 

 You can follow updates from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Brimingham on Malala's status here.

The hospital's latest update:

12:00, Friday 2 November 2012: "Doctors treating Malala Yousufzai said she continues to make good progress and remains in a stable condition at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham."

If you want to know more about Malala's background here's a great documentary about her from the New York Times in 2009: