Malala, Gandhi & the Taliban
Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by Taliban in October 2012 addressed the United Nations. At the onset of her speech at a gathering of youth leaders from across the world, Malala thanked everyone who prayed for her fast recovery.
According to Malala, she got her power from world leaders like Martin Luther king, Nelson Mandela and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and learnt the philosophy of non-violence from Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa.
Pointing that the thousands had been killed and millions injured by the terrorists, Malala said that she was just one of them, and said that she spoke for the others who could not be heard. She asserted on the need to their right to be educated.
Hitting out at the Taliban, she said, “On 9th of October, 2012, Taliban shot me. They thought the bullets will silence us, but they failed...out of that silence came thousands of voices.”
Days after Malala made a passionate appeal at the UN for the education of children, the Taliban on Wednesday asked the teenage activist to return to Pakistan and join a madrassa in the restive northwest.
Adnan Rashid, a Taliban fighter wanted for an attempt to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf, wrote a letter to Malala, who was shot in the head in a militant attack last year.
"I advise you to come back home, adopt the Islamic and Pashtun culture, join any female Islamic madrassa near your hometown, study and learn the book of Allah, use your pen for Islam and the plight of Muslim ummah and reveal the conspiracy of the tiny elite who want to enslave the whole humanity for their evil agendas in the name of a new world order," Rashid wrote.