FOR some people it may be a lifelong wait to be ever included in the annual list of 100 influential people of the world by a leading magazine; but not in the case of Malala Yousufzai. She was included in the 2014 list, standing next to political leaders, leading writers and artists, showbiz icons.

The girl who became the soft image of Pakistan, whose courage to stand against intimidation, and determination to fight for girls’ education is unparalleled.

Sadly she can’t return to Pakistan and live like an ordinary schoolgoing girl. The Taliban are after her and have threatened to kill her at the first opportunity.

She has been made a stranger in her own country wherein even her book launching ceremonies were repeatedly abandoned under the Taliban’s threats. She has been exiled in the same manner as was the only Pakistani who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his country.

It will be a shame if she meets the same fate as that of Prof Abdus Salam, whose work on electroweak unification theory and development of Pati-Salam model contributed to the establishment of Large Hadron particle collider at CERN, who died in exile in 1996.

Shouldn’t we look towards the government to protect her and bring her safely back to her country?

Masood Khan

Jubail