MINGORA: On the third anniversary of the militant attack on Malala Yousafzai, the child education activist, the girl students and social activists here on Friday appealed her to return to Swat and work for the betterment of girls education from her hometown.

Talking to Dawn, girl students of various schools in Swat said that they wanted to see Malala in her hometown to work for the girls’ education. They vowed to join the Nobel Peace Prize winner in her efforts for educating and empowering girls of the region.

“We are proud of Malala who earned the Noble Peace Prize, which is the highest award in the world for her noble cause to raise voice for the girls education. Though she is a girl she dared to fight during the harsh period in Swat,” said Nadia Bibi, a 9th grade student, in Amankot.

The Swat valley was known for development and educated people before 2007, but at the height of militancy in the valley the terrorists tried to ban female education and destroyed many schools to stop them from getting education.

“It was the time of terror and fear when nobody dared to speak against the terrorists, but Malala and her father along with a few other activists spoke against the illegal acts of terrorists who destroyed educational institutes and banned girl education,” said Zainab, a housewife in Malookabad.

She said that despite threats they carried on their mission and today Malala was not alone, but the whole world was with her in the noble cause of promoting female education.

“It is a lesson for terrorists that true and real voices can never be curbed, but rather get multiplied if anti-social elements try to stop them,” Gul Ranga Ali, a student in Mingora, told Dawn while praising Malala for her courage.

Girls in Swat asked Malala to return to Swat and work from here for the marginalised girls and women. They say they love Malala and want her among them as they all like to work for the girls deprived of education.

“We request Malala to come back to Swat. All girls here will be united against the terrorists. Pakistan needs such brave people on its land and we assure Malala that we will support her in her campaign,” said Neelam Chattan, a women rights activist, in Saidu Sharif.

Ahmad Shah, an educationist in Swat, said that they were proud of Malala for her raising voice in the world for the uplift of education.

Published in Dawn, October 10th , 2015

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