Malala urges establishment, leaders to maintain Swat peace

Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on Thursday called on the country’s powerful establishment and political leaders play their role in maintaining peace in scenic valley of Swat.

She said this in an interview to British broadcaster BBC in an interview on Thursday.

Malala, who arrived in her native Pakistan earlier this week to visit the flood-hit areas and meet with flood survivors, has already toured the worst-hit areas of Sindh.

With her exit from the country precipitated by a gun attack in Swat that put her in a hospital in England for months, said that the people do not need terrorism to resurface in Swat again and become victims of terrorism.

“When I was informed about the attack on the school van and children’s injuries, I felt pain, it is a very scary situation,” Malala said, who was herself a schoolgirl when a militant aligned with the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shot her in the head.

She further said that people still face trauma from past terror incidents around the valley.

It is the responsibility of leaders and the establishment to make sure there is peace in the Swat valley, she added.

“All children, whether they are girls or boys, should be secure from terrorism,” she said, noting that the peaceful access to education was a fundamental right.

Recalling from memory, she said that the people of Swat had always had raised their voice against terrorism. Malala was just 11 years old when the Taliban imposed a ban on girl’s education in the valley.

“I always feel annoyed and pain when I recall those incidents of terrorism,” she added.

Malala Yousafzai also expressed solidarity with people who are protesting against terrorism in Swat.

“I am always with those who want peace and prosperity in Swat valley.”

Horror of floods

Malala said that when she visited Dadu in Sindh, she saw entire villages and cities submerged.

She said that she felt the horror when she saw how millions have been affected and hundreds of thousands have been rendered homeless.

“We have to work for them tirelessly,” she said.

She informed that her Malala Fund has collected $0.7 million for flood effected children while her organization also started work on a project for flood-affected girls in Balochistan, where they teach girls different strategies to obtain education.

Malala urged other countries to donatee.

The situation demands every country and every institution should come forward and help Pakistan, she said.

Responding to criticism of her work, she said that she does not care about those who criticize her or who support her. But what she does care about is the society and her work for the society.

“I always ready to come to Pakistan again and again as Pakistan is my home and I love my country,” she concluded.