I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban (38 page)

madrasa
– school for Islamic instruction

maulana, mufti
– Islamic scholar

mohalla
– district

MQM
– Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Karachi-based party representing Muslims who fled India at Partition (1947)

nang
– honour

PML
– Pakistan Muslim League, conservative political party founded in 1962 as successor to the Muslim League, the only major party in Pakistan at Partition, which was banned in 1958 along with all other parties

PPP
– Pakistan People’s Party, centre-left party founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1967, later led by his daughter Benazir and currently co-chaired by her husband Asif Zardari and their son Bilawal

Pashtunwali
– traditional behavioural code of Pashtuns

pir
– hereditary saint

pisho
– cat

purdah
– (of women) segregation or seclusion, wearing the veil

qaumi
– national

sabar
– patience

shalwar kamiz/salwar kamiz
– traditional outfit of loose tunic and trousers worn by both men and women

surah
– chapter of the Holy Quran

swara
– practice of resolving a tribal feud by handing over a woman or young girl

talib
– religious student, but has come to mean member of Taliban militant group

tapa/tapey
(plural)
– genre of Pashto folk poetry having two lines, the first line with nine syllables, the second with thirteen.

tarbur
– literally ‘cousin’, but also ‘enemy’

TNSM
– Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Sharia-e-Mohammadi, Movement for the
Enforcement of Islamic Law, founded in 1992 by Sufi Mohammad, later taken over by his son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, also known as as the Swat Taliban

TTP
– Tehrik-i-Taliban-Pakistan, Pakistan Taliban

Umrah
– lesser pilgrimage to Mecca which can be made at any time during the year

Acknowledgements

The last year has shown me both the extreme hatred of man and the limitless love of God. So many people have helped me that it would take a whole new book to name them all here, but I would like to thank everyone in Pakistan and all round the world who prayed for me, all the schoolchildren, students and other supporters who rose when I fell. I am grateful for every petal of the bouquets and every letter of the cards and messages.

I was very lucky to be born to a father who respected my freedom of thought and expression and made me part of his peace caravan, and a mother who not only encouraged me but my father too in our campaign for peace and education.

I have been blessed too with teachers, especially Miss Ulfat, who taught me a lot beyond textbooks such as patience, tolerance and manners.

Many people have described my recovery as miraculous, and for this I would particularly like to thank the doctors and nurses at Swat Central Hospital, CMH Peshawar and AFIC Rawalpindi, especially my heroes Colonel Junaid and Dr Mumtaz, who carried out the right operation at the right time or I would have died. Thanks also to Brigadier Aslam, who saved my major organs from failure after surgery.

I am extremely grateful to General Kayani, who took a keen interest in my treatment, and to President Zardari and his family, whose love and care kept me strong. Thanks to the UAE government and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed for the use of their plane.

Dr Javid Kayani made me laugh in my gloomy days and was like a father to me. He was the man behind my treatment in the UK and first-class rehabilitation. Dr Fiona Reynolds was a great source of
comfort to my parents in Pakistan and to me in the UK, and I thank her too for daring to tell me the truth about my tragedy.

The staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham have been amazing. Julie and her team of nurses were so kind to me, and Beth and Kate were not only nurses but like loving sisters. I’d particularly like to thank Yma Choudhury, who took great care of me and made sure I had everything I needed, even going on daily KFC runs.

Richard Irving deserves a particular mention for his surgery to restore my smile, as does Mrs Anwen White who restored my skull.

Fiona Alexander not only managed the media superbly but went far beyond, even helping to arrange schooling for me and my brothers, always with a smile.

Rehanna Sadiq has been a wonderful comfort with her spiritual therapy.

Thanks to Shiza Shahid and her family for all their incredible kindness and for helping set up the Malala Fund, and to her company McKinsey for supporting her in doing this. Thank you to all the wonderful people and partner organisations who have helped set up the Fund especially Megan Smith, UN Foundation, Vital Voices and BeeSpace. I am also thankful to Samar Minallah for her great support of our cause and the Malala Fund.

Great thanks to everyone at Edelman, especially Jamie Lundie and his colleague Laura Crooks. My father would have gone mad without you!

Thanks as well to Gordon Brown, who has built on what happened to me to create a worldwide movement for education, and the wonderful staff in his office. And to Ban Ki-moon for being so supportive since the beginning.

Thanks to Pakistan’s former High Commissioner in London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, and especially to Aftab Hasan Khan, the Head of Chancery, and his wife Erum Gilani, who were a great support. We were strangers and they helped us adjust to this land and find a place to live. Also thanks to driver Shahid Hussein.

On the book, our special thanks to Christina, who turned into
reality what was just a dream. We never imagined how a lady not from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Pakistan could show such remarkable love and understanding of our country.

We have been extremely lucky to have a literary agent like Karolina Sutton, who has thrown herself into this project and our cause with such passion and commitment, and also an incredible team of editors: Judy Clain and Arzu Tahsin were determined to tell our story in the best way possible.

Thanks go to Abdul Hai Kakar, my mentor and great friend of my father, who thoroughly reviewed the book, and my father’s friend Inam ul-Rahim for his valuable contributions on the history of our region.

I would also like to thank Angelina Jolie for her generous contribution to the Malala Fund.

Thanks to all the teachers of the Khushal School, who have kept the school alive and maintained it in my father’s absence.

We thank God for the day a lady called Shahida Choudhury walked through our door. She has become an incredible support to our family and we have learned from her the real meaning of being a volunteer.

Last and not least I would like to thank Moniba for being such a good and supportive friend and my brothers Khushal and Atal for keeping me still a child.

Malala Yousafzai

Any foreigner who has had the good fortune to visit Swat will know how hospitable its people are, and I would like to thank everyone who helped me there, particularly Maryam and the teachers and students of the Khushal School, Ahmad Shah in Mingora and Sultan Rome for showing me around Shangla. I would also like to thank General Asim Bajwa, Colonel Abid Ali Askari, Major Tariq and the team at Inter Services Public Relations for facilitating my visit. Thanks also to Adam Ellick for generously sharing his notes.

In the UK, the staff of Queen Elizabeth Hospital could not have
been more helpful, particularly Fiona Alexander and Dr Kayani. My agent David Godwin was wonderful as always, and it was a real privilege to have as editors Judy Clain and Arzu Tahsin. I’m also grateful to Martin Ivens, my editor at the
Sunday Times
, for allowing me the time for this important project. My husband Paulo and son Lourenço could not have been more understanding as this book took over my life.

Above all, thanks to Malala and her wonderful family for sharing their story with me.

Christina Lamb

Important Events in Pakistan and Swat

14 August 1947
– Pakistan created as the world’s first homeland for Muslims; princely state of Swat joins Pakistan but keeps its special status

1947
– First Indo-Pakistan War

1948
– Death of founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah

1951
– Pakistan’s first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan assassinated

1958
– General Ayub Khan seizes power in Pakistan’s first military coup

1965
– Second Indo-Pakistan War

1969
– Swat becomes part of North-West Frontier Province

1970
– Pakistan’s first national elections held

1971
– Third Indo-Pakistan War; East Pakistan becomes independent Bangladesh

1971
– Zulfikar Ali Bhutto becomes first elected prime minister

1977
– General Zia ul-Haq takes power in military coup

1979
– Zulfikar Ali Bhutto hanged; Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

1988
– General Zia and senior army officers killed in plane crash; elections held; Benazir Bhutto becomes first female prime minister in Islamic world

1989
– Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan complete

1990
– Benazir Bhutto government dismissed

1991
– Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister

1993
– Nawaz Sharif forced to resign by army; second Benazir Bhutto government

1996
– Taliban take power in Kabul

1996
– Second Benazir Bhutto government dismissed

1997
– Nawaz Sharif forms second government

1998
– India conducts nuclear tests; Pakistan does same

1999
– Benazir Bhutto and husband Asif Ali Zardari convicted of corruption; Benazir goes into exile; Zardari jailed; General Pervez Musharraf takes power in coup

2001
– Al Qaeda 9/11 attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon; US bombing of Afghanistan starts; Taliban government overthrown; Osama bin Laden escapes to Pakistan

2004
– Pakistan army starts operation against militants in FATA; first attack on Pakistan by US drone; Zardari goes into exile

2005
– Maulana Fazlullah starts radio in Swat; massive earthquake in Pakistan kills more than 70,000 people

2007
– Army storms Red Mosque in Islamabad; Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan; Fazlullah sets up Islamic courts; Musharraf sends troops into Swat; launch of Pakistan Taliban; Benazir Bhutto assassinated

2007–9
– Taliban extend influence across Swat

2008
– Zardari becomes president; Musharraf goes into exile

2009
– Fazlullah announces all girls’ schools to close in Swat; Pakistan government agrees peace accord with Taliban; Agreement breaks down as Taliban take over Swat; Pakistan army starts military operation against Taliban in Swat

July 2009
– Pakistan government declares Taliban cleared from Swat

December 2009
– President Obama announces extra 33,000 troops for Afghanistan, putting total NATO troops at 140,000

2010
– Floods across Pakistan kill 2,000 people

2011
– Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer assassinated; bin Laden killed in Abbottabad; Malala wins Pakistan National Peace Prize

9 October 2012
– Malala shot

May 2013
– Musharraf returns and is arrested; elections go ahead despite Taliban violence; Nawaz Sharif wins to become prime minister for third time

12 July 2013
– Malala addresses UN in New York on her sixteenth birthday and calls for free education for all children

A note on the Malala Fund

My goal in writing this book was to raise my voice on behalf of the millions of girls around the world who are being denied their right to go to school and realise their potential. I hope my story will inspire girls to raise their voice and embrace the power within themselves, but my mission does not end there. My mission, our mission, demands that we act decisively to educate girls and empower them to change their lives and communities.

That is why I have set up the Malala Fund.

The Malala Fund believes that each girl, and boy, has the power to change the world and that all she needs is a chance. To give girls this chance, the Fund aspires to invest in efforts that empower local communities, develop innovative solutions that build upon traditional approaches, and deliver not just basic literacy but the tools, ideas and networks that can help girls find their voice and create a better tomorrow.

I hope that all of you will join this cause so that we can work together to make girls’ education and empowerment a true priority once and for all. Please join my mission.

Find out more at
www.malalafund.org

Join the conversation at
www.facebook.com/MalalaFund
and
www.twitter.com/MalalaFund

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