Malala: The real story (DNA Report: Malala is not Pushtun), the girl in the hospital was not a girl at all. It was a pillow.

Nadeem F. Paracha Updated at2013-10-10 16:47:58 In September 2012, a 15-year-old school girl from Pakistan’s Swat valley was reported to have been shot in the face and head by a Taliban activist. The attack caused outrage around the world and the news was given widespread coverage in the local and international media. Malala was reported to have barely survived after doctors in Pakistan and then England performed multiple surgeries on her face and head. Today Malala lives in the UK and has repeatedly vowed to continue working for the cause of women’s education in Pakistan, especially in those areas of the country where extremists and militant outfits are said to have been blowing up girls’ schools. But this is just one side of the whole story. The narrative about what really happened on the day Malala was allegedly shot has mostly been weaved by the Western media. In April this year, Dawn.com sent a group of its most seasoned reporters to Swat to undertake an intensive five-month investigation of the event. Their collective findings unearthed a series of some stunning disclosures (with evidence) that are bound to affectively challenge the mainstream narrative of the Malala story. The following are the major findings of the investigation: • Malala was not born in Swat and neither is she a Pushtun. A respected medical doctor in Swat, Imtiaz Ali Khanzai, who runs a private hospital and clinic in Swat told our reporters that he has a DNA report that proves that Malala is not Pushtun. Showing us the report, he said he extracted Malala’s DNA when as a child she visited his clinic (with her parents) complaining of an earache. “After she was supposedly shot last year, I remembered I had a bottle where I had kept some of her earwax,” the doctor explained. “Collecting earwax of my patients is a hobby of mine,” he added. He went on to claim that according to the DNA, Malala is a Caucasian, most probably from Poland. After the discovery, the doctor called Malala’s father and told him that he knew who Malala was. “ “He was stunned and began to stutter,” the doctor said. “He pleaded that I did not make my findings public. I told him I wouldn’t but only if he told me the whole truth.” Malala’s father told the doctor that Malala’s real name was Jane and she was born in Hungary in 1997. Her real biological parents were Christian missionaries who, after traveling to Swat in 2002, left Malala as a gift to her adopted parents after they secretly converted to Christianity. Dr. Khanzai’s DNA extraction kit Dr. Khanzai’s DNA extraction kit When our reporters asked the doctor why he was revealing Malala’s real identity now, he said he was convinced that Malala was planted in Swat by anti-Pakistan elements. He then added that he can also prove that the young man who shot her was not a Pushtun either. “I have his earwax as well,’ he claimed. After extracting the DNA of the shooter’s earwax, the doctor discovered that he was probably from Italy. He then invited our reporters to look at the man’s earwax under a microscope. “Those tiny yellow bits that you see in the wax are bits of pizza,” he explained. The doctor told us that in January 2012 he emailed his findings to some senior members of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. After a few days his clinic was raided by the police. He was in Saudi Arabia at the time collecting earwax samples of some members of the Saudi royal family. His staff at the clinic was harassed by the police who wanted to know where he kept the earwax samples. Pizza? Pizza? In June this year, the doctor was visited by a young ISI officer who apologised to him about the police raid and told him that the ISI were well aware of Malala’s real identity. After much coaxing on our part, the doctor eventually gave us the cell phone number of the ISI officer. However, the officer kept refusing to talk to us but finally relented on the condition that we refer to him as ‘Master X’. Master X met one of our reporters at an abandoned girls’ school in lower Swat. To hide his face, the officer wore a Spiderman mask. Talking to the reporter he said: “This had to come out one day. And I just couldn’t let myself continue to keep such a dangerous secret hidden. I am a true patriot.” He then added: ‘My father once told me, ‘Peter, with great power comes great responsibility’.’ The officer The officer His revelations led us to our next shocking discovery (with evidence): • Malala’s shooting was staged by intelligence agencies. The officer told the reporter that the whole shooting incident was a stunt planned by Pakistani and US agencies to pave the way for the Pakistani army’s invasion of North Waziristan: “It was all a drama,” he explained. “It was staged so the Pakistan army would have an excuse to invade North Waziristan.” When asked why he was using the word ‘invasion’ when North Waziristan was a part of Pakistan, the officer replied: “North Waziristan is an autonomous Islamic Emirates. It has been like that for centuries. But our history books distort the facts and teach our children that it is part of Pakistan. The area has unimaginable amounts of oil, gold, copper, silver, bronze, coal, diamonds, gas and fossilised dinosaur remains underneath its rugged grounds. That’s what the Americans are after.” Our reporter then asked whether he had any evidence to prove his claim. The officer pulled out a few photographs and showed it to the reporter. The photographs showed a few bones. “Dinosaur bones,” he explained. He added: “These were excavated in North Waziristan by the archaeology division of the Taliban. After they were studied by the geology division of the Taliban, it had traces of oil, gold, copper, silver, bronze, coal, diamonds and gas.” One of the photographs showing dinosaur bones excavated from the grounds of North Waziristan. One of the photographs showing dinosaur bones excavated from the grounds of North Waziristan. What about the evidence proving that the shooting was staged by American and Pakistani agencies? Pulling out a piece of paper, the officer said: “This is the evidence. It was decoded by the Taliban’s division of quantum physics.” The paper had screen shots of a brief exchange of tweets on Twitter between one ‘Lib Fish’ and ‘Oil Gul.’ The officer said that Lib Fish was actually a CIA operative based in Qatar and Oil Gul was an ISI sleuth on Twitter based in Lahore. The exchange was intercepted and decoded by one ‘Tsunami Mommy’ who is based in Swabi in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa province in Pakistan and is an engineer by profession. We are publishing the Twitter exchange between Lib Fish and Oil Gul that was provided to us by the officer: @LibFish Yo, @OilGul, how goes life? @OilGul Life’s kool, mate. @LibFish @OilGul Any chance of visiting Qatar soon? @OilGul @LibFish Haha. Soon after I’m done with my O level exams. They suck. @LibFish @OilGul Haha. Yea, they do, don’t they? The officer told us that Tsunami Mommy jumped in after he realised what was taking place: @Tsunami_Mommy Agents! I know what you two do. Anti-Islam anti-Pakistan bastaaas. @OilGul @LibFish @OilGul Dude, who are you? Why are you trolling us? @Tsunami_Mommy Shup ut fake liberalz fascist agents IK is best you bastaaas NA250 rigging 1 billion fake liberalz votes anti-Pakistan anti-Islam inshallah Nya Bakistan tabdeeli … The officer said he used famous Pakistani linguist and WW-II code-breaker, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, to decode the suspicious Twitter exchange and that is when he discovered that the CIA and the ISI were planning the fake shooting. He also gave the reporter the manuscript of the book that Tsunami Mommy was writing on the shooting after piecing together the evidence (with evidence) provided by the doctor, the officer and Mustansar Hussain Tarar. The book’s title will be ‘A Fake Shooting of a Fake Liberal by a Fake Liberal, You Bastaaas.’ Below is the brief summary of what the manuscript claims: October 1, 1997: Malala is born to Hungarian parents in Budapest and named Jane. October 4, 2002: The parents are recruited by the CIA and given a crash course in evangelical Christianity, hypnosis and karate. October 7, 2003: They land in Pakistan and head for Swat posing as NGO workers. They get in touch with a low-level ISI agent, and convert the family to Christianity, leaving Jane with him. He changes her name to Malala and instils in her the fear of Jesus. October 30, 2007: Malala starts to write a blog that asks the militants of Swat to put down their weapons, pick up a Bible and boogie. October 21, 2011: The militants request her to stop writing her evangelical blogs and finish her homework instead. October 1, 2012: CIA recruits a Pashtu speaking Italian-American loner (Robert) living in New York and gives him a crash course in gun-slinging and acting. October 7, 2012: CIA shares plan of Malala’s fake shooting with the ISI. The ISI agrees and gives Malala and her parents a briefing. October 11, 2012: The Italian-America arrives in Swat posing as an Uzbek homeopath. The fake gunman moments before taking a flight to Pakistan. The fake gunman moments before taking a flight to Pakistan. October 12, 2012: Robert is given a gun that is loaded with blanks. He intercepts Malala’s school van and fires blanks at her. She pretends to be hit and squeeze opens a small pack of Mitchel’s Tomato Ketchup she is hiding in one of her hands and rubs the ketchup all over her face. A fake ambulance suddenly arrives on the scene and takes away Malala. The world is told that she was shot in the face and head by a Taliban fanatic. The story that ran in the media quoted Malala’s friends in the van saying that the gunman asked for Malala and then shot her. But the officer shared with us the testimony of one of Malala’s friends that was repressed by vested interests in the media. According to the testimony, a man stopped the van and shouted (in Pashtu), ‘who is Jane … I mean, Jeanette … no, Alberta Joan Lucas?’ The girls looked at each other in confusion and the driver was about to drive away when the gunman pulled out a gun and started to shout: ‘Uno momento, un momento …’ Then looking at a girl he asked: ‘You lookin’ at me?’ At which Malala threw down her school bag and shouted (in Italian): ‘No you idiot, I AM lookin’ at you. Malala, Malala, remember? Fool.’ Saying, ‘Oh,’ he shot her (with the blanks). • The girl that the media was shown in the hospital was not Malala. The officer shared with us some photographs to prove this. He first showed us a video (on his iPhone) that he shot hours after the shooting. It shows Malala joyfully bungee jumping on the hills near River Swat. Malala bungee jumping hours after she was allegedly ‘shot.’ Malala bungee jumping hours after she was allegedly ‘shot.’ Then the officer informed us that the doctor had the earwax samples of the girl in the hospital. When we contacted the doctor again and asked what the samples proved he said that the DNA he extracted from the sample suggests that the girl in the hospital was not a girl at all. It was a pillow. He said he had managed to sneak into the operating room (posing as a postman) and while he was secretly drawing out earwax from the girl’s ears, he managed to take a picture of the girl with his Nokia phone. ‘I came back and was shocked when I enlarged the picture,’ he said. He then gave us a printout of the picture … We believe there is now enough evidence for Pakistan and the international community to have a serious re-look at the Malala story and demand that the United Nations orders a full investigation into the matter. ======================================================================================== Malala Inc: Global operation surrounds teenage activist By AFP Published: October 11, 2013 Share this article Print this page Email. Malala Yousufzai at the UN General Assembly. PHOTO: AFP LONDON: Teenage activist Malala Yousafzai has become a formidable force for rights in the year since the Taliban shot her, but an equally formidable public relations operation has helped her spread her message. The 16-year-old campaigner for girls’ education has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, addressed the UN, published an autobiography and been invited to tea with Queen Elizabeth II, achieving a level of fame more like that of a movie star. On Thursday she won the EU’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize Thursday, drawing a fresh threat of murder by the Taliban. But Malala and her family have help when it comes to balancing her recovery and her schooling with the demands of being a young stateswoman in demand from the international media. One of the world’s biggest public relations firms, Edelman, has a team working on her behalf while politicians, journalists and book publishers are making her into something of a global brand. Those close to Malala reject claims from some in Pakistan that she is being manipulated. “I was worried about all the expectations placed on her before I met her,” Jonathan Yeo, a British painter whose portrait of Malala went on display in the National Portrait Gallery in London in September, told AFP. “A lot of people wouldn’t want to deal with it, or have the presence of mind to deal with it, or be swayed by the things around it,” said Yeo. “But my worries that any of those things might be going on were immediately reassured by her and her family.” He added: “There’s no one with any ulterior motives, all the money is going to charity, there is no political agenda, she is still devoted to her country and still religious.” A source who worked with the family told AFP: “From what I have seen, although she is only 16 it is very much driven by her personally.” Malala had already been in the public eye for years before a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus on October 9, 2012, asked “Who is Malala” and shot her in the head. It was Malala’s father Ziauddin, a school principal and himself a seasoned campaigner for education, who first helped propel the precociously talented girl from the Swat valley into the limelight. At his encouragement Malala started writing a blog for the BBC’s Urdu service under a pseudonym in 2009, when she was aged just 11, about how the Taliban were banning girls’ education in Swat. The New York Times filmed a documentary about her that same year. But it was only after the shooting, and Malala’s subsequent miraculous recovery in a British hospital, that she became a truly global figure. Former British prime minister Gordon Brown, a UN special education envoy, visited her in hospital shortly afterwards and took up her cause with a petition which he presented to the Pakistani government. Brown later arranged for Malala to speak at the United Nations in July. Behind the scenes Brown was also helping Malala and her family come to terms with their new reality. “He has quite a close relationship with the family, particularly Malala’s father,” a source close to Brown told AFP, adding that Brown and his wife Sarah were helping the family with “things that have been fairly overwhelming”. At the request of Malala’s father, Brown also personally asked consulting firm McKinsey to lend employee Shiza Shahid, a friend of the Yousafzai family. to chair the Malala Fund, the organisation that runs Malala’s education campaign and has won donors including Angelina Jolie. The Malala machine really grew in November 2012 when the PR agency Edelman, whose clients include Starbucks and Microsoft, started working for her family. A spokesman for Edelman told AFP it was carrying out the work on a pro-bono basis and now had a team of five people supporting Malala. Edelman said its role “primarily involves providing a press office function for Malala” and “helping to advise the family on how to engage with the huge media and public interest in Malala’s campaign.” There is now a two-month waiting list for an interview with Malala, the firm said. The global spotlight has provoked a backlash in parts of Pakistani society, with some accusing Malala of acting as a puppet of the West while the Taliban have renewed the threat to her life. Elsewhere there have also been concerns at the level of public exposure. “It could be a burden. Imposing that on a child might not be ethical,” said Tilman Brueck, the head of Stockholm peace research institute SIPRI. Malala herself insists the circus around her has not affected her personality. “My world has changed but I have not,” she says in her autobiography “I Am Malala”. ==============================================================

Malala discharged from hospital

By AFP / Web Desk Published: January 4, 2013 Malala Yousufzai (C) waves with nurses as she is discharged from The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in this handout photograph released on January 4, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS . LONDON: Schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education, has been discharged from the British hospital treating her, a hospital spokeswoman said on Friday. Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, said 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai would continue her rehabilitation at her family’s temporary English home before undergoing major reconstructive surgery in a few weeks. Malala, was brought to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on October 15 after Taliban gunmen shot her in the head as she travelled on a school bus in Swat. Earlier, the Pakistani government had said that she would undergo skull surgery within weeks at the British hospital where she is recovering from her injuries. Her cranial reconstruction surgery will be carried out in late January or early February “as part of her long-term recovery”, said a statement released by the Pakistani High Commission in London. Dave Rosser, medical director at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said Malala had “continued to make great progress in her treatment”, according to the statement. It emerged on Wednesday that Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, would become Pakistan’s education attache at its consulate in Birmingham. Yousafzai will initially undertake the role for three years, but could get a two-year extension as his daughter continues her recovery, the Pakistani government said. Malala first rose to prominence aged just 11 with a blog for the BBC Urdu service in 2009 in which she described life in Swat during the bloody rule of the Taliban. Her calls for improved education for girls attracted the attention of the Taliban, ultimately leading to the attempt on her life.

Malala has 70% chance of survival: Doctors:Responding to critics: Malala promised opposition would never deter her

UAE sends medics to Pakistan to evacuate girl shot by Taliban Sun, Oct 14 16:27 PM EDT DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has dispatched a medical team to evacuate a Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban if doctors decide she should be taken abroad for treatment, a UAE news agency reported on Sunday. The WAM state news agency said the team would evaluate the condition of education campaigner Malala Yousufzai and facilitate her transfer to a hospital outside Pakistan. Fourteen-year-old Yousufzai was leaving school in her hometown in the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan when she was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls. A spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in the UAE told Reuters the UAE had sent an air ambulance to Pakistan, but a decision on whether she would be transferred out of the country had not been taken. Yousufzai, whose shooting has drawn condemnation from world leaders, was being treated at a military hospital in Rawalpindi. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Said the attack must be "universally denounced." "The attempt on Malala's life was not only an attack on a defenseless child, it was an attack on her and every girl's right to a future unlimited by prejudice and oppression," he said, according to WAM. "We must all stand with Malala in promoting tolerance and respect." The shooting has outraged people in Pakistan, a country seemingly inured to extreme violence since a surge in Islamist militancy began after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. (Reporting by Mahmoud Habboush and Praveen Menon; Editing by Rosalind Russell) ============ PESHAWAR: Child activist Malala Yousufzai who was shot by the Taliban has a 70 per cent chance of survival, doctors said Thursday. One of her doctors, Mumtaz Khan, told AFP Malala had improved since the bullet was removed in an operation on Wednesday but she was still seriously ill. “She has been put on a ventilator for two days. The bullet has affected some part of the brain, but there is a 70% chance that she will survive,” he said. Asked whether 14-year-old Malala was being sent to the top military hospital in Rawalpindi, a military official confirmed to AFP only that she was being moved and that a further announcement would be made shortly. “Her condition is not yet out of danger despite improvement. She is being shifted to Rawalpindi,” Governor Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa Masood Kausar told reporters. Malala, who studies at Khushal Public School, was on her way home when the vehicle came under attack on Haji Baba Road. One of the other injured has been identified as Shazia and sources say the third was a teacher. Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan had said his group was behind the shooting. ============== .. My conversations with Malala Yousafzai, the girl who stood up to the Taliban Pakistani journalist Owais Tohid recalls his conversations with Malala Yousafzai, the outspoken 14-year-old girl whose shooting by the Taliban has outraged the world. By Owais Tohid | Christian Science Monitor – 5 hrs ago.. . . Email 4 Print ... . . .Enlarge Gallery. Pakistani girls display a poster while sitting at their desk, as their teacher, not shown, talks to them about 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot on Tuesday by a Taliban gunman for her role … .. . . . More From . . .Syrian airliner spat sours improving Turkish-Russian relations MS-13 gang labeled transnational criminal group, a first for US street gang Why Europe needed the Nobel Peace Prize Paul Ryan and Joe Biden vice presidential debate was good TV and good politics (+video) ... . . "Which one of you is Malala? Speak up, otherwise I will shoot you all," a hooded, bearded Taliban militant asked a bus full of schoolgirls on their way home earlier this week. "She is propagating against the soldiers of Allah, the Taliban. She must be punished," the Taliban militant shouted louder. Then, recognizing her, he shot her at a point blank range. Malala Yousafzai gained fame when it came out that she was the girl who was highly critical of the Taliban's ban on girls' education in the Swat valley, and blogging about her views and about the atrocities of Islamic militias controlling the valley from 2007-2009. The BBC blog, which was written in Urdu under a pen name, was nominated for several awards. "I wanted to scream, shout and tell the whole world what we were going through. But it was not possible. The Taliban would have killed me, my father, my whole family. I would have died without leaving any mark. So I chose to write with a different name. And it worked, as my valley has been freed," she told me when I invited her for an interview for the TV station I am heading now, ARY News. RELATED: Who are the Taliban and what do they want? Doctors treating Malala now say bullets have been removed from her head and neck, but her condition is still critical. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have claimed responsibility for the attack and have a $100,000 government bounty against them. Malala's friend, Shazia, who was also injured that day, recounted the event to me as her eyes filled with tears. "They stopped our school van. They were riding on a bike. The masked man kept pointing guns at us and the other was shouting ‘where is Malala?!’ I froze with a flashback to the old dark days: I remembered the headless bodies, slaughtering of rivals – merely on dissent or slightest doubt of spying –the grotesque violence." Just a few moments before, she said, the girls had been singing a traditional Pushto folk song on their way back from school, its lyrics vowing sacrificing their lives for their motherland, the beautiful valley of Swat. "With a drop of my sweetheart's blood, Shed to defend the motherland, I will put a beauty spot on my forehead, Such would put to shame the rose in the garden," they sang. The song was made famous by Malala’s namesake, Malalai of Maiwand. The 19th century national folk hero fought against the British troops in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. WHAT'S IN A NAME? The first time I met Malala, a couple of years ago, I asked her what her name signified. She answered: "Probably, a hero like the Afghan heroine Malalai [of Maiwand] or Malalai Joya. I want to be a social activist and an honest politician like her," she said, smiling. Ms. Joya, a 30-something activist, politician, and writer who was bitterly critical of both the Taliban and the Karzai regime, was at one point dubbed the bravest woman of Afghanistan. Malala Yousafzai certainly was well on her way for a 14-year-old. She was awarded the National Peace Award in Pakistan last year. At the time, she said: "My life is like a movie, full of dreams. I used to dream of becoming famous, to see my valley freed from the clutches of Taliban, to see girls flying like butterflies, free from any restrictions. It is becoming as a reality so I am happy, happy, and very happy," she said. "I want to change the political system so there is social justice and equality and change in the status of girls and women. I plan to set up my own academy for girls," she said, ever with confidence and a maturity beyond her years. I remember thinking it was her love for life that made countering the Taliban possible. ENGRAVED IN MEMORY Under their control of the Swat valley, the turbaned militants burned schools and banned girls’ education, and forced women to wear burqas or stay inside their homes, turning Malala's colorful valley of Swat colorless. That period is engraved in people's memories through her diary. "Saturday January 3, 2009: Today our headmistress announced that girls should stop wearing uniform because of Taliban. Come to schools in casual wear. In our class only three out of 27 attended the school. My three friends have quit school because of Taliban threats." "January 5, 2009: Today our teacher told us not to wear colorful dress that might make Taliban angry." "Tuesday March 2009: On our way to school, my friend asked me to cover my head properly, otherwise Taliban will punish us." "Thursday, March 12, 2009: I had a sore throat. My father took me to the doctor. There a woman told us about a boy named Anis, 'Anis was with Taliban.’ His Taliban friend told him that he had a dream that he is surrounded by heavenly virgins in Paradise. The boy then asked his parents if he could become a suicide bomber to go to the Paradise. The parents refused. But Anis exploded himself at a check post of security forces, anyway.” When the security forces carried out the operation to oust the Taliban in the Swat valley, Malala had to leave her valley, as did almost a million other displaced people. I met her while she was teaching children under a tent, as most of the schools were destroyed by Taliban in Swat. "I want to see every child getting education and our whole country freed from Taliban," she told me, gesturing to the surrounding mountains. Archives: A special report from Swat Valley in 2007 Today, security officials say her attackers might have come down from those same mountains, either across the border where Mullah Fazlullah who had occupied Swat valley and now believed to have been in hiding in Nooristan and Kunnar provinces in Afghanistan, or from North Waziristan, which is considered to be a haven for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants. Three years ago, a military operation followed the flogging of a girl from Swat, Chand Bibi, at the hands of Taliban, which triggered anger across the country. Now the attack on Malala has triggered nationwide anger and international condemnation, and there is some hope that it will effect a change again. Pakistan's military chief visited the military hospital Wednesday to see Malala. "Such inhuman attacks clearly expose the extremist mindset the nation is facing," Gen. Pervez Ashfaq Kayani said in a statement. "We refuse to bow before terror, we will fight. Regardless of the cost, we will prevail, inshallah," the military chief said, triggering speculation that this attack might spur Pakistan's military to go into North Waziristan. UNFLAGGING DETERMINATION Malala, with her rosy complexion, twinkling eyes, and unflagging determination, charmed everybody with her courage and confidence in her public appearances. Fluent in Urdu, English, and Pushto, she had a flair for communication. Her father, Zia Yousafzai, a Pashtun left-wing educator, almost always accompanied her on outings and interviews. He runs a chain of schools in Swat valley, the Khushal Public School, named after a famous Pashtun poet. I met father and daughter many times, and discussed with Malala the possibility of her hosting a show to interview leading politicians and dignitaries for the TV channel where I work. "That will be fun, countering mullahs," she replied, but said she wanted to focus on her studies. Her father, bursting with pride, was cautious. "It's not the right time. She has already been in limelight in the national and international media. Her life can be under threat and she has to go a long way," her father told me. The last time that I was with Malala, my 9-year-old daughter, Risa, called me to ask when I was coming home. "I am with a hero, a very courageous girl. She has defeated the Taliban," I told her. "The horrible Taliban? She must be so brave. Can I talk to her?" my daughter asked, and the girls chatted on the telephone for a few minutes. On Tuesday, when my daughter called me, Malala was being rushed to the hospital. When I spoke to Malala's father, he said he was standing next to her, holding her hand. "Don't worry, Baba. I am going to be fine and victory will be ours," he said Malala told him in broken words before falling unconscious. I came home that day heartsick and angry. My daughter had fallen asleep on top of her book titled “Mulan,” a folk tale we have read together about a heroic Chinese girl who fought against Mongols and saved her village. I held her tight, trying not to wake her because she had school the next day - which was Malala's dream. IN PICTURES: Talking to the Taliban Related stories •Who are the Taliban and what do they want? 5 key points •Girl who defied Pakistani Taliban shot for ‘promoting Western culture' •Taliban shooting of 14-year old sparks outrage in Pakistan ======================= Responding to critics: Malala promised opposition would never deter her By Fazal Khaliq Published: October 11, 2012 “My role and struggle is beyond personal fame and achievement,” says Malala Yousafzai. PHOTO: FILE SWAT: Days before Malala Yousafzai was targeted, the 14-year-old iconic child activist had stated: “I am not fighting for any award, neither have I struggled to be part of any competition to get nominations in any list. For me, my cause to fight for the education of girls and children’s rights is of supreme importance. And this, I will continue to the end.” After receiving the National Peace Award from the prime minister, Yousafzai was also confirmed in the list of Tamgha-i-Shujaat. While many of her well-wishers were happy and excited, certain groups came out with extreme criticism against the child activist. On September 28, The Express Tribune conducted a formal interview with her regarding her vision, aim and response to the severe criticism against her achievements. Her reply was simple and cogent. “My role and struggle is beyond personal fame and achievement,” she said. When asked about the criticism she continues to face, she replied with an innocent smile. “Maybe they are right because it seems to me that I have not done enough to achieve my cause. “I will be happy when every girl in this land gets formal education. I will not sit with ease until all my girls receive education and learn their rights.” She vowed opposition would never deter her from her cause. In fact, she added, it would help her speed up her activities. “No doubt, I learn a lot from my critics. There is always a lesson to learn from those who criticise you. I am thankful to them who are judging my every activity closely,” she told The Express Tribune with beaming confidence and optimism. Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2012. =============== Taliban's "Radio Mullah" sent hit squad after Pakistani schoolgirl Fri, Oct 12 13:33 PM EDT 1 of 5 By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - One of the Taliban's most feared commanders, Maulana Fazlullah, carefully briefed two killers from his special hit squad on their next target. The gunmen weren't going after any army officer, politician or Western diplomat. Their target was a 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl who had angered the Taliban by speaking out for "Western"-style girls' education. Tuesday's shooting of Malala Yousufzai was the culmination of years of campaigning that had pitted the fearless, smiling young girl against one of Pakistan's most ruthless Taliban commanders. Their story began in 2009, when Fazlullah, known as Radio Mullah for his fiery radio broadcasts, took over Swat Valley, and ordered the closure of girls' schools, including Yousufzai's. Outraged, the then-11-year-old kept a blog for the BBC under a pen name and later launched a campaign for girls' education. It won her Pakistan's highest civilian honor and death threats from the Taliban. Yousufzai was not blind to the dangers. In her hometown of Mingora, Fazlullah's Taliban fighters dumped bodies near where her family lived. "I heard my father talking about another three bodies lying at Green Chowk," she wrote in her diary, referring to a nearby roundabout. A military offensive pushed Fazlullah out of Swat in 2009, but his men simply melted away across the border to Afghanistan. Earlier this year, they kidnapped and beheaded 17 Pakistani soldiers in one of several cross border raids. Yousufzai continued speaking out despite the danger. As her fame grew, Fazlullah tried everything he could to silence her. The Taliban published death threats in the newspapers and slipped them under her door. But she ignored them. The Taliban say that's why they sent assassins, despite a tribal code forbidding the killing of women. "We had no intentions to kill her but were forced when she would not stop (speaking against us)," said Sirajuddin Ahmad, a spokesman of Swat Taliban now based in Afghanistan's Kunar province. He said the Taliban held a meeting a few months ago at which they unanimously agreed to kill her. The task was then given to military commanders to carry out. The militia has a force of around 100 men specialized in targeted killing, fighters said. They chose two men, aged between 20-30, who were locals from Swat Valley. The gunmen had proved their worth in previous assassinations, killing an opposition politician and attacking a leading hotelier for "obscenity" in promoting tourism. Their trademark is to kill by shots to the head. Such hits, although dangerous, are also a badge of honor among the Taliban. The fighters who carry them out often receive personal calls of congratulations from senior leaders and may also get cash or guns. Now it was Yousufzai's turn. "Before the attack, the two fighters personally collected information about Malala's route to school, timing, the vehicle she used and her security," Ahmad said. They decided to shoot her near a military checkpoint to make the point they could strike anywhere, he said. On Tuesday, the two men stopped the bus she was riding home in. They asked for Yousufzai by name. Although the frightened girls said she wasn't there, the men fired at her and also hit two other girls in the van. One of them remains in critical condition. Shot in the head and the neck, Yousufzai still lies unconscious in hospital, unaware that world leaders from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to U.S. President Barack Obama have pledged support. Schoolchildren in Swat prayed for her recovery. "The American people are shocked by this deplorable shooting of a girl who was targeted because she dared to attend school," a statement from the White House said. On Wednesday, the singer Madonna dedicated a song to Yousufzai during a L.A. concert. In a gesture that bemused many Pakistanis, she performed a striptease that revealed Yousufzai's first name, Malala, written across her back. Her would-be killers said they had no idea their attack would propel their victim, already a national hero, into a global icon. "Actually the media gave it so much importance and now even Ban Ki-moon used dirty language against us," Ahmad said. The international community stayed silent when the Pakistani security forces killed women during a crackdown, he complained. Now that they had failed to kill Yousufzai, they would target her father, Ahmad said. Ziauddin Yousufzai, the headmaster of a girls' school, is on their hit list for speaking against them, his activities to promote peace in the region and for encouraging his daughter. "We have a clear-cut stance. Anyone who takes side with the government against us will have to die at our hands," Ahmad warned. "You will see. Other important people will soon become victims." (Writing by Katharine Houreld) =================== Pakistani schoolgirl attacked by Taliban sent to UK for treatment Mon, Oct 15 00:11 AM EDT 1 of 6 ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by Taliban gunmen for pushing for girls to be educated has been sent to the United Kingdom for medical treatment, a military spokesman said on Monday. The spokesman said in a statement that 14-year-old Malala Yusufzai, whose shooting has drawn condemnation abroad and at home, will require prolonged care to fully recover physically and psychologically. The spokesman said an air ambulance transporting Malala, provided by the United Arab Emirates, had departed from Islamabad and was heading for the United Kingdom. "The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury," said the spokesman in a statement. Malala has become a potent symbol of resistance against the Pakistani Taliban's efforts to deprive girls of an education. Pakistanis have held some protests and candlelight vigils but government officials have refrained from publicly criticizing the Taliban by name over the attack, in what critics say is a lack of resolve against extremism. Opponents of Pakistan's government and military say the shooting is another reminder of the state's failure to tackle militancy. (Reporting by Sheree Sardar; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) =============== Shot Pakistani girl can recover, UK doctors say Mon, Oct 15 15:31 PM EDT 1 of 13 By Ben Hirschler and Alessandra Prentice LONDON/BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) - A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban has every chance of making a "good recovery", British doctors said on Monday as 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai arrived at a hospital in central England for treatment of her severe wounds. Yousufzai, who was shot for advocating education for girls, was flown from Pakistan to receive specialist treatment at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital at a unit expert in dealing with complex trauma cases that has treated hundreds of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.

"Doctors...believe she has a chance of making a good recovery on every level," said Dr Dave Rosser, the hospital's medical director, adding that her treatment and rehabilitation could take months. He told reporters Yousufzai, whose shooting has drawn widespread condemnation, had not yet been assessed by British medics but said she would not have been brought to Britain at all if her prognosis was not good.

TV footage showed a patient, believed to be the schoolgirl, being rushed from an ambulance into the hospital surrounded by a large team of medical staff. She will now undergo scans to reveal the extent of her injuries, but Rosser said they could not provide any further details without her agreement. Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet from near her spinal cord during a three-hour operation the day after the attack last week, but she now needs intensive specialist follow-up care. The unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a large blue and white glass-plated complex in the south of England's second city, has treated every British battle casualty for the last decade, Rossner said. Built at a cost of 545 million pounds ($877 million), the hospital has the world's largest single-floor critical care unit for patients with gunshot wounds, burns, spinal damage and major head injuries. Treatment for the schoolgirl is likely to include repairing damaged bones in her skull and complex follow-up neurological treatment. "Injuries to bones in the skull can be treated very successfully by the neurosurgeons and the plastic surgeons, but it is the damage to the blood supply to the brain that will determine long-term disability," said Duncan Bew, consultant trauma surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust in London. Judging the best way forward in such difficult cases requires a wide range of experienced medics working as a team. "In trauma, it is really the coordinated impact of intensive care that is critical. It's not just about keeping the patient alive but also maximizing their rehabilitation potential. With neurological injuries that is paramount," Bew said. Doctors said youth was on her side since a young brain has more ability to recover from injury than a mature one. "On the positive side, Malala has passed two major hurdles - the removal of the bullet and the very critical 48-hour window after surgery," said Anders Cohen, head of neurosurgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Centre in New York. MALALA'S SECURITY A PRIORITY Compared with some of the nation's ageing hospitals, the new National Health Service (NHS) hospital offers a spectrum of services ranging from plastic surgery to neuroscience. They may all be needed in Malala's case. The hospital and government officials declined to give any details about the security measures that would be put in place to protect Malala but a spokesman for the interior ministry said her security was "a priority for both Pakistan and the UK". A hospital spokesman said no extra measures were in place but because the unit treated British military personnel it already had "fairly robust security". Care of soldiers on the battlefield has improved dramatically in recent years, so that many now survive injuries that would have been a death sentence in the past. As a result, Birmingham now handles extremely challenging injuries that were previously little known and has built up enormous experience in head and brain injuries, multiple fractures and amputations. In the last five years, the Birmingham centre has treated 481 service personnel seriously injured in Afghanistan, according to the Ministry of Defence. She did not come from Pakistan with any of her relatives but the Pakistani Consulate are proving support and her family may join her at a later date. Yousufzai, a cheerful schoolgirl who had wanted to become a doctor before agreeing to her father's wishes that she strive to be a politician, has become a potent symbol of resistance against the Taliban's efforts to deprive girls of an education. Pakistanis have held some protests and candlelight vigils but most government officials have refrained from publicly criticizing the Taliban by name over the attack, in what critics say is a lack of resolve against extremism. ($1 = 0.6216 British pounds) (Additional reporting by Michael Holden, editing by Peter Millership and Diana Abdallah) ========== As world helps shot Pakistani girl, Afghans ask "what about us?" Sun, Oct 21 19:48 PM EDT KABUL (Reuters) - The global attention bestowed on a Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban has sparked outcry amongst many Afghans dismayed by what they say is the unequal response to the plight of their women and children. Malala Yousufzai, shot by Taliban gunmen for advocating girls' education, was flown from Pakistan to Britain to receive treatment after the attack this month which drew widespread condemnation and an international outpouring of support. "Every day an Afghan girl is abused, raped, has acid thrown on her face and mutilated. Yet no one remembers or acknowledges these girls," Elay Ershad, who represents the nomadic Kuchi people in Afghan parliament, told Reuters. Echoing concerns of other prominent Afghan women, Ershad said the government took no real interest in women's rights, instead using the issue for political gain and currying favor with Western backers, a claim Kabul has dismissed as untrue. President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly condemned Yousufzai's shooting, even using it to address women's rights in his country: "The people of Afghanistan ... see this attempt not only against (Yousufzai) but also against all Afghan girls," he said last week. The closest Karzai has come this year to condemning violence against women in Afghanistan, as seen on the scale he has done with Yousufzai, was in July when gunmen publicly executed a 22-year-old woman, named Najiba, for alleged adultery, which prompted an international outcry. "If the president does not care about Afghan women in general, why does he suddenly care about Malala?" Ershad asked. "No one (here) ever seeks justice once the television cameras are turned off." The United Arab Emirates provided the plane taking Yousufzai to Britain, while British officials said the Pakistani government was footing the bill for her lengthy treatment in Birmingham. Karzai has told Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that the attack was proof the two needed to tackle a common enemy, a move widely seen as an attempt to soothe ties between the neighbors amid bickering over Pakistani shelling across the countries' lawless border. "WE BETTER UNDERSTAND MALALA'S SITUATION" Afghan women have won back basic rights in education, voting and employment since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001, sparking the present NATO-led war, but Afghanistan remains one of the worst places on Earth to be a woman, despite billions of dollars in aid and pledges to better their lives. There is now mounting concern that such freedoms will not be protected and may even be traded away as Kabul seeks a peace deal with the Taliban, as most foreign troops prepare to leave the country by the end of 2014. "We understand Malala's situation better than anybody in the world, (yet) our government defends women's rights with empty slogans and actually does next to nothing," said Suraya Parlika, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and member of the upper house of parliament. The popular, privately owned Tolo television highlighted the story of a policeman in eastern Ghazni province, called Zalmai, whose young son and daughter were shot dead in front of him by suspected Taliban members just days before Yousufzai's October 9 shooting in Pakistan's Swat valley. "How can the Afghan government react so and condemn (the attack on) a Pakistani girl and ignore such an event like this?" Tolo quoted one of Zalmai's colleagues as saying this week, adding that officials had ignored requests to investigate. Afghanistan's independent human rights commission says violence against women is increasing across the country as Karzai's government appears to backslide on women's rights. The older brother of Mah Gul, a 20-year-old woman beheaded last week in western Herat province by her in-laws for refusing prostitution, said local officials initially took no interest in her murder. "People get told off for slaughtering someone else's cow but we had to wait for her murder to be announced in the mosque before anything was done about it," 32-year-old taxi driver and Gul's brother Mohammad Nasir Akbari told Reuters. Four people including Gul's husband and in-laws were arrested last week, officials said. (Editing by Michael Perry) ==================== Shot Pakistani girl recovering fast in UK: father Fri, Oct 26 09:44 AM EDT 4 of 4 By Stephen Eisenhammer BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - The father of a Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education said on Friday she would "rise again" to pursue her dreams after hospital treatment. Malala Yousufzai, 15, was flown from Pakistan to Britain for specialist treatment after the October 9 attack, which drew widespread international condemnation. The father Ziauddin Yousufzai and other family members arrived in Britain on Thursday to help her recovery. "They wanted to kill her. But she fell temporarily. She will rise again. She will stand again," he told reporters, his voice breaking with emotion. Malala has become a powerful symbol of resistance to the Taliban's efforts to deny women education. Public fury in Pakistan over her shooting has put pressure on the military to mount an offensive against the radical Islamist group. "When she fell, Pakistan stood ... this is a turning point," her father said. "(In) Pakistan for the first time ... all political parties, the government, the children, the elders, they were crying and praying to God." The Taliban have said they attacked her because she spoke out against the group and praised U.S. President Barack Obama. A cheerful schoolgirl who wants to become a politician, Malala Yousufzai began speaking out against the Pakistani Taliban when she was 11, around the time when the government had effectively ceded control of the Swat Valley to the militants. She has been in critical condition since gunmen shot her in the head and neck as she left school in Swat, northwest of Islamabad. She could be at risk of further attack if she went back to Pakistan, where Taliban insurgents have issued more death threats against her and her father since she was shot. "It's a miracle for us," her father said. "She was in a very bad condition ... She is improving with encouraging speed." British doctors say Malala has every chance of making a good recovery at the special hospital unit, expert in dealing with complex trauma cases. It has treated hundreds of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan. Dave Rosser, the hospital's medical director, said she would be strong enough to travel back to Pakistan in a few months' time but it was unclear whether the family would choose to do so. "She's certainly showing every intention of keeping up with her studies," Rosser added. Malala's father said he and his family cried when they were finally reunited with her on Thursday. "I love her and of course last night when we met her there were tears in our eyes and they were out of happiness," he said, adding that Malala had asked him to bring school textbooks from Pakistan so she could study. "She told me on the phone, please bring me my books of Class 9 and I will attempt my examination," he said. "We are very happy ... I pray for her." (Writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by Andrew Roche)