It’s not just the Taliban killing children. Sometimes it’s drone attacks, sometimes it’s wars, sometimes it’s hunger. And sometimes it’s their own family. In June two girls my age were murdered in Gilgit, which is a little north of Swat, for posting a video online showing themselves dancing in the rain wearing traditional dress and headscarves. Apparently their own stepbrother shot them.
Today Swat is more peaceful than other places, but there are still military everywhere, four years after they supposedly removed the Taliban. Fazlullah is still on the loose and our bus driver still under house arrest. Our valley, which was once a haven for tourists, is now seen as a place of fear. Foreigners who want to visit have to get a No Objection Certificate from the authorities in Islamabad. Hotels and craft shops are empty. It will be a long time before tourists return.
Over the last year I’ve seen many other places, but my valley remains to me the most beautiful place in the world. I don’t know when I will see it again but I know that I will. I wonder what happened to the mango seed I planted in our garden at Ramadan. I wonder if anyone is watering it so that one day future generations of daughters and sons can enjoy its fruit.
Today I looked at myself in a mirror and thought for a second. Once I had asked God for one or two extra inches in height, but instead he made me as tall as the sky, so high that I could not measure myself. So I offered the hundred raakat nafl prayers that I had promised if I grew.
I love my God. I thank my Allah. I talk to him all day. He is the greatest. By giving me this height to reach people, he has also given me great responsibilities. Peace in every home, every street, every village, every country – this is my dream. Education for every boy and every girl in the world. To sit down on a chair and read my books with all my friends at school is my right. To see each and every human being with a smile of happiness is my wish.
I am Malala. My world has changed but I have not.
Glossary
aba – affectionate Pashto term, ‘father’
ANP – Awami National Party, Pashtun nationalist political party
baba – affectionate term for grandfather or old man
badal – revenge
bhabi – affectionate Urdu term, literally ‘my brother’s wife’
bhai – affectionate Urdu term, literally ‘my brother’
chapati – unleavened flatbread made from flour and water
dyna – open-backed van or truck
FATA – Federally Administered Tribal Areas, region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan governed under a system of indirect rule started in British times
Hadith – saying or sayings of the Prophet, peace be upon him
Haj – the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islam (along with the confession of faith, daily prayer, fasting during Ramadan and alms-giving), which every Muslim who can afford to should perform once in their lifetime
haram – prohibited in Islam
hujra – traditional Pashtun meeting place for men
imam – local preacher
IDP – internally displaced person
ISI – Inter Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s biggest intelligence agency
Jamaat-e-Islami – Party of Islam, Pakistan conservative party
JUI – Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Assembly of Islamic clergy, Pakistan conservative political party closely linked to the Afghan Taliban which advocates strict enforcement of Islamic law
jani – dear one
jani mun – soulmate
jihad – holy war or internal struggle
jirga – tribal assembly
khaista – handsome one
khan – local lord
KPK – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, literally ‘Area of Pashtuns’, until 2010 called North-West Frontier Province, one of the four provinces of Pakistan
lashkar – local militia
LeT – Lashkar-e-Taiba, literally ‘Army of the Pure’, one of Pakistan’s oldest and most powerful militant groups, active in Kashmir and with close links to the ISI
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 do
es 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 an
d 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
Picture Section
As a baby
With my brother Khushal in Mingora
My father’s friend Hidayatullah holding me inside our first school building
My maternal grandfather, Malik Janser Khan, in Shangla
My father’s childhood home
Our paternal grandfather, Baba, with me and Khushal in our house in Mingora
Reading with my brother Khushal
With Khushal, enjoying the waterfall in Shangla
A school picnic
Assembly prayers at Khushal School
At the beginning, people gave lots of money to Fazlullah
The Taliban publicly whipped people
Making a speech to honour the people killed in the Haji Baba suicide attack
Performing in a play at school
Painting at school
A picture I painted when I was twelve, just after we came back to Swat from being IDPs. It shows the dream of interfaith harmony.
In our garden in Mingora, building a snowman with Atal
Visiting Spal Bandi, where my father stayed while he studied
At school reading a story: ‘All That Glitters Is Not Gold’
I Am Malala Page 27