Malala’s father ecstatic over having survived ‘doomsday’

October 25, 2012   ·   0 Comments

BIRMINGHAM

Hours before embarking on his journey to meet his daughter, Pakistani teen education campaigner Malala Yousufzai’sfather expressed his gratefulness for the tributes and prayers from people across the world for quick recovery of the 15-year-old who was shot by theTaliban for advocating girls’ right to education.

“I have seen doomsday and survived, you might say. Malala has been honoured by the nation by the world, by people of all classes of all creeds of all colours. I am grateful for that,” The Telegraph quoted ZiauddinYousafzai, as saying by telephone from a secure, secret location hours before beginning his journey.

“But I am a father. I respect all those feelings but the only priority now is the life of my daughter and her total rehabilitation. I don’t need any awards… I need my daughter,” he added

Ziauddin and his wife began their journey from Pakistan to Birmingham on Thursday, 10 days after Malala was flown to the city’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital for specialised treatment.

Malala, who earned international fame for raising voice against Talibanoppression in Swat, was shot in the neck and head and two other girls sustained injuries when the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) opened fire on their school van in Swat valley on October 9.

A National Peace award winner, Malala had become the voice of all the girls in Swat when she began maintaining a diary on the website of the BBC under the pen name of “Gul Makai” describing the atrocities of the Taliban.

Malala’s family was threatened repeatedly by extremists for promoting “Western” and “secular” values.

Ziauddin said he was desperate to be at his daughter‘s bedside. The problem, he said, was that his wife’s Pakistani documents were not up to date so they had to wait for the government to issue new ones.

He also said that the Pakistan Taliban would not silence his family‘s campaign to ensure that more girls were able to go to school.

By Web Editor

Tags: beginning, daughter, family, Pakistani, school, shot