Malala Day, honouring a real hero

Chennai

In October 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to speak out for equal rights to education. The militants had terrorised her hometown of Swat, Pakistan and had tried to stop girls from attending school.

Malala began speaking out through a blog she was writing for BBC Urdu about life as a child living under Taliban rule but as the oppression and violence escalated, she could be seen in newspapers and on television reports across the country standing up for the rights of women and children.

Having survived the attack, Malala was determined to continue her activism. On July 12, 2013, Malala’s 16th birthday, she delivered a speech about global education at the first ever Youth Takeover of the UN – a day that is now observed as Malala Day.

In the speech, her first following the attack, in which she addressed over 500 young education advocates from around the world, she said, “Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who has raised their voice for their rights. So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”

Malala continues to campaign for equal rights to education throughout the world and has met with many world leaders to raise her voice and encourage them to do more to ensure every child has access to education.