ISLAMABAD: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai left Pakistan on Monday, ending a surprise visit to the country, her first since being shot in 2012 by Taliban militants who tried to kill her for promoting girls’ education.
A smiling Yousafzai was seen with her parents at Benazir Bhutto International Airport before they boarded a plane to return to London after the four-day visit.
Amid tight security, Yousafzai earlier in the day left her hotel in Islamabad, where she had stayed for four days, and in a convoy of vehicles headed to the airport. Touching scenes were witnessed when the now-20-year-old university student left the hotel, thanking Pakistani officials for giving her an army helicopter over the weekend to fly to the Swat Valley, once virtually under the control of militants, and see her home in the northwest town of Mingora.
After visiting Mingora on Saturday, Yousafzai in a tweet said it was “the most beautiful place on earth” for her.
“So much joy seeing my family home, visiting friends and putting my feet on this soil again,” said, as she posted a picture of her, showing her standing at her home’s lawn with her father, mother and brothers.
Youzafzai also said in her hometown that she had waited for the moment for more than five years and said she often looked at Pakistan on the map, hoping to return.
She said she plans to permanently return to Pakistan after completing her studies in Britain.
On Monday, Yousafzai’s uncle Mahmoodul Hassan told The Associated Press that “she is leaving Pakistan with good and memorable memories, but is going back to England because she wants to complete her education there.”
During her visit, Yousafzai also met with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. She attended a reception at Abbasi’s office and made an emotional speech in which she said it was one of the happiest days of her life to be back in her country.
Most Pakistanis warmly welcomed Yousafzai’s visit but some launched a campaign on social media against her and she also faced tough questions from journalists, asking about the campaign. She said she failed to understand why she was being subjected to this kind of criticism by educated people.
“We want to work for the education of children and make it possible that every girl in Pakistan receives a high-level education and she can fulfil her dreams and become a part of society,” she told Pakistan’s ARY news channel.
Her hometown of Mingora is not far away from the village of Mullah Fazlullah, the head of Pakistani Taliban who dispatched attackers in 2012 to kill Yousafzai, at the time already a known teen activist for girls’ education, but she miraculously survived a bullet wound to the head. Fazlullah had taken over Swat in 2007, marking the height of the militant’s strength there.
The Pakistani military later mostly evicted the militants from the valley and now Fazlullah is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.
Since her attack and recovery, Yousafzai has led the Malala Fund, which helps students in Swat and elsewhere.
Malala Yousafzai ends her 1st Pakistan visit since shooting
Malala Yousafzai ends her 1st Pakistan visit since shooting
UK pro-Palestine campaign urges pressure on councillors ahead of elections
- They are being urged to commit to ‘upholding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people’
- Research has revealed extensive ties between local council-administered pension funds, Israeli military
LONDON: The Palestine Solidarity Campaign on Wednesday launched a campaign urging local councillors across the UK to commit to “upholding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”
The Councillor Pledge for Palestine is the latest effort by the PSC to build pressure on the UK’s political system and encourage systemic change for the benefit of the Palestinian cause. It comes five months ahead of local elections.
Research conducted by the PSC has revealed extensive financial ties between local councils and the Israeli military.
Pension funds administered by councils invest more than £12.2 billion ($16.2 billion) in companies with direct complicity in Israel’s war in Gaza, which has been deemed by the International Court of Justice to plausibly constitute genocide and ethnic cleansing.
The PSC accused these companies of complicity in Israel’s “genocide, ethnic cleansing, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.”
Among the investments includes £450 million in BAE Systems, the British multinational that manufacturers components for the F-35 jet used by the Israeli Air Force. The Israeli F-35 variant has been used extensively throughout the Gaza war.
Councillors in the UK must “take all appropriate steps to ensure my council is not complicit in Israel’s violations of international law, including through the council divesting pensions and any other funds it administers from complicit companies,” the PSC’s pledge said.
The campaign is encouraging supporters to contact their local councillors and urge them to make the commitment.
Over the coming months, a list of councillors who have done so will be published, with the aim of building a network that supports Palestinian rights across the country.
Ben Jamal, the PSC’s director, said: “It is not just Westminster politicians who have enabled Britain’s complicity in Israel’s horrific crimes. That guilt extends to council chambers as well, with more than £12 billion of local government pension scheme funds invested in companies profiting from Israel's military occupation and system of apartheid against the Palestinian people.
“Our Councillor Pledge for Palestine gives elected representatives an opportunity to show their constituents they are on the right side of history and that they vow to end this complicity.”
More than three times as many voters support councils divesting pension funds from companies complicit in Israeli crimes than oppose it, according to polling conducted earlier this year on behalf of the PSC.
Of that figure, the ratio is six-to-one among Labour voters, seven-to-one among Liberal Democrats and 11-to-one among Greens.
An existing PSC campaign, Local Government Pension Scheme Divest, has led to 27 councils across the UK passing motions or releasing statements supporting the divestment of pension funds.
The campaign is inspired by an anti-apartheid effort launched in 1983, which at its height led to two-thirds of the British population living in areas administered by councils with anti-apartheid policies.
Nelson Mandela acknowledged the campaign’s influence when he visited the UK after his release from prison.
Jamal said: “After more than two years of Israel’s genocide — which continues to this day, despite the so-called ‘ceasefire’ — people up and down the country are demanding politicians stand up and be counted. Councillors across Britain should answer this call and pledge for Palestine today.”
