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By Maureen O’Hare of Ed Sol | Andrew Burton/Getty Images 1 of 11
Twelve months after teenage Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman, we look back at her incredible year. When 15-year-old Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, a fearless and outspoken advocate for girls’ education, was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in an attempted assassination on Oct. 9, 2012, her enemies had hoped to silence her. Instead, Malala survived, and the attempt on her life ensured that her name and her cause became known throughout the world. In the past 12 months, she has addressed the U.N. on worldwide access to education, appeared on the cover of Time magazine, and received dozens of awards and honors, including a nomination for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.
One year on from the attack — and days before the world celebrates International Day of the Girl on Oct. 11 — we look back at Malala’s incredible year.
Malala Yousafzai: A timeline
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Oct. 9, 2012: 15-year-old Pakistani children’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt as she boarded a school bus in Mingora, a town in the former Taliban stronghold of Swat. Yousafzai had been an education rights campaigner for four years, had blogged on BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban, and had gained prominence after winning Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize in December 2011. An outspoken critic of the Taliban, the death threats began as her public profile increased, culminating in the attack in Mingora. The outcry around the world was fierce and immediate.
October 2012: Treatment in the UK
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- Oct. 10, 2012: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik stated that the Taliban gunman who shot Yousafzai had been identified as 23-year-old Atta Ullah Khan. The police also arrested six men for involvement in the attack, but they were later released for lack of evidence. No one has yet been convicted of the attack.
- Oct. 15, 2012: Malala’s condition improved enough for to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK, for intensive rehabilitation. She came out of her coma on Oct. 17, and was reported to have a good chance of a full recovery, without brain damage. She is pictured above in hospital with her father and two younger brothers, Atal Khan, right, and Khushal Khan.
October 2012: ‘I am Malala’ campaign
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15 October 2012: On the same day that Malala arrived in the UK, UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, a former British Prime Minister, launched a petition in Yousafzai’s name and “in support of what Malala fought for”. Using the slogan “I am Malala”, the petition’s principal demand was global access to education for all children by 2015. Pakistan’s President Ali Zardini (left) and Brown (right) are pictured above shaking hands on 10 December at a ceremony to honour Malala at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova and France’s Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault are seated in the background.
Nov. 10, 2012: ‘Malala Day’ in Pakistan
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Nov. 10, 2012: Gordon Brown handed a million-strong petition in support of Malala to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. Pakistan marked the day as ‘Malala Day’ — in Karachi supporters held photographs and stood alongside burning candles. In her home town of Mingora, however, security fears meant her schoolmates could not honor her in public. Nearly 100,000 people had already signed an online petition calling for Malala to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
December 2012: Protests at school in Mingora
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Dec. 12, 2012: A student tears up a poster of schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai as part of protests after the naming of Saidu Sharif College in Mingora after Malala in Swat. Students boycotted classes for two hours and said that Malala had nothing to do with the college and the name should not be changed. Girls at the school said they feared for their safety.
January 2013: Release from hospital
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- Jan. 3, 2013: Malala is released from the hospital to continue her rehabilitation at her family’s temporary home in England.
- Jan. 18, 2013:Deutsche Welle reports that Malala may have become “the most famous teenager in the world.”
- Feb. 2, 2013: Malala undergoes a five-hour operation to reconstruct her skull and restore her hearing.
- March 4, 2013: Malala is revealed as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize 2013.
- April 29, 2013: Yousafzai features on the front cover of Time magazine and as one of “The 100 Most Influential People In The World”.
July 12, 2013: Addresses the UN
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- July 12, 2013: Yousafzai, wearing a white shawl that had belonged to former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, speaks at the UN in New York to call for worldwide access to education. It was on her 16th birthday, and her first public speech since the assassination attempt. The UN dubbed the event ‘Malala Day’.
- 12 July 2013: The Pakistani government did not comment on Yousafzai’s UN appearance, amid a backlash against her in Pakistan’s press and social media. Dawn columnist Huma Yusuf summarized three main complaints of Yousafzai’s critics: “Her fame highlights Pakistan’s most negative aspect (rampant militancy); her education campaign echoes Western agendas; and the West’s admiration of her is hypocritical because it overlooks the plight of other innocent victims, like the casualties of U.S. drone strikes.”
Sept. 6, 2013: International Children’s Peace Prize
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Sept. 6, 2013: Malala is awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize 2013 during a ceremony in the Hall of Knights in The Hague, Netherlands.
September 2013: New portrait unveiled
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Sept. 10, 2013: The National Portrait Gallery in London unveiled this new portrait of Malala by celebrated British artist Jonathan Yeo.
Sept. 27, 2013: Honored at Harvard
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- Sept. 27, 2013: Malala receives the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award at Harvard University.
- Oct. 8, 2013: One year after the attack, Yousafzai’s memoir, ‘I am Malala,’ is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
- Oct. 11, 2013: The world marks International Day of the Girl.
Source: MSN