Malala Yusufzai’s landmark accomplishment hailed

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

“Malala Yusufzai, Pakistan’s child education activist having won the Nobel Peace Prize, has resonated valour, vitalilty and vibrance among the 120 million youth of Pakistan.”

This was remarked by Muhammed Jamil Khan, a former Pakistan Ambassador to Libya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who was directly involved in the evacuation of Malala to Birmingham via Abu Dhabi in an air ambulance of the UAE's Royal family. 

At the age of just 17, Malala, who now lives in Birmingham, UK, has become the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. She will now be invited to attend an award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, in December to receive a medal and $1.4m (£860,000) pounds in prize money. 

She was named one of Time magazine's most influential people in 2013 and awarded the EU's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize that year. 

In an interview, the former ambassador Jamil Khan stated that besides mobilizing the youth of Pakistan towards attainment of education, she has raised the image of Pakistan to the highest degree. 

Now it’s the time for the Foreign Ministry to immediately plan and project Pakistan's image by optimizing the contribution of Malala  who represent and reflection of youth of Pakistan. In this manner, he said, the world will get to know how devotedly we are addressing the problems of extremism, terrorism and yet maintaining the spirit among the people to turn against nasty activities of enemies of the society. 

He further stated that the government should immediately ask the Education Ministry and departments to organize seminars and symposiums to promote the philosophy of Malala Yusufzai in the field of education in the face of hazards like Swat. 

Jamil Khan said that it’s the right time to setup Malala Chair in selected universities to motivate the people and specially the youth of Pakistan. 

Meanwhile Prime Minister Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif has also congratulated Malala, describing her as the "pride" of the country. "Her achievement is unparalleled and unequalled. Girls and boys of the world should take the lead from her struggle and commitment," he was quoted as saying.