(Abu Dhabi) – Malala Yousafzai, the outspoken 18-year-old Pakistani activist and youngest Nobel laureate, was in the UAE’s capital to promote a new documentary film chronicling her unwavering defiance against Taliban terrorism.
He Named Me Malala was released on October 2 by American filmmaker Davis Guggenheim and was screened ahead of the November 5 premiere at cinemas in the UAE.
Malala encouraged audience members to protect a girl’s right to education and reasserted her deeply held belief that no child should be turned away from school. “The project has captured great moments of my life. I haven’t seen my country yet and my dream is to go back and continue the campaign against terrorism,” she told viewers after the screening.
It’s been three years since a Taliban hit man targeted her school bus on October 9, 2012, in Pakistan’s northwest Swat Valley and shot Malala in the head — one of three bullets fired in rage passed through her face and into her body.
The Taliban attempt on Malala’s life was in response to her fearless blogging on the BBC which exposed the Taliban’s attempts to prevent girls from going to school in her part of the world.
“Basic education is the right of every child, and in a way it’s about Islam because the Taliban use the name of Islam to stop girls from going to school,” Malala told the audience.
On a lighter note, Malala quipped that the film focused too much on her brothers and allowed them to say whatever they wanted about their world-famous sibling.
(Courtesy WAM)
