Columns of candles lit Washington’s Georgetown university as international students joined in voicing their support for Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani, who is recovering from a Taliban attack for campaigning girls’ right to an education. Two weeks after the 14-year-old Ms Yousafzai was targeted by a Taliban assailant in Swat, the American people and leaders continue to express their sympathy and support for her cause. On the Capitol Hill, a group of women senators called the militant attack on Ms Yousafzai as an attack on all women of the world while Congresswoman Sheikla Jackson Lee, co-chair of Pakistan caucus has asked fellow lawmakers to back her call for honoring the teenaged symbol of hope for Pakistan with a Congressional medal award.
Holding a vigil on the Copley Lawn of the Campus, Georgetown University students wished Malala a speedy and full recovery and said they have gathered to back her cause for girls’ right to an education. “What happened to Malala was terrible —— all women of the world must join in her cause, which is noble and great,” said a student, standing beside her picture, with education for all inscribed on it. A Pakistani student said Wednesday evening’s vigil was expression of support for Malala on part of all students of the world. The shooting of Malala Yousafzai also led to a global outcry as government and civil society leaders strongly condemned the attack. The 14-year-old activist was on Taliban’s hit list following her campaign for girls’ right to an education. After getting life-saving initial treatment in Pakistan, she has been flown to the United Kingdom, where she is receiving advanced treatment in a Birmingham hospital and showing hopeful signs of recovery. Ms Yousafzai defied Taliban in 2009, when the militants were playing havoc with the lives of local people in Swat and wrote a blog on BBC website. The Taliban have burnt hundreds of girls’ schools in the area and warned Ms Yousafzai against advocating girls’ right to education. Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, meanwhile, wrote in a letter addressed to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf that the Taliban who attacked Ms Yousfzai must be brought to justice. “We believe an attack against Malala represents an attack against all women across the world and must not be tolerated,” the Senators wrote. “We hope that the Government of Pakistan will continue to work to confront extremism and heinous violence against its own children.
