Malala says she dreamt of coming home every day

• Nobel laureate gets emotional while talking about her return to country after five years
  

• Malala calls for investing in education in homecoming speech

• Prime Minister Abbasi terms Malala Pakistan’s pride

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Nobel laureate, women rights and education activist Malala Yousufzai on Thursday in a highly emotional speech said that she still cannot believe she is back home and that she had dreamed of returning to Pakistan for five years.

“I have dreamt of returning to Pakistan for the past five years,” she said.

Addressing a gathering at the Prime Minister’s House where she held a meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Malala slightly broke down while talking about her return.

“Today, I am very happy that, after five-and-a-half years, I have set foot on the soil of my nation again,” she began in Urdu. Switching to Pashto, she said, “Today is the happiest day of my life, because I have returned to my country, I have stepped foot on my nation’s soil again and am among my own people.”

She broke down in tears while recounting how much she had missed being back in her hometown of Swat, lamenting how so much had changed in her life in so little time

The Nobel laureate said that she would never have left Pakistan if she had a choice.

“The attack happened and I had to leave home, everything was happening itself. I could not control it,” she told the gathering.

“I am very happy, and I still can’t believe ─ if I am honest ─ I still can’t believe that this is actually happening, this is real. For the last five years, I have dreamed of returning back home. And whenever I would be in plane or a car and I would see the cities of London or New York, I would say [to myself], ‘Just imagine that this is Pakistan, imagine that you are driving in lslamabad, imagine that this is Karachi’, and it was never true. And now that I am seeing it today, I am very happy,” she continued in Urdu, pausing to wipe tears away from her eyes.

“I was born in 1999,” she said, stopping to wipe more tears from her eyes. “I don’t cry often,” she laughed.

“I am now 20-years-old but I have seen a lot over the course of my life. From growing up in Swat – it was such a beautiful place – to then seeing terrorism and extremism from 2007 till 2009. And then seeing how many difficulties women and girls face in our society and how we can fight against those challenges,” she said.

Malala also highlighted how the doctors who had operated on her in Pakistan had saved her life, and further treatment for her injuries forced her abroad.

“Now I have to continue my education abroad,” she added.

NEED TO INVEST IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATION:

“I continued my education there [in the United Kingdom], but I have always wanted to move freely in Pakistan. I want to invest in the education of children,” Malala stated.

Malala added that extremism and terrorism in Swat destroyed the city when the Taliban took over the town. Malala said that the future of Pakistan was bright and the people of the county were its biggest resource and asset.

“We need to invest in the education of children in Pakistan. Malala Fund has already spent more than six million dollars in Pakistan for the education of girls,” she said regarding the non-profit group she had co-founded with her father.

She expressed the hope that everyone in the country would join hands for the betterment of the nation, adding that empowering women should be at the top of their agenda.

“I hope we can all join hands in this mission for the betterment of Pakistan and the empowerment of our women because that is the future we want to see,” she said.

The advocate for education expressed her immense gratitude to all those who had made her visit to her home country possible.

“I have always wanted to come back home and meet people here, talk to them, and spend time on the roads and streets I cherish so much, and now that it is actually happening, I am very grateful,” she stressed.

‘MALALA PAKISTAN’S PRIDE’:

Addressing the gathering, PM Abbasi said that Pakistan was proud the daughter of the nation had returned after making her place in the world.

“You were a 13-year-old girl when you left and now you are the most famous citizen of the country. The entire world gave you honour and respect and Pakistan will [also],” he said.

“It is your home. Now you are not an ordinary citizen, your security is our responsibility.”

“After your departure, we have fought a difficult war in which 6,500 soldiers, 25,000 policemen, paramilitary forces and civilians embraced martyrdom. Terrorism has been eliminated and still, we are fighting a war against terrorism. Set aside what the world says about us, Pakistan is fighting the largest war against terror. More than 200,000 soldiers are engaged in the war,” he said.

The young activist reached the Prime Minister House for a meeting with Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday after arriving in Pakistan on a four-day visit late Wednesday night.

State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb, Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman and Benazir Income Support Programme Chairperson Marvi Memon were also present in the meeting.

The social activist also met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa later in the day.

The 20-year-old will also participate in the ‘Meet the Malala’ programme during her four-day stay in Pakistan, the details of which have been kept secret.

Returning home for the first time since 2012, Malala will be staying at a private hotel. She is accompanied by close family members and will also meet her extended family. It is yet to be confirmed whether she will visit Swat, her hometown.

Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot in October 2012 in the head at point-blank range as she left from school in her hometown of Swat. The shooting drew widespread international condemnation and she was subsequently sent to Britain for treatment.

Malala has become an internationally recognised symbol of resistance to the Taliban’s efforts to deny women education and other rights.

In 2014, 17-year-old Malala became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. She was the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.