Malala Day - The tributes pour in - swat stays silent

Overarching security fears cast a long shadow on Malala Day celebrations in the hometown of the 15-year-old peace icon on Saturday, forcing organisers to shut out the public and even bar outdoor events.

This was in stark contrast to the flood of public events — including an education seminar, a college scholarship fund and a rally by young flood survivors – held in Malala’s honour across the country.
In Birmingham, the headquarters of the local authority opened its doors to well-wishers to leave messages for the teenager, who is still in hospital in the central English city.
Not a single outdoor or public event was arranged in Swat, either by the district government or by any government educational institution.

At Malala’s own school, students marked a short but emotional event in the morning assembly by lighting candles and praying for the speedy recovery of the peace activist.
Some of the girls drew Malala’s portraits, while her closest friends delivered speeches in her honour. Moniba, a close friend, recounted her personal experiences with Malala: “I am here to share some of the more pleasant moments that I spent with Malala. Once, some of our class fellows were teasing her about why she had not worn more trendy clothes on a morning television show. She smiled and replied, ‘I like to concentrate on my words and actions more than on my clothes.’”
A tearful Moniba also requested the student body and faculty to observe a moment of silence in honour of Malala.
“We are proud of our best friend Malala for her tremendous fight for the rights and education of girls and we are sad that today she is not here in this school. We request her to come back and be with us as before,” Rida Salman, a classmate of hers, told The Express Tribune.
The event, however, was not open to the public. “We did not organise any open event because our school and its students still face a security threat,” the school principal, Mariam Khalid, told AFP.

Gordon Brown steps in
The UN chief’s special envoy and former prime minister of Britain, Gordon Brown, spoke via telephone to Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz, the two girls injured in the Taliban attack on Malala.
Brown inquired after their health and expressed his sympathies. “He expressed solidarity with me and asked about my future plans,” Kainat told The Express Tribune.
“He talked to me for 10 minutes discussing my health and studies. He also asked whether Malala was in touch with me,” Shazia said.
In an interactive session organised by the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), an event was held in collaboration with Unicef and Unesco to present on the ‘One Million Signatures for Right to Education’ project to Brown, who was the chief guest on the occasion.
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