Malala returns to Pakistan

NOBEL laureate Malala Yousafzai has returned to Pakistan more than five years after she left the country following a failed assassination attempt by the Taliban.

Yousafzai arrived at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport at around 1.40 am and she is expected to be in the country for about four days. The 20-year-old was accompanied by her parents and CEO of the Malala Fund, reported IANS.

A few days earlier, Yousafzai tweeted about her fond memories of Pakistan to commemorate Pakistan Day. "I cherish fond memories of home, of playing cricket on rooftops and singing the national anthem in school. Happy Pakistan Day!" she wrote.

Back in October 2012, a 15-year-old Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban as she was returning from her school in Swat valley.

She suffered bullet injuries and was admitted to the military hospital Peshawar but was later flown to London for further treatment. The shooting attained international condemnation and Yousafzai became a symbol of resistance to the Taliban's efforts to prevent women from getting an education.

In 2014, at 17-years-old, Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote girls' education and basic rights.

"Education is one of the blessings of life-and one of its necessities," she said in her award acceptance speech. "That has been my experience during the 17 years life. In my home in Swat Valley, in the north of Pakistan, I always loved school and learning new things. I remember when my friends and I would decorate our hands with henna for special occasions. Instead of drawing flowers and patterns we would paint our hands with mathematical formulas and equations.

"We had a thirst for education because our future was right there in that classroom. We would sit and read and learn together. We loved to wear neat and tidy school uniforms and we would sit there with big dreams in our eyes. We wanted to make our parents proud and prove that we could excel in our studies and achieve things, which some people think only boys can."

However, things did not remain the same. Swat, which was known for its beauty "suddenly changed into a place of terrorism," said Yousafzai. "More than 400 schools were destroyed.  Girls were stopped from going to school. Women were flogged. Innocent people were killed. We all suffered. And our beautiful dreams turned into nightmares. Education went from being a right to being a crime."

Her efforts since then have been to ensure a better future for future generations.