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Malala will soon undergo reconstructive surgery

Malala Yousafzai, 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot a month ago, will soon undergo reconstructive surgery in the UK, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE has told Khaleej Times.

Jamil Ahmad Khan said the surgery could be done “within weeks”.

“Doctors just want to make sure her brain tissue has healed enough and is ready to accept a patch.”

He also said that she was walking, talking and even reading at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she was flown by air ambulance provided by General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, after being shot at close range by Pakistani Taleban in the northern city of Mingora.

Malala, who the Taleban said was punished for studying, barely survived the attack with the bullet travelling through her head, neck and then lodging in her shoulder.

Ambassador Khan said he had spoken at length to Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousafzai and the Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom on Saturday.

“With good wishes from all of the nation and world, Malala will bounce back with the same resolve.”

Khan said Malala’s father Zia had resolved to take his daughter back to school.

While addressing a debate on girls’ right to education on Sunday, organised by Pakistan Professionals Wing (PPW), Khan said the world was pleased to see “this exuberant child of our country”.

He also said Malala was a movement that would be followed by the 70 million children currently studying in Pakistan. “The struggle will pay its dividends,” he said while encouraging students to focus on studies.

“Extremist mindsets cannot deter Pakistani students from studying.”

Malala was recently awarded the National Peace Prize by Pakistan for defending her motherland’s reputation and fighting for children’s rights and education.

‘Girl with extraordinary dreams’

Long before Malala appeared on the Newsweek cover titled ‘The bravest girl in the world’, Dubai-based Pakistani youngster Mobisher Rabbani knew her as an ordinary girl with extraordinary dreams.

Rabbani, who heads philanthropic organisation Rabbani Foundation, said he first met Malala in 2009, during the foundation’s initiative to fund a rehabilitation workshop called ‘Swat valley girls retreat’. She was only 12 then. “She was bonding well with all students, I noticed,” he said adding that her father was a very emotional, but soft-spoken man.

The workshop hosted 26 girls aged between 12 and 18, all of whom were students of the reputable and progressive schools of Malala’s father in the Swat valley.

Ziadudin’s efforts were the subject of an award-winning New York Times documentary called “Class Dismissed in Swat Valley”. “The shots fired on Malala struck the heart of a nation and the world. I believe it was my privilege that my small contribution made a big difference in the lives of girls’ education,” said Mobisher.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com