MALALA HAILED AS THE “PRIDE OF PAKISTAN” - PM

Malala Yousafzai was hailed as the “pride of Pakistan” by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, as a former fellow pupil said the award was a victory for every girl in the country.

Political leaders and activists alike rallied around Malala, the youngest ever Nobel laureate, expressing their support for the education campaigner who moved to Great Britain after being shot in the head by Taliban militants two years ago.

“She is (the) pride of Pakistan. She has made her countrymen proud. Her achievement is unparalleled and unequalled. Girls and boys of the world should take the lead from her struggle and commitment,” Sharif’s office said in a statement sent to AFP.

The 17-year-old is Pakistan’s second-ever Nobel laureate after Abdus Salam, who won the physics prize in 1979 but was widely shunned for being a member of the country’s persecuted Ahmadi minority.

Sharif was joined in his tribute by residents of her native Swat Valley, the northwestern area that was ruled by Taliban militants from 2007 to 2009 who violently opposed girls education, razing hundreds of schools.

Ayesha Khalid, who was at school with Malala, said: “It’s not Malala alone winning this award, the girls of Pakistan have won it…(she) is the light of our eyes and the voice of our heart.

“She has proved that you can’t put a halt to education by blowing up schools.”

Shama Akbar, a 15-year-old student in the region’s main city of Mingora, added: “The prize proves that Pakistan is not a nation of terrorists but against the terrorists. It also proves that Pakistanis love education.”

Dozens of rights activists meanwhile held an event at the press club in Peshawar, the main city of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to mark Malala’s win.

Cricketer turned opposition leader Imran Khan, whose party rules the province and forced the cancellation of a book launch ceremony for the activist’s autobiography ‘I am Malala’ in January, also tweeted a message of support.

Malala — who won along with Indian Kailash Satyarthi — was awarded the EU’s prestigious Sakharov peace prize last year, angering the Taliban who issued a fresh threat to murder her.

“She is getting awards because she is working against Islam,” Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told AFP at the time.

Last month, Pakistan’s military said they had arrested 10 suspected Taliban militants accused of being involved in the murder attempt against her.

The Taliban are not alone in their opposition to Malala, with many critics from Pakistan’s conservative and hyper-nationalist middle-classes accusing her of being a Western puppet who was damaging Pakistan’s reputation abroad.

A man in an Islamabad bookshop who identified himself as Fahad said: “Malala rose to fame because she works against Islam and the tradition of Pakistan, that is why Malala does not deserve such a prize.”

Some Pakistanis on social media meanwhile revived the Twitter hashtag #MalalaDrama, used to post negative comments her, that gained popularity last year when Malala was first nominated for the Nobel.