Tearful Malala returns home after six years

Islamabad : Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai returned to Pakistan yesterday, saying tearfully that it was “a dream” to come home for the first time since she was airlifted to Britain after being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman more than five years ago.

The 20-year-old was overcome with emotion as she made a televised speech from the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad, breaking down in tears as she spoke of the beauty of her native Swat valley and how she imagines the streets of Pakistan from London and New York.

“Always it has been my dream that I should go to Pakistan and there, in peace and without any fear, I can move on streets, I can meet people, I can talk to people.

“And I think that it’s my old home again ... so it is actually happening, and I am grateful to all of you.”

She added: “I don’t cry much, I don’t know why today.”

She had arrived unannounced with her parents under tight security overnight. Pakistanis awakening to the news she was back in the country flooded social media with messages of welcome, with many hailing her bravery -- but others accusing her of a conspiracy to foment dissent.

Residents of Swat said they were happy to see her return.

“I had not imagined that she would ever come (back),” Rida Siyal, a student who said she had been a “good friend” of Malala’s before the shooting, told AFP.

“(She) defeated the dark force of fear. We are delighted to see her back,” she said.

Malala became a global symbol for human rights after a gunman boarded her school bus in Swat on October 9, 2012, asked “Who is Malala?” and shot her.

She was treated for her injuries in the British city of Birmingham, where she also completed her schooling.

The youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, she has continued to be a vocal advocate for girls’ education while pursuing her studies at Oxford University.