President Barack Obama Wins Re-Election

Barack Obama, Mitt RomneyCredit: Bill Clark/Roll Call/Getty Images), Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

President Barack Obama has won his bid to remain in the White House for four more years.

On Tuesday night, news confirmed that Obama, 51, defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney -- securing a crucial majority of 274 electoral college votes just past 11 p.m. EST, after Obama won the crucial swing state of Ohio. By Wednesday morning, Obama had secured at least 303 Electoral votes to 65-year-old Romney's 206.

Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/president-barack-obama-wins-re-election-2012711#ixzz2BYCvPqtg

'Smoking cuts life expectancy by 10 years'

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IANS

London, Oct 28: Smoking cuts life expectancy by 10 years, not four as previously thought, which can be avoided if one gives up the habit, preferably before 35 years, warn experts.

This new report, from researchers in Oxford University and Japan, investigates the impact of smoking on mortality in a large group of Japanese living in Hiroshima or Nagasaki in 1950.

The findings are, however, nothing to do with radiation exposure from the bombs.

The Life Span Study (LSS) was initiated in 1950 to investigate the effects of radiation, tracking over 100,000 people. However, most received minimal radiation exposure, and can therefore provide useful information about other risk factors, reported the journal bmj.com

Previous studies in Japan suggested smoking reduced life expectancy by only a few years compared with about 10 years in UK and the US, according to an Oxford statement.

Surveys carried out later obtained smoking information for 68,000 men and women, who have now been followed for an average of 23 years to relate smoking habits to survival.

The younger a person was when they started smoking the higher the risk in later life. Older generations did not usually start to smoke until well into adult life, and usually smoked only a few cigarettes per day.

In contrast, Japanese born more recently (1920-45) usually started to smoke in early adult life, much as smokers in Britain and the US.

Smokers born before 1920 lost just a few years. Conversely, men born later (1920-45) who started to smoke before 20 years lost nearly a decade of life expectancy, and had more than double the death rate of lifelong non-smokers, suggesting that more than half of these smokers will eventually die from their habit.

Results on the few women who had smoked since before age 20 were similar. This explains why the risks of smoking seemed low.

Nowadays, however, young Japanese smokers tend to smoke more cigarettes per day and to start at a younger age, so their risks will be higher.

Hindus' contribution towards making of Pakistan - by Sophia Ajaz

We talk about minorities in India but are strangely unaware of the existence of the same in neighbouring Pakistan.

Even before Independence Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jews and Christians existed in undivided India. There was large scale migration/exodus post partition (gadar) on either side. Despite being unofficially classified as 'terror state', where cricket with India is played on a war level and religious tensions abound (even among Muslims like Ahmediyas, Baha'i, Muhajirs and Shia-Sunni), there is a section among minorities that has carved out a niche for themselves and contributed to the making of Pakistani state and bringing it honours. The country too has honoured them.

"Hindu" is derived from Sindhu (Indus river considered holy) in Pakistan. The land has played an important part in the origin of Hinduism. Hindus may be small numerically (once 20%, now they are mere 1.85%) but Pakistan has fifth largest population. Sindh played an important role in Mahabharata. Legend has it that Lahore city was founded by Luv and Kasur by Kush (both sons of Ram). Cities Peshawar and Multan have Sanskrit roots. Hindus' contribution towards the making of Pakistan can never be negated.

It is not the majority but the minority communities that shape any country. India was partitioned into East Pakistan (Bangladesh in 1971) and West Pakistan (now Pakistan). Strangely a country formed on religious divide is not called Muslimstan/Islamistan (a la Hindustan) but Pakistan (Pure Land).

The word PAKISTAN was coined in 1934 as Pakstan by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan movement activist, who published it in his pamphlet Now or Never. The name is a portmanteau of PAKISTAN, who live in the five Northern Units of British Raj - Punjab, Afghania (now known as North-West Frontier Province), Kashmir, Sindh, and Balochistan." This may today be based on eight provinces: Punjab, Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Sindh, Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and NWFP.

In 2005, speed-skating champion Sanjeev Bhatnagar filed a PIL to delete Sindh from Indian national anthem Jana Gana Mana and substitute it with Kashmir. Sindh was no longer a part of India, as it was part of Pakistan since Partition of 1947. Opponents said Sindh refers to Indus and to Sindhi culture, and that Sindhi people are an integral part of India's cultural fabric. The Supreme Court of India declined to change the national anthem and the wording remains unchanged. Surprisingly, in Pakistan, no one decried Iqbal's Saare Jahan Se Achchha Hindustan Hamara.

Indian Muslims differed on singing of national song Vande Mataram over meaning of 'vande' that could be either salutation or worship. Many Indians still add to the Indian national pledge "India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters (except one.)"

Former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, was born in the Nagar Vali Haveli in Daryaganj, Delhi, India. Pakistan's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan was born in Karnal (now in Haryana). The 7-year longest-serving Governor and martial law administrator of Pakistan's largest province, Balochistan, General Rahimuddin Khan, was born in the pre-dominantly Pathan city of Kaimganj, which now lies in Uttar Pradesh. General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who came to power in a military coup in 1977, was born in Jalandhar, East Punjab. The families of all four men opted for Pakistan at the time of Partition.

Bollywood actors like Prithviraj Kapoor (Samudri, Faislabad), Raj Kapoor (Peshawar), Dev Anand (Shakargarh, Gurdaspur, Punjab), Sunil Dutt (Khurd, Jhelum, Punjab), Raaj Kumar (Balochistan) were born in Pakistan. Indian politicians Manmohan Singh (Gah, Punjab), IK Gujral (Jhelum Punjab) and LK Advani (Karachi) too were born in Pakistan. Cricketer Lala Amarnath was raised in Lahore.

Recently Kareena Kapoor (great grand daughter of Prithviraj Kapoor) set a new benchmark by being the modelling face of Pakistan. She charged a cool Rs 3 crore to Firdaus Cloth Mills to launch their lawn summer collection shot in Dubai. Money makes her face west to her ancestors' birthplace. Even Bollywood movies have paid their own tribute to Pakistan apart from the war and sports sagas. Consider Lahore (1949, Nargis, Karan Dewan), Lahore (2010) and Shoot On Sight (2008, Om Puri). Pakistanis too made Khuda Ke Liye (2007, Naseeruddin Shah) and Ramchand Pakistani (2008, Nandita Das).

The founding fathers of Pakistan had their ancestral roots in Hinduism, who were all converts from Hinduism. M A Jinnah (71, I Governor-General of Pakistan) was born to Mithibai and Jinnahbhai Poonja, who moved from Gujarat to Sindh. His grandfather was Poonja Gokuldas Meghji, a Hindu Bhatia Rajput from Paneli village, Gondal state, Kathiawar. Jinnah's ancestors were Hindu Rajput who converted to Islam.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal's (60, national poet of Pakistan and writer of Saare Jahan Se Achchha) father Shaikh Nur Muhammad was a prosperous tailor. His grand father Sahaj Ram Sapru moved to Sialkot after conversion to Islam.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (51, PPP founder, 4th President, 9th Prime Minister) was born to Khursheed Begum née Lakhi Bai and Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto. Sir Shah, the son of Ghulam Murtaza Bhutto, was born into a Rājpūt family that had accepted Islām.

Jagannath Azad (86, Isa Khel, Punjab) was a prominent Urdu-speaking Hindu academic who wrote the first national anthem (Qaumi Tarana) of Pakistan.
Ae sarzameene paak (Oh land of Pakistan)

Zarray teray haen aaj sitaaron se taabnaak (Stars themselves illuminate each particle of yours)

Roshan hai kehkashaan se kaheen aaj teri khaak (Rainbows brighten your very dust)

Ae sarzameene paak (Oh land of Pakistan).

In 1947 Jinnah commissioned him to write it. It was used for about 18 months despite competition from rival BT Baghar:Jinnah wanted the anthem to be written by an Urdu-knowing Hindu to sow seeds of secularism. Azad later migrated to India.

In 1950, Pakistan Government adopted a new national anthem Pāk sarzamīn shād bād (Blessed be the sacred land) written by Hafeez Jullundhri (82, Jalandhar, Punjab). Jullundhri, an Indian by birth, also wrote Kashmir anthem/song Watan Hamara Azad Kashmir. He also wrote the famous poem Abhi Toh Main Jawaan Hoon sung by Malika Pukhraj and translated by Yogesh Sethi.

(Pakistan pop band Vital Signs' song Dil Dil Pakistan Jan Jan Pakistan (1987) became famous as a patriotic song, giving it the status of Pop Anthem or Second National Anthem of Pakistan. In BBC poll (2003) for top 10 most famous songs of all time, Dil Dil was placed third.)
Pakistan's song is "Pakistan Zindabad, Azadi Paendabad".

Minority Hindus have played a significant role in making a name for themselves and bringing laurels to the country historically, culturally and politically. Anop Ravi (cricketer), Bherulal Balani (politician), Rana Bhagwandas (former acting Chief Justice Of Supreme Court), Krishan Bheel (politician), Ashok Chandwani (India-born, Pakistan-bred, Canadian journalist), Anil Dalpat (first Hindu to play test cricket), Brojen Das (East Pakistan first Asian to swim across English Channel four times), Dhirendranath Datta (East Pakistan lawyer politician), Sobho Gianchandani (social scientist, writer), Khatumal Jeevan (politician), Jogendra Nath Mandal (first Minister of Law & Labour), Danish Kaneria (cricketer), Lal Kumar (cricketer), Amar Lal (Prime Minister's advisor to minority affairs), Ramesh Lal (PPP politician), Deepak Perwani (fashion designer), Naveen Perwani (amateur snooker player), Rajesh Ramesh (cricketer), Haresh Sharma (playwright, born in Singapore to Pakistani parents), Rana Chandra Singh (politician), Rana Prasad (Soda Rajput ruler) and Surendar Valasai (first journalist in English).

Harcharan Singh is the first Sikh officer to be recruited in the Pakistan Army on 27 October 2007. Raja Tridev Roy is a former raja of the Chakma tribes Chittagong in Bangladesh and a Pakistani writer, religious leader and politician. He is a federal minister for life and lives in Islamabad and leads the Pakistani Buddhist community. Prominent Parsis, who have contributed towards Pakistan are Byram Dinshawji Awari (businessman), Minocher Bhandara (businessman), Ardeshir Cowasjee (columnist), Aban Marker Kabraji (biologist, scientist), Jamsheed Marker (diplomat), Deena M Mistri (educationist), Dorab Patel (former Justice of Supreme Court), Bapsi Sidhwa (author) and Godrej Sidhwa (religious instructor).

Pakistan's first Christian Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court was Justice A. R. Cornelius. Distinguished fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force is Peter O'Reilly. Cricketer Yousuf Youhana has recently converted to Islam and is called Mohammad Yousuf. In Britain, the Bishop emeritus of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali is a Pakistani Christian. Anthony Theodore Lobo (bishop), Joseph Coutts (bishop), Joshua Fazl ud Din (bishop), Jia Ali (model, actress), Martin Bashir (journalist), Cecil Chaudhry (fighter pilot), Michael Chowdry (businessman), Alvin Robert Cornelius (Chief Justice of Supreme Court), Antao D'Souza (cricketer), Gulshan Esther (author), Rachel Gill (model, actress, TV host), Mekaal Hasan (musician, record producer), Irene Perveen (singer), Esther John (nurse), Suneeta Marshall (model), Michael Masih (footballer), Wallis Mathias (cricketer), Mervyn L Middlecoat (fighter pilot), Indu Mitha (Bharatnatyam exponent), A Nayyar (singer), Julius Salik (activist) and Duncan Sharpe (cricketer) are other prominent Pakistani Christians. Karachi synagogue' leader Abraham Reuben became a councilor on the city corporation in 1936.

Source: Booksie

Jinnah and the Islamic State – Setting the Record Straight – by Pervez Hoodbhoy

by admin

What did Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, want for the country he was destined to create in 1947?

This essay originated from my lecture in Karachi in 2007, delivered at the invitation of the Jinnah Society in cooperation with the Oxford University Press of Pakistan.

What did Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, want for the country he was destined to create in 1947? Surely I cannot say anything new on this venerable and much-discussed historical subject; the experts know much more. But, as we approach Pakistan’s sixtieth anniversary, the matter of Jinnah and the Islamic State is still a hot one. It is confounded both by the wishful thinking of my well-meaning liberal friends, as well as conveniences invented at different times by Pakistan’s military, political, and religious establishments. Therefore, it seems to me that objectivity, honesty, and clarity are still desperately needed if we are to clean out old cobwebs and chart a new course for the future of our country.

What is Pakistan all about? For decades, Pakistani school children have grown up learning a linguistically flawed (but catchy) rhetorical question sung together with its answer: Pakistan ka matlab kya? La illaha illala! [What is the meaning of Pakistan? There is no god but Allah!]. They have been told that Pakistan’s raison d’etre was the creation of an Islamic state where the Sharia must reign supreme.

Surely this has had its effect. A recent survey by the World Public Opinion.Org (April 24, 2007) found that 54% of Pakistanis wanted strict application of Sharia while 25% wanted it in some more dilute form. Totaling 79%, this was the largest percentage in the four countries surveyed (Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia) .

But was sentiment for Sharia and the Islamic State strong in 1947 among those who fought for Pakistan?

Mr. Jinnah’s thoughts inevitably enter the argument. This, of course, does not necessarily mean that Pakistan was, or is, obligated to become the fulfilment of his vision. Pakistan is much more than Jinnah and it will eventually go in the direction that its people want it to go. But it certainly is of the greatest intellectual and historical interest to ask two key questions:

a) Did Jinnah want Pakistan to be a Muslim majority state where individuals, whether Muslim or otherwise, would be free to live their lives more or less as they do in countries in the rest of the world?
Or,
b) Did Jinnah want an Islamic state? And, if so, what was his understanding of such a state.

These have always been loaded questions with various sides making excellent arguments for their own purposes. But it is time to stop cherry-picking and, instead, scrutinize the totality of Jinnah’s words and actions. Else, at the end of the day we shall end up merely reaffirming our existing preferences and prejudices .

To be sure, a dispassionate examination of Mr. Jinnah’s positions has been unusual in Pakistan because of the ideological needs of the state. Truth was an immediate casualty when General Zia-ul-Haq brought his new Islamic vision of Pakistan in 1979. Immediately thereafter, Mr Jinnah had to be entirely resurrected and reconstructed as an Islamic – rather than Muslim – leader.

This task challenged even the best of spin-masters. As perhaps the most Westernized political leader in Indian Muslim history, Jinnah was culturally and socially far more at ease with the high society of cosmopolitan Bombay and metropolitan London than with those who he led and represented. His Urdu was barely understandable. Nor were his culinary tastes quite those of strict Muslims. But the authorities of Pakistan Television took this, as so much else, in their stride. So, in the 1980’s, a steady stream of profound pieties emanated from a stern, sherwani-clad man who filled television screens across the country. Gone were his elegant suits from Seville Row, as was any reference to his marriage to a Parsi woman. Mr. Jinnah had miraculously morphed into a deep-thinking Islamic scholar.

An interesting consequence of the deliberate state-organized obfuscation was that many Pakistani liberals concluded that the truth must have been the very opposite. They insisted that that, in fact, Jinnah had envisioned Pakistan as a secular, but Muslim majority, country. As proof, they point to two of his oft-quoted speeches that suggesting a secular outlook. Delivered just before, and after, Partition, these had been slyly concealed from the public media during the Zia years:

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan.

You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State…. You will find that in course of time
Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.

Courtesy: Chowk

Summary:Taliban unrepentant after attack on Pakistani teen

Pakistan -- The Taliban is threatening to finish off a 14-year-old Pakistani girl whom it shot for helping other girls go to school -- if she survives a wounding that has made her a hero to many Pakistanis.

Pakistan teen Malala Yousufzai, shot by Taliban for promoting girl's education, "improving" in hospital

Doctors in Pakistan have managed to pull a bullet from the neck of a 14-year-old girl who was shot by a Taliban gunman Tuesdat October 9th for speaking out in favor of girls' education.

Malala Yousufzai remains in critical condition at a military hospital in Peshawar, however, following the shooting in her hometown of Mingora, in Pakistan's Swat Valley - a former stronghold of the Taliban.

"She is improving. But she is still unconscious," a regional Pakistani official told the Associated Press. "I can't say a final word about her condition. A board of doctors is constantly examining her condition."

A senior Pakistani official later told CBS News that Malala was "semi-conscious," and had shown some level of response to doctors.

Headlines in newspapers across Pakistan denounced the shooting on Wednesday, and politicians jumped on the bandwagon. The chief of the army called the attackers "cowards".

The Taliban came for Malala as she boarded a bus to go home from school. The gunman sought her out and shot her in the head and neck and wounded two other girls.
There is no doubt that Malala was the target. The gunman actually asked for her by name when he boarded the school bus.
Malala lived with the fear of being a Taliban target. That fear was evident in a Jan. 3, 2009, diary entry: "On my way home from school I heard a man saying...'I will kill you'. I hastened my pace and after a while I looked back if the man was still coming behind me. But to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone."

It seems she was wrong. The Taliban are actually proud of targeting a teenage girl who wants an education. In claiming responsibility for the attack, a Taliban spokesman called Malala, "the symbol of infidels and obscenity".

In fact, Malala is a devout Muslim. She rose to prominence in Pakistan as a symbol of resistance to the Taliban's attempts to curtail education for girls when they took control of the Swat Valley in 2009.

At age eleven she was writing an anonymous blog about life under the Taliban. In one entry entitled "I Am Afraid," she wrote about a terrible dream she had about helicopters and Taliban militants.

Fear is the Taliban's primary weapon, reinforced with a willingness to use extreme violence against anyone who contradicts their medieval rules.

Malala's willingness to speak out earned her a nomination for the International Children's Peace Prize.

The Taliban's efforts to suppress and punish her may well backfire.

"There are people whose voices have been suppressed, are living in fear, but I feel there will be many Malalas in this country," Pakistani women's rights activist Farzana Bari tells CBS News. "I have all the faith."

Today, schoolchildren in Peshawar, where Malala is being treated, made a point of praying for her.

Pakistan's Interior Ministry says Malala will remain in the hospital in Peshawar for another day or two, and then, if necessary, may be flown to the United Arab Emirates or on here to London for further treatment.

Bullet removed from teen activist shot by Taliban

Surgeons in Pakistan have removed a bullet from a 14-year-old girl who was shot by Taliban gunmen because of her outspoken support for the rights of women and girls.

The BBC quotes Malala's father as saying the three-hour operation to remove the bullet from her neck went well.
Two other girls were injured in Tuesday's attack. One remains in critical condition.
Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Malala in the hospital in Peshawar, the Los Angeles Times reports, and delivered a simple message: "We refuse to bow before terror."
"In attacking Malala, the terrorists have failed to grasp that she is not only an individual, but an icon of courage and hope," the general said.
Mian Iftikhar Hussein, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa information minister, promised a $100,000 bounty for the capture of the assailants, CNN reports. Police have also taken the van driver and the school guard into custody for questioning.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned the shooting Wednesday, saying it should galvanize support for "brave young women ... who struggle against tradition and culture and even outright hostility, and sometimes violence" to pursue their rights, the Associated Press reports.
The outrage over Malala's shooting, however, hasn't cowed the militants, who say they targeted her because she "promoted secularism," the BBC says.
"If she survives this time, she won't next time," says a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, CNN reports. "We will certainly kill her."
Malala has long been an outspoken activist in her city. When she was only 11, she began writing a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC's Urdu service about life under Taliban occupation.
After the Taliban was thrown out of the Swat Valley in the summer of 2009, Malala began speaking out publicly about the militant group and the need for girls' education.

Over 50 ulema issue fatwa against Malala attack

Fatwa says US drone attacks could not be used as an excuse for carrying attacks on Muslim brethren. PHOTO: FAZAL KHALIQ/ FILE

More than 50 ulema and muftis of the Sunni Ittehad Council issued a collective fatwa denouncing the attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, terming the attack “un-Islamic,” reported Express News on Thursday.

The fatwa declared that the murder of innocent people is tantamount to killing entire humanity.

The fatwa observed that US drone attacks could not be made an excuse for carrying out attacks on Muslim brethren, and added that the US is an enemy of Pakistan and Islam.

The edict further declared that Islam does not forbid women from obtaining education.

Madonna dedicates song to Malala

Madonn­a told audien­ce the incide­nt made her cry.

By Web Desk

Published: October 12, 2012

Madonna told audience the incident made her cry. PHOTO: AFP / FILE

Pop star Madonna, who has voiced her political and social views through the MDNA tour, most recently took on the Taliban when she dedicated a song to Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old who was targeted by the militant group, reports aol.com.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Madonna told her audience that the incident made her cry.

“The 14-year-old schoolgirl who wrote a blog about going to school. The Taliban stopped her bus and shot her. Do you realize how sick that is?” she said and shouted: “Support education! Support women!”.

Later, Madonna performed an onstage striptease to reveal “Malala” stenciled across her back and saying “this song is for you, Malala”, she began singing Human Nature.

Malala remains on the ventilator with specialists saying the following 36 to 48 hours were critical for her.

Madonna has previously shown her support for US President Barack Obama and Russian punk band Pussy Riot during performances of the MDNA tour.

Taliban unrepentant after attack on Pakistani teen

Timeline A 14-year-old Pakistani girl's brave fight against the Taliban: A timeline

Young Malala Yousafzai began to rail against the Taliban's ban on girls' education when she was just 11. Just this week, she survived an assassination attempt

posted on October 10, 2012, at 10:15 AM

Malala Yousufzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani activist, is moved to a helicopter to be taken to Peshawar for treatment, after being shot and wounded by a member of the Taliban on Oct. 9. Photo: AP Photo/Sherin Zada SEE ALL 82 PHOTOS

The international community was stunned Tuesday when a 14-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, was shot in the head by Taliban militants. The teen, who has been an outspoken advocate of girls' right to education since she was 11, was ambushed on her school bus on the way home from school in the Swat Valley. Malala was flown from Mingora, the city where she lives, to Peshawar, where surgeons were able to remove a bullet near her spine. As supporters struggled to comprehend the brutal attack, many wondered why the Taliban would target a young girl. (The Taliban response: Malala has "become a symbol of Western culture in the area.") Malala's fight against oppressive Taliban strictures first began when, at age 11, she penned a diary for the BBC's Urdu service detailing the atrocities committed by the militant group. Since then, Malala has continued to speak out. Here, a look at the teen girl who took on the Taliban:

January 2009

The Taliban, hoping to enforce a ban on girls' education, orders all private schools closed in the northwestern Swat district where Malala lives. Malala subsequently writes a diary about the harrowing experience for the BBC's Urdu site. Among the more unsettling things she shares: "On my way from school to home I heard a man saying 'I will kill you'." New York Times reporter Adam Ellick then interviews Malala for the documentary Class Dismissed. At 11, she already knows that she wants to be a doctor, but cries at the thought of not being able to fulfill that dream because of the Taliban's edicts.

May 2009

The Taliban seizes complete control of the Swat Valley, and begins to freely patrol the city of Mingora. Dozens die and thousands flee. A peace deal between the Pakistani government and the Taliban collapses. Later, the Taliban is routed from the area, but pockets of militants remain, and they force their harsh rules on citizens.

November 2011

Malala, who has continued to speak out on behalf of all Pakistani girls, is awarded the country's first National Peace Prize for Youth, with a $10,500 award. "I convinced my friends and other classmates of the importance of education and told them that our primary education will decide our future," she says. "I am thankful not only to the students but also to their parents for honoring my requests and sending their daughters back to school."

December 2011

The government renames the honor the National Malala Peace Prize.

April 2012

Malala, now in the eighth grade, speaks with the website Think Twice Pakistan about a possible career in politics. "My purpose is to serve humanity, fight for their rights," she says.

Oct. 9, 2012

On her way home from school, Malala is shot in the head when Taliban gunmen pull over her school bus and ask for her by name. She is rushed to a hospital, and then later transferred to another facility in Peshawar for emergency surgery. The Taliban claims responsibility, and promises "to finish this chapter" because of Malala's ongoing "obscenity."

Oct. 10, 2012

Doctors successfully remove a bullet that was lodged near Malala's spine. Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik obtains a passport for the young girl, and the head of PIA, the national airline, offers to pay all expenses for Malala to be flown anywhere in the world for treatment should she need it.

Sources: BBC (2), CBS News, CNN, The Guardian, The New York Times, Think Twice Pakistan, The Washington Post

TTP labels Malala as 'an American spy'

October 16, 2012 - Updated 192 PKT

KARACHI: The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Tuesday defended the attack on Malala Yousafzai, rejecting that she was an innocent girl and labeling her as 'an American spy'.

The central spokesman of TTP, Ahsanullah Ahsan, in a detailed statement issued to the media said Malala's date of birth is July 1997 which makes her 15 years four months old today. "Even if no sign of puberty becomes noticeable, this age of the girl marks the end of pre-puberty phase."

The statement said: "In Islam and Pashtun traditions there is absolutely no room for an attack on a woman of pure virtues. But in cases where a woman is seen as a clear sinner who stands in defiance of Shariah, such a woman is not only allowed to be attacked but there is an obligatory instruction for such an action."

The TTP spokesman said, Malala Yousafzai was 'a spy who divulged secrets of Mujahideen and Taliban through BBC and in return received awards and rewards from the Zionists'.

"She not only spied against Mujahideen but also created propaganda against them. The Gul Makai diary is an embodiment of anti-Taliban views," he continued.

"She has received the punishment for her sin."

The spokesman further said that Malala was brought before the media under a pre-planned strategy so that she could pollute the minds of the youth against the Taliban.

14-year-old girl wins Pakistan's first peace prize

By Nasir Habib, CNN

November 24, 2011 -- Updated 1707 GMT (0107 HKT)

A female teacher gives a lesson at a girl's school in the main town of Swat valley, Pakistan on August 1, 2009.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Yousufzai used to hide her books under her bed, fearing a Taliban search
• She lives in the Swat Valley, one of the country's most conservative areas
• The 14-year-old was also a nominee for an international peace prize

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- An eighth-grade girl was awarded Pakistan's first National Peace Prize Thursday for her online diary reporting on the Taliban's ban on education for girls.

Malala Yousufzai, a resident of Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan -- one of the most conservative regions of the country -- wrote about her frustration with the Taliban's restrictions on female education in her town.

Using the Internet, she reached out to the outside world, taking a stand by writing about her daily battle with extremist militants who used fear and intimidation to force girls to stay at home.

"I was scared of being beheaded by the Taliban because of my passion for education," Yousufzai told CNN. "During their rule, the Taliban used to march into our houses to check whether we were studying or watching television."

Yousufzai said she used to hide her books under her bed, fearing a house search by the Taliban.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani announced the award Thursday, which also comes with a 500,000 rupee ($5,780) prize. He directed Pakistan's Cabinet to award the national prize every year to a child younger than 18 who contributes to peace and education in the country, a statement from his office said.

Yousufzai, 14, was also one of the five nominees chosen from 42 countries for the International Children's Peace Prize for 2011. That award, presented by Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire Monday, went to 17-year-old Michaela Mycroft of South Africa, for her "commitment to the rights of children with disabilities," a statement from that prize foundation said.

The International Children's Peace Prize is awarded annually to a child whose courage and remarkable acts have made a difference in countering problems faced by children around the world.

Although Yousufzai didn't win that prize, she said she would still "fight for girls' education and work toward creating a society where girls can be educated freely."

She also has big plans for the future.

"I want to be a political leader, as this country needs honest and true leaders," she told CNN.

Swat remained under Taliban control for years until 2009, when the military cleared it in an operation that also sparked the evacuation of thousands of families.

Journalist Shaan Khan contributed to this report.

As teen recovers from Taliban hit, Pakistanis demand answers

By Shaan Khan, CNN

October 16, 2012 -- Updated 1151 GMT (1951 HKT)

Thousands rally for Malala

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Interior Minister offers $1 million bounty for Pakistani Taliban spokesman
• Teen blogger arrives in Britain for treatment
• Malala Yousufzai has galvanized worldwide support for girls' education
• Malala was shot by Taliban gunmen who were enraged that she wanted an education

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A Pakistani teenage activist shot in the head by the Taliban for demanding an education has left her beloved country for specialized medical treatment in Britain.

The Taliban's attempted assassination last week of Malala Yousufzai, 14, has sparked outrage inside Pakistan and around the world, transforming the young blogger into an international symbol of defiance against the radical Islamist group that continues to wield influence in parts of Pakistan.

After Tuesday's attack, Malala was treated immediately by Pakistani doctors who later removed a bullet lodged in her neck. She was airlifted Monday to a hospital in Birmingham, England, that treats the country's war casualties. There she will be treated by neurosurgery specialists. Her recovery could take months, doctors said.

Authorities in Pakistan said they are moving forward with their investigation into the attack. The country's interior minister, Rehman Malik, offered a $1 million bounty Monday for Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan.

Most Pakistanis consider the Taliban murderous ideologues, and the young girl's willingness to risk her life to attend school -- despite the Taliban's opposition to education for girls-- has struck a nerve.

$1 million bounty for Malala attackers

Teen shot by Taliban arrives in the UK

Pakistanis outraged by Taliban attack

Read a profile of Malala Yousufzai

One of the largest rallies supporting Malala took place Sunday in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, where men, women and their children held signs that said, "Shame on you, Taliban." Others held signs condemning terrorism.

Massive posters and billboards said, "Malala, our prayers are with you." At another rally in the capital of Islamabad, protesters held candles and prayed for the girl's recovery.

iReport: Your views on girls' education

Malala began gaining international attention in 2009 as the Taliban gained a foothold in her home region of Swat, a Taliban-heavy valley in northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. Malala's father operated one of the few schools that defied the Taliban by keeping its doors open to girls.

At 11 years old, Malala started writing a blog for the BBC about what it was like to try to get an education under the constant threat of death by Islamist extremists. Her touching diary earned her both national and international praise.

"I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban," she wrote. "I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools."

Millions of children face Malala's fight for an education

Now, Malala's supporters are demanding the government thoroughly investigate who stopped a van carrying Malala and her classmates, as they returned from school in the Swat Valley last Tuesday.

Gunmen jumped inside the van and ordered students to point out Malala. Horrified, they did. The men began shooting, hitting Malala in the head and neck. Two other girls were also wounded.

All our law enforcers, intelligence agencies are hunting all those who were involved
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik

In recent days, as Malala breathed with the help of a ventilator in Pakistani medical facilities, the Taliban trumpeted its responsibility for the shooting.

They vowed that if she survives, they'll come after her again, and next time finish her.

'I am Malala'

Malala's story of defiance and survival has triggered an online flurry of petitions and support pages rallying for Malala and her fight for girls' education. An online "I Am Malala" petition, signed by celebrities and leaders, is demanding that girls get better access to education. The petition will be presented to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Another online petition telling authorities to arrest Malala's attackers and end ties between the government and extremists had more than 10,000 signatures by mid-day Monday.

"All our law enforcers, intelligence agencies are hunting all those who were involved. I have got some other names which I would not like to mention on record because it may damage the investigation. But let me (as)sure my Pakistani nation, and the entire world, that we will get them very soon," Interior Minister Malik told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

He said the attack plan was hatched in Afghanistan, and vowed to hold those responsible to account "very soon."

Attack galvanises anti-Taliban feeling

"Four people came from there. ... One of the guys, we have identified and (a) few of his associates have been arrested. One of -- the fiancee of one of the terrorists has been detained, and all possible leads which we have developed ... we are following it," the minister said, adding that the government has provided security to Malala's family and to two girls who were wounded in the same attack.

The name "Malala" has been trending on Twitter and has mobilized a large following on Facebook.

She also has attracted the attention of international leaders, including former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who wrote in a CNN commentary that the attack on Malala highlights the plight of "61 million young children like Malala who will not go to school today or any other day."

And, last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned Malala's bravery at a gathering of Girl Scouts in Washington. She said the attack on the teen should inspire support for other young women around the world who "struggle against tradition and culture and even outright hostility," to lay claim to their rights.

Even Madonna shouted Malala's name at a Los Angeles concert last week to the wild applause of fans and dedicated her hit "Human Nature" to the girl.

In Pakistan, young girls are wearing "I am Malala" T-shirts to show their solidarity with the teen activist.
Attack on teen blogger consumes Pakistan

Malala is expected to be hospitalized for "weeks if not months," said David Rosser, executive medical director of University Hospitals Birmingham.

Rosser declined to discuss details of Malala's condition, but said the decision to fly her to the United Kingdom from Pakistan was a sign that her medical team hopes she will pull through.

"They wouldn't be going through all this, if there wasn't a good hope of recovery," he said.

When Malala was rushed to a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar after she was shot, doctors tried to reduce swelling in her brain and removed the bullet in her neck. She was later transferred to a military hospital in Rawalpindi outside Islamabad.

At Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, she will need to have the damaged bones in her skull repaired or replaced as well as intensive neurological rehabilitation, the Pakistani military said Monday. Malala's family has been kept up on every step of her treatment, officials say.

On Amanpour: The Malalas you'll never meet

"Malala will now receive specialist medical care in an NHS hospital," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague, referring to the country's National Health Service. "Our thoughts remain with Malala and her family at this difficult time."

'I have the right'

Malala spoke to CNN last year about her blog and her brave assertion that girls should go to school.

"I have the right of education," she said. "I have the right to play. I have the right to sing. I have the right to talk. I have the right to go to market. I have the right to speak up."

Opinion: One girl's courage in the face of Taliban cowardice

Her writing earned her Pakistan's first National Peace Prize and encouraged young people to take a stand against the Taliban -- and to not hide in their bedrooms.

But the instability of the region was highlighted late Sunday in an attack by scores of militants on a police outpost that killed six officers, police said.

On her blog, Malala often wrote about her life in Swat Valley, a hotbed of militant activity.

The valley once attracted tourists to Pakistan's only ski resort, as well as visitors to the ancient Buddhist ruins in the area. But that was before militants -- their faces covered -- unleashed a wave of violence in 2003.

They demanded veils for women, beards for men and a ban on music and television. They allowed boys' schools to operate but closed those for girls.

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Malala’s shooting ‘an attack on all Pakistani girls’: President Zardari

President Asif Ali Zardari. — Photo by Reuters

BAKU: President Asif Ali Zardari said Tuesday that the shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai by the Taliban was an attack on all girls in the country and on civilisation itself.

In some of his most poignant remarks on the incident to date, Zardari vowed not to let her shooting stop the nation’s drive to educate girls.
“The Taliban attack on the 14-year-old girl, who from the age of 11 was involved in the struggle for education for girls, is an attack on all girls in Pakistan, an attack on education, and on all civilised people,” Zardari said at an economic summit in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.
“The work that she led was higher before God than what terrorists do in the name of religion. We will continue her shining cause,” he said.
Malala was attacked on her school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of the Swat valley a week ago as a punishment for campaigning for the right to an education and free expression.
Zardari said that such attacks would not deter Pakistan in its search for broader social justice.
“Terrorists should not have an impact on our future. We ourselves must determine our future,” he said.
The shooting has been denounced worldwide and by Pakistan, which has said it will do everything possible to ensure Malala recovers and will meet all the costs of her treatment.
She was flown to Britain for specialist treatment at a hospital in the English city of Birmingham on Monday where doctors said she had “a chance of making a good recovery”.
Doctors in Pakistan had said Malala needed treatment for a damaged skull and “intensive neuro-rehabilitation” after being shot in the head.
The murder attempt has sickened Pakistan, where Malala came to prominence with a blog for the BBC highlighting atrocities under the Taliban, who terrorised the Swat valley from 2007 until an army offensive in 2009.
Activists say the shooting should be a wake-up call to those who advocate appeasement with the Taliban, but analysts suspect there will be no significant change.
On Sunday, around 10,000 people gathered in Karachi for a rally in support of Malala, organised by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement political party, while schools and mosques across the country have held special prayers for the 14-year-old.
But right-wing and conservative religious leaders have refrained from publicly denouncing the Taliban. They have warned the government against using the attack on Malala as a pretext for an offensive in the militant bastion of North Waziristan.
The United States has long called on Pakistan to wage an operation in the region, considered the leadership base of the Haqqani network – blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan – as well as a Taliban stronghold.
Pakistan has offered more than $100,000 for the capture of Malala’s attackers.
A senior police official has said that investigators have questioned dozens of suspects, but that the hunt for the main culprits was continuing.