Honourable UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon, respected president
of the General Assembly Vuk Jeremic, honourable UN envoy for global
education Mr Gordon Brown, respected elders and my dear brothers and
sisters: Assalamu alaikum.
Today is it an honour for me to be speaking again after a
long time. Being here with such honourable people is a great moment in
my life and it is an honour for me that today I am wearing a shawl of
the late Benazir Bhutto. I don’t know where to begin my speech. I don’t
know what people would be expecting me to say, but first of all thank
you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who
has prayed for my fast recovery and new life. I cannot believe how much
love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good-wish cards
and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you
to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my
elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to thank my nurses,
doctors and the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the
UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength.
I
fully support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his Global Education
First Initiative and the work of UN Special Envoy for Global Education
Gordon Brown and the respectful president of the UN General Assembly Vuk
Jeremic. I thank them for the leadership they continue to give. They
continue to inspire all of us to action. Dear brothers and sisters, do
remember one thing: Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every
woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their
rights.
There are hundreds of human rights activists and
social workers who are not only speaking for their rights, but who are
struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education and equality.
Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have
been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand, one girl among
many. I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard.
Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace.
Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of
opportunity. Their right to be educated.
Dear friends, on
9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead.
They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence
us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices.
The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions.
But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and
hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. I am the same
Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams
are the same. Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone.
Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the
Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right
of education for every child. I want education for the sons and
daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not
even hate the Talib who shot me.
Even if there was a gun
in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him.
This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of
mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have
inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali
Jinnah.
This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have
learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the
forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This
is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.
Dear
sisters and brothers, we realise the importance of light when we see
darkness. We realise the importance of our voice when we are silenced.
In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we
realised the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. The wise
saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” It is true. The
extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education
frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of
women frightens them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students in
the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they kill female teachers.
That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were and
they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our
society. And I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked
by a journalist: “Why are the Taliban against education?”He answered
very simply by pointing to his book, he said: “A Talib doesn’t know what
is written inside this book.”
They think that God is a
tiny, little conservative being who would point guns at people’s heads
just for going to school. These terrorists are misusing the name of
Islam for their own personal benefit. Pakistan is a peace-loving,
democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and
sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. It is the
duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what it
says. Peace is a necessity for education. In many parts of the world,
especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflicts stop
children from going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women
and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world.
In
India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labour. Many
schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been
affected by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic child labour and
are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance,
injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main
problems, faced by both men and women.
Today, I am
focusing on women’s rights and girls’ education because they are
suffering the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to
stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I
am not telling men to step away from speaking for women’s rights, but I
am focusing on women to be independent and fight for themselves. So dear
sisters and brothers, now it’s time to speak up. So today, we call upon
the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace
and prosperity. We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals
must protect women and children’s rights. A deal that goes against the
rights of women is unacceptable.
We call upon all
governments to ensure free, compulsory education all over the world for
every child. We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism
and violence. To protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon
the developed nations to support the expansion of education
opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all
communities to be tolerant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed,
sect, colour, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for
women so they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are
held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to
embrace the strength within themselves and realise their full potential.
Dear
brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child’s
bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace
and education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for our rights and
we will bring change to our voice. We believe in the power and the
strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world because we
are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to
achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of
knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.
Dear
brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are
suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget
that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget
that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future.
So
let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and
terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most
powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can
change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first. Thank
you
It would be criminal for me not to have this speech here no matter how late it is. :)
