 |
|
Malala in Strasbourg,
11/20/2013; via Wikipedia.
|
Malala’s name means grief-stricken, and
grief undoubtedly played a role in motivating her to speak out for those 200
Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last April. The waning interest in our always fickle media also played a role.
On Malala’s 17th birthday,
the young survivor of a brutal assassination attempt, is on a mission.
Tim Cocks and Abraham Terngu report:
ABUJA, July 14 (Reuters) - Pakistani rights activist Malala
Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning
for girls' education, pledged while on a trip to Nigeria to help free a group
of schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants.
On Sunday, Malala met parents of the more than 200 girls who
were kidnapped by the militant group Boko Haram from a school in the
northeastern village of Chibok in April.
Boko Haram, inspired by the Taliban, say they are fighting
to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria. The group, whose
name means "Western education is sinful", has killed thousands and
abducted hundreds since launching an uprising in 2009.
Some of the parents broke down in tears as Malala spoke at a
hotel in the capital Abuja on Sunday.
"I can see those girls as my sisters ... and I'm going
to speak up for them until they are released," said Malala, who was due to
meet President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday. Her 17th birthday was on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment