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Malala Yousafzai Visits Hometown Barkana for First Time Since 2012 Attack
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai visits her hometown Barkana, Shangla, for the first time since 2012. She met family, visited her school, and encouraged students to pursue education.
ND
by News Desk
2025-03-05
Malala Yousafzai Visits Hometown Barkana for First Time Since 2012 Attack

Nobel laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai visited her hometown Barkana in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla district on Wednesday for the first time since surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012.

A Landmark Visit to Barkana

Malala, who was shot in the face by the Pakistani Taliban at the age of 15 due to her advocacy for girls' education, had not returned to her village since. Now a global advocate for women's education, she made a historic trip back to her roots.

Accompanied by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, and husband, Asser Malik, Malala arrived in Barkana via helicopter. She met her family members, visited her ancestral graveyard, and checked on her uncle, Ramazan, who recently underwent heart surgery.

Focus on Education: Visiting Her School & College

During her visit, Malala inspected the school and college she established in Barkana in 2018, which provides free education to nearly 1,000 girls in the district—an area that previously lacked a functional government girls' college.

She engaged with students, visited classrooms, and encouraged young girls to focus on their studies for a brighter future. She also assured them that the Malala Fund would continue supporting the high-quality education provided at the institution.

Prominent education activist Shahzad Roy, who runs Zindagi Trust’s Shangla Girls School & College, also briefed her on the educational facilities.

Previous Visits to Pakistan

Since surviving the attack in 2012, Malala has made a few visits to Pakistan:

  • 2018: Her first visit after moving to the UK, focusing on education.
  • 2022: She visited flood-affected areas to meet victims of Pakistan’s devastating monsoon floods.
  • January 2024: Spoke at an Islamabad summit on girls' education in Muslim nations.

Following her short visit to Barkana, Malala returned to Islamabad.
Tagged:

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