mtvU names Malala Yousafzai ‘Woman of the Year’

WASIM KARIM

KARACHI: Pakistani social activist Malala Yousafzai has been named “Woman of the Year 2012” by a US-based TV channel mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network.

Yousafzai, at 15 years old, had put her life on the line as a blogger for the BBC. She detailed her daily struggle for access to education under the Taliban. She survived being shot in the head by Taliban soldiers that opposed her fight for equal-opportunity education in Pakistan.

According to the media, Yousafzai stated that “Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are trying to do is wrong, that education is our basic right."

In honor of Malala Yousafzai, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon extended his support to the young girl and her fight for education, describing her as the "global symbol" of every girl's right to education. He also declared November 10 as “Malala Day”.

However, America’s singer-songwriter Frank Ocean was named “Man of the Year” for 2012 by mtvU.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012