Malala out & Pak mob attacks Christmas worshippers

UK: Malala, shot by Taliban pledges to fight for human rights.
Muslim mob attacked Christian worshipers on Christmas Day in Islamabad

London, January 05, 2013: A Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls’ education has been discharged from a British hospital after doctors said she was well enough to spend time recovering with her family.

Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot at by the Taliban in October and brought to Britain for treatment, was discharged on Thursday but is due to be re-admitted in late January or early February for reconstructive surgery to her skull, doctors said.

“Malala Yousufzai was discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham as an inpatient yesterday to continue her rehabilitation at her family’s temporary home in the West Midlands,” the hospital said in a statement.

The shooting of Yousufzai, in the head at point blank range as she left school in the Swat valley, drew widespread international condemnation.

She has become an internationally recognized symbol of resistance to the Taliban’s efforts to deny women education and other rights, and more than 250,000 people have signed online petitions calling for her to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her activism. Time magazine had shortlisted Malala for its ‘Person of the Year’ in 2012.

Doctors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where Yousufzai was treated said although the bullet hit her left brow, it did not penetrate her skull; instead, it travelled underneath the skin along the side of her head and into her neck. She was treated by doctors specializing in neurosurgery, trauma and other disciplines in a department of the hospital which has treated hundreds of soldiers wounded in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Malala is a strong, young woman and has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery,” said Dave Rosser, the hospital’s medical director.

“Following discussions with Malala and her medical team, we decided that she would benefit from being at home. She will return to the hospital as an outpatient and our Therapies team will continue to work with her at home to supervise her onward care,” he said.

Yousufzai has already been leaving the hospital on a regular basis on “home leave” in recent weeks to spend time with her parents and younger brothers, who have a temporary home in central England, Rosser said.

The inspiring tale of Malala Yousufzai

January 2009

The Taliban, hoping to enforce a ban on girls’ education, orders all private schools closed in Swat Valley where Malala lives. Malala subsequently writes a diary about the harrowing experience for the BBC’s Urdu site.

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 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.

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.

October 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 claim responsibility, and promises “to finish this chapter” because of Malala’s ongoing “obscenity.”

October 10, 2012

Doctors successfully remove a bullet 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.

October 15, 2012

Malala air-lifted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for further specialist treatment.

January 3, 2013

Malala awarded the 2012 Tipperary

International Peace Award from

Ireland for her courage and determination to speak out in support of equal access to education for children.

– agencies

Muslim mob attacked Christian worshipers on Christmas Day in Islamabad

Pakistan, December 29, 2012: (PCP) When President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman ruling Pakistan Peoples Party PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were cutting Christmas cake presented by National Harmony Minister a Pakistani Catholic Dr. Paul Bhatti and photo session was being enjoyed by Archbishop of Karachi Bishop Joseph Coutts and Karachi Diocese Bishop of Church of Pakistan Sadiq Daniel in Karachi on December 25, 2012, a Muslim mob equipped with lethal weapons was firing at innocent Christian worshipers who were coming out of different Churches in Iqbal Town of capital city of Pakistan Islamabad.

It was 12:00 noon, in Iqbal Town in Islamabad, on December 25, 2012, when Christian worshipers were coming out of different Churches after performing Christmas prayers, more than one hundred Muslim extremists equipped with automatic rifles, pistols and sticks attacked the Christian women, children and men.

Ashraf Masih, when running to save his life was hit with bullet in his leg, Iqbal Masih received bullet injuries in his leg and arm, Shahzad Masih was injured fell on ground and was beaten with sticks mercilessly by mob, Yousaf Masih was seriously injured while more than one dozen Christian women, men and children received injuries.

The area police of Shahzad Town Police Station arrived on scene to maintain law and order and arrested only two Muslims named Mohammad Khalid and Mohammad Riasat Satti and sent injured Christians for medico-legal in hospital.

The case under Section 452, 109, 324,148,149 PPC was registered in First Information Report FIR number 669/2012, in Shahzad Town PS against 35 unknown and 4 nominated Muslim attackers but police released one nominated arrested accused Mohammad Riasat Satti same evening of December 25, 2012.

The tension was high all over Pakistan and special security arrangements were adopted by government after a religious decree of one Muslim cleric against celebrations of Christmas and participation of Muslims in it.

A religious decree (Islamic Fatwa) issued on Facebook by one Muslim cleric Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer as “We should be tolerant towards people of other religions but we cannot participate in religious ceremonies and events of non-Muslims. Christmas is religious event of Christians and according to their theology Jesus was son of Allah born to Allah on this particular day so we need to avoid this event and should not greet them. Muslims can eat their food and are allowed to marry chaste women of Christians but Christmas cannot be celebrated by Muslims because it is against the concept of monotheism in Islam”

The National Harmony Minister Dr. Paul Bhatti and State Minister Akram Gill were also busy in photo shoots with high ranking officials and Shahzad Town Police Station officials were not arresting Muslim attackers but twisting incident in communal riots.

Mr. Basharat Khokhar, a human right activist, based in Islamabad was first to reach Iqbal Town today to negotiate with administration to remove blockades from areas of Christian residents who were under siege from Christmas day and running out of food supplies and milk for children on fear of safety and security of life from further attacks of Muslim mob.

Pakistan Christian Post contacted DSP Arshad Ali Khokhar and SHO Fiaz Ahmad Ranjha of Shahzad Police Station for information on not arresting Muslim accused in FIR but none was available to respond.

The news of this attack on Christians on Christmas Day was intentionally blocked by media and administration of capital city Islamabad.

– pakistan christian post