Similarly, her father continued to speak out loudly. Once she returned to Swat, Malala began to gain more national and international fame for being an advocate for girls' education. They became IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons), living outside of Swat for three months before they were able to return when the army announced that the Taliban had allegedly been driven out of the valley.

The situation got so bad that scores of people left Swat Valley, fleeing the Taliban-Malala's family tried to stay for as long as they could, but eventually they left as well. Malala even began to write a diary about life as a girl under the Taliban, using a pseudonym so it could not be traced to her.Īt last the Pakistani army said that they had struck a deal with the Taliban to institute sharia law in Swat in return for peace, but unfortunately this peace did not last. She and her father began to speak out strongly and publicly against Talibanization. For Malala, this last rule was unacceptable. The Taliban began to implement many strict rules: CDs, DVDs, and TVs were not allowed in the home, women must remain in purdah, and girls could not be educated. It was led by a man named Fazlullah, who at first appealed to many people because of his charisma and rationality. When Malala was ten years old, the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist group seeking to implement its brutal version of sharia law in the region, came to Swat Valley. One autumn, an earthquake devastated Swat Valley, leaving its people suffering and vulnerable and eager for some sort of leadership. Power continuously shifted, as did the nation's international reputation.

Pakistan began to change after the 9/11 attacks happened. In school, Malala was always at the top of the class, contested only by her best friend, Moniba, and her rival, Malka-e-Noor. The family had little money at first, but as her father’s school began to do well, they were better off. Life in Mingora, Swat's largest city, was easy for the first part of Malala's childhood. Two brothers followed her: one, Kushal, is two years younger than she is, and the other, Atal, is seven years younger than she is. She grew up in and around school, as her father's lifelong dream had been to found a school thus, Malala valued education from an extremely young age. Malala Yousafzai was born in 1997 to a Pashtun family in Swat Valley, Pakistan.

I am malala by malala yousafzai