The father of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has called upon his daughter to break with centuries-old tradition and choose her own partner as he says ‘she’ll be a better judge than me’.
Ziauddin Yousafzai, who inspired his daughter’s love of education, said he was proud to challenge the constraints of the Pakistani community in which the family grew up.
Malala, who at the age of 15 survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman after campaigning for girls to be educated, has become a glocal icon for women’s rights.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Mr Yousafzai, 51, said his daughter, now 23, was fully independent and should create the life she wants.
He said: ‘In our community, when a girl reaches 23, she is usually married by now and has little say in the matter.
Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, (pictured together) has called upon his daughter to break with centuries-old tradition and choose her own partner as he says ‘she’ll be a better judge than me’
Malala, who at the age of 15 survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman after campaigning for girls to be educated, has become a glocal icon for women’s rights
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Mr Yousafzai, 51, said his daughter, now 23, was fully independent and should create the life she wants. He said: ‘In our community, when a girl reaches 23, she is usually married by now and has little say in the matter’
‘To me, tribe or caste does not matter at all. I think the most important thing is that this is her (Malala’s) life. I’m the kind of father who believes in their children’s education and freedom.
‘She has the right to choose her own partner or nobody at all, it’s up to her.’
Having lived in the UK since she was shot in 2012, she has graduated from Oxford, rubbed shoulders with the world’s leading politicians and celebrities and set up a foundation focused on girls’ education.
Her family are Pashtuns, a fiercely traditional and patriarchal community from the mountainous region of Pakistan who are known for arranging marriages for girls at a young age and are reluctant to educate them.
Mr Yousafazi said: ‘I have left these issues up to Malala. She’s very independent. I will be comfortable with anyone that she is happy with.’
He added: ‘The only thing I would say is that she should go for someone who respects her values, her freedom and her independence. She would be a better judge of that than me, I believe in her wisdom.’
Malala was shot at point blank range in the side of the head as she sat on school bus after defying the Taliban by continuing to go to school.
‘I’m the kind of father who believes in their children’s education and freedom,’ said Mr Yousafzai. ‘She has the right to choose her own partner or nobody at all, it’s up to her’
Mr Yousafazi admitted his beliefs are ‘extremely rare’ in the Pashtun community and that even when he was in Pakistan, he would rail against forced marriages and stress the important of girls’ education. Pictured: Malala helps home school her mother Toor Pekai
Last year, Malala graduated from Oxford University but then turned down a place at Harvard to focus on running the Malala Fund with her father, an organisation she established that works across the world to implement girls’ education programmes. Pictured: Malala at Oxford
Miraculously, she survived and was rushed to Britain for medical treatment, and continued with her extraordinary work. It culminated with Malala becoming the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2014, at just 17.
The family are now settled in the UK, creating a new life for themselves which Malala will discuss when she appears on BBC’s Desert Island Discs this Sunday.
But her passionate beliefs on female equality were shaped by Mr Yousafazi, a former teacher who publicly spoke out against the Taliban and their attempts to close girls’ schools, even before she was shot by them.
Mr Yousafazi admitted his beliefs are ‘extremely rare’ in the Pashtun community and that even when he was in Pakistan, he would rail against forced marriages and stress the important of girls’ education.
As Malala herself has previously noted on her birth: ‘Welcoming a baby girl is not always cause for celebration in Pakistan – but my father Ziauddin Yousafzai, was determined to give me every opportunity a boy would have.’
The family lived in the mountainous Swat district, which at the time of Malala’s shooting, had been infiltrated by the Taliban.
Mr Yousfaafazi, who often had to go into hiding because of death threats from the extremists, added: ‘I would tell parents that the best thing they could do for their daughters is to put a pen in their hands and get them to study and that what the Taliban were doing was not true Islam.’
Having lived in the UK since she was shot in 2012, she has graduated from Oxford, rubbed shoulders with the world’s leading politicians and celebrities and set up a foundation focused on girls’ education
Her passionate beliefs on female equality were shaped by Mr Yousafazi, a former teacher who publicly spoke out against the Taliban and their attempts to close girls’ schools, even before she was shot by them. Pictured: With Greta Thunberg
Mr Yousafazi (with his wife and three children), who often had to go into hiding because of death threats from the extremists, said: ‘I would tell parents that the best thing they could do for their daughters is to put a pen in their hands and get them to study and that what the Taliban were doing was not true Islam.’
Last year, Malala graduated from Oxford University but then turned down a place at Harvard to focus on running the Malala Fund with her father, an organisation she established that works across the world to implement girls’ education programmes.
But Mr Yousafazi revealed that in between overseeing the work of the Malala fund, she has spent lockdown home schooling her mother, Toor Pekai, 49, who is attending online English classes.
She has also been helping her youngest brother Atal, 17 with his homework. Malala also has another brother, Kushal, 21, who is studying at a university in London.
Mr Yousafazi added: ‘Like so many other British people, Malala has been doing a lot of home schooling and has been helping her mother every day with her English course and Atal with his studies, when he asks her.
‘But unlike many people, she has really enjoyed home schooling. Malala loves education and is one of the most committed and dedicated students I have ever met and that’s what also make her such an excellent teacher.’
Malala has also set herself a target of reading 84 books this year, with Mr Yousafazi admitting that away from work and home schooling, this has taken up most of her time.
Malala (pictured in Pakistan in 2018) has also set herself a target of reading 84 books this year, with Mr Yousafazi admitting that away from work and home schooling, this has taken up most of her time
He refers to his daughter as a ‘comrade’ in their quest for girls’ equality and insists that despite the pandemic, both are committed to stepping up the work of the Malala fund over the coming months. Pictured with Malala when they returned to visit Pakistan in 2018
He refers to his daughter as a ‘comrade’ in their quest for girls’ equality and insists that despite the pandemic, both are committed to stepping up the work of the Malala fund over the coming months.
Mr Yousafazi beamed: ‘Our goal and dream is to see a world where every girl can choose her own future, learn and lead in all areas of her life.
‘Education is key to this and this is the most important thing in our lives. It is what drives not just Malala and I but the whole family.’