LONDON: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head at point-blank range by Taliban for advocating girls’ education, has become a millionaire by signing a deal for around USD 3 million to publish her memoir.
“The life story of a 15-year Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban will be published later this year, in a deal reported to be worth around 2 million pounds (USD 3 million),” the UK-based Guardian newspaper reported.
The book, titled “I am Malala”, will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in the UK and Commonwealth and by Little, Brown in the rest of the world, the paper said, adding that a spokeswoman for the publisher could not confirm reports about the value of the publishing deal.
“I want to tell my story, but it will also be the story of 61 million children who can’t get education,” Malala said.
“I want it to be part of the campaign to give every boy and girl the right to go to school. It is their basic right.”
She said: “I hope this book will reach people around the world, so they realize how difficult it is for some children to get access to education.”
Malala escaped death by a matter of inches when she was shot on a school bus in north-western Pakistan on October 9, 2012 as the bullet entered just above her left eye and ran along her jaw, grazing past her brain.
The Taliban had said they targeted Malala because she promoted girls’ education and “Western thinking”.
Surgeons in Pakistan removed the bullet before she was air-lifted to the UK for life-saving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
Last month Malala was discharged from the hospital after she had an operation to rebuild her skull and restore hearing.
She has now returned to school and joined the girls in Year 9.
Malala’s family are currently living in the West Midlands. Her father has been appointed education attache at the Consulate of Pakistan for the next three years.
She began writing a blog on the BBC Urdu service under a pseudonym about life in the SwatValley in 2009. She was shot after her real identity became known. Since the shooting, Malala has been awarded several peace prizes and is the youngest person to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. -PTI
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