Triumphant and defiant Malala Yousafzai returns to school

Pakistani teenager and hero, Malala Yousafzai, has returned to school just five months after would-be assassins shot her in the head. Although she is continuing her rehabilitation in a Birmingham hospital, Malala can walk and talk and is quite ready for school.

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BROMINGHAM , ENGLAND (Catholic Online) - The 15-year old girl who was shot in the head in Pakistan five months ago, for daring to blog about the right of girls to have an education, has returned to school. It is a fantastic story of defiance and triumph in the face of religious oppression.

Malala Yousafzai was a rising blogger in Pakistan, despite her youth. Her blogs were designed to inspire other girls and women to aspire to education. However, because of the brutal and repressive nature of the Taliban, she blogged under an assumed name for the BBC. Still, her identity was discovered and on October 9, 2012, Taliban gunmen boarded the bus she was riding and demanded other girls identify her.

They shot her in the head and neck and left her for dead.

However, Malala was rescued and her life was saved. She was transported to England where doctors reconstructed her skill, restored her hearing, and repaired much of the additional damage done to her body. Through a miracle she survived and now, just five months after her attempted assassination she is returning to school.

Malala has even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest nominee in history.

Malala is very excited to return to school and has released this statement:

"I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school. I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportunity. I miss my classmates from Pakistan very much, but I am looking forward to meeting my teachers and making new friends here in Birmingham."

Malala will continue to go to the hospital for rehabilitative care.

In the meantime, she stands as a living martyr, a hero for the cause of women and education, particularly in Pakistan. Assassinating her was the greatest mistake the Taliban has made in a long time, for they have only succeeded in elevating and promoting their opposite cause.

The Taliban continue to target schools in the Swat Valley and have banned girls from attending school in that region, threatening to attack any who try. Still, it will be up to more people to follow Malala's example of courage and defy such cruel edicts, if they wish to make their region of the world a better place.

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