U.K. Pakistani community rallies around shot girl

LONDON -- The young Pakistani teen who was shot by the Taliban for standing up for girls' rights to schooling has been embraced by the Pakistani community in England as she undergoes treatment here.

"The whole of the Pakistani community in Birmingham is with her," said Shakil Ahmed, 52, of Malala Yousufzai, 14, who is being treated for a bullet wound to the head at a Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

England has among the oldest and largest Pakistani communities outside of Pakistan, with just under 1 million people of Pakistani descent living here, according to 2009 figures from the United Kingdom's National Statistics Office. Ahmed, an interpreter in Birmingham, arrived in the United Kingdom 22 years ago from the Punjab region of Pakistan and is worried about her homeland.

"I feel proud to be a Pakistani citizen knowing there are girls like her and her friends attending school and continuing their education when such horrible things are happening, especially in that part of Pakistan," she said.

Malala was airlifted to Britain on Monday for better treatment and protection after she was shot by the Taliban on her way home from school last week. Two of her friends were also injured in the attack and are being treated in Pakistan.

Malala became a celebrity three years ago after she began writing a blog for the BBC at age 11 about her life under Taliban rule in Swat Valley in north-western Pakistan. Muslims who want society to be ruled by strict Islamic law have taken control over many portions of the northwest region of the country.

Doctors described the girl's condition as "stable" saying she would make a good recovery from her injuries and that they had been "impressed with her strength and resilience." Messages of support and financial assistance for Malala have flooded in to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Still, some fear for her safety, even here. On Tuesday, British police questioned two people claiming to be members of her family who tried to see her at the hospital. The Taliban has vowed to finish off Malala if she survives.

"Of course we worry about her safety," said Hafiz Hasmi, imam at the Shah Jahan mosque in Woking near London. "But then we worry about the whole of Pakistan. There are a thousand Malalas."

The Taliban stated it targeted Malala because she advocated pro-Western education that violates the goal of a society run exclusively according to Muslim religious law. The Taliban and its adherents have burned down hundreds of schools and terrorized female teachers and students since it came to power in Swat Valley in 2007.

The Pakistan military had driven out the Taliban from parts of the region but some say the attack on Malala demonstrates their resilience. Pakistani authorities have offered a reward of $100,000 for the capture of the gunman who shot Malala.

Pakistan was part of India while a British colony until 1947, after which many people from the region were invited into the United Kingdom to help fill jobs in manufacturing and textiles - mostly in the north of England.

"What they (the Taliban) have done is wrong," said Ayaz Niazi, chairman of Tooting mosque in London who is from Rawalpindi, in northern Pakistan.

"It is not allowed in Islam to kill innocent people. It's different in war, but it's not right to try and kill an innocent girl," said Niazi, who has lived in the United Kingdom for 40 years.

Many Pakistanis said they were praying for Malala and that her plight had brought them together regardless of "political inclinations."

"I think this is an area where the majority of the community is together and ready to support whatever the UK government can do for Malala," said Mustafa Malik, CEO of the Pakistan Youth and Community Association in Leicester, north England.

"Wherever the Muslim mosques are, regardless of ethnicity - Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi - wherever the Muslims are, on Friday there were special prayers for Malala's quick recovery."

It is not known whether Malala and her family will return to Pakistan if she recovers, but Pakistanis living here said she would be welcome to stay.

"It's good that she has come here, she's in the right place," Niazi said. "She will have a peaceful life here and be able to get better quickly."

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