Malala, Pakistani Teen Who Survived Taliban Attack, Resented In Hometown

 MINGORA, Pakistan, Oct 11 (Reuters) - For many of her compatriots, Malala Yousafzai is a stooge of the United States and a CIA agent, a symbol of the West's evils and a global conspiracy to bring down her native Pakistan.

Malala

She has won the European Union's prestigious human rights award and was one of the favourites to win the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, but in her native Swat valley, friends and neighbours reacted with a mixture of resentment, fear and jealousy. "Malala is spoiling Pakistan's name around the world," said Mohammad Rizwan, a shop owner in her hometown of Mingora. "We didn't need Malala to come and tell us how important education is."

Around the corner from his shop is the quiet street where Malala, 16, was shot a year ago after trying to defy the Taliban with her outspoken views on women's right to education. She survived after being airlifted to Britain for treatment and has since become a symbol of defiance against militants holed up in nearby tribal areas on the Afghan border. read more...