Days after Malala Yousufzai made a passionate appeal at the United Nations for the education of children, the Taliban has asked the teenage activist to return to Pakistan and join a madrasa in the restive northwest.
Adnan Rashid, a Taliban fighter wanted for an attempt to assassinate former President Pervez Musharraf, wrote a letter to Ms. Yousufzai (16), who was shot in the head in a militant attack last year.
“I advise you to come back home, adopt the Islamic and Pashtun culture, join any female Islamic madrasa near your hometown, study and learn the book of Allah, use your pen for Islam and the plight of Muslim ummah and reveal the conspiracy of the tiny elite who want to enslave the whole humanity for their evil agendas in the name of a new world order,” Rashid wrote.
The over 2,000-word letter was dated July 15 but it was not immediately clear from where it was issued. It was released to the media on Wednesday.
Rashid, a former air force personnel, tried to justify the attack on Ms. Yousufzai by claiming that she was involved in an “anti-Taliban campaign“.
He referred to Ms. Yousufzai’s speech at the U.N. on Friday and claimed that she was playing into the “hand of enemies”.
