Malala's school in Swat still fearful

As Pakistan marked "Malala Day" yesterday on a global day of support for the teenager shot by the Taliban for promoting girls' education, security fears in her home town meant her schoolmates could not honour her in public.

Taliban hitmen shot Malala Yousafzai on her school bus a month ago in Mingora in northwestern Pakistan's Swat Valley in a cold-blooded murder attempt for the "crime" of campaigning for girls' rights to go to school.

However, the 15-year-old survived, and her courage has won the hearts of millions around the world, prompting the United Nations to declare yesterday a "global day of action" for her.

People around the world were expected to hold demonstrations honouring Malala and calling for the 32 million girls worldwide who are denied education to be allowed to go to school.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf saluted Malala's courage and urged his countrymen to stand against the extremist mindset that led to her attack.

"The outpouring of sympathy for Malala and abhorrence over the cowardly act demonstrate the determination of the Pakistani society not to allow a handful of radicalised elements to dictate their agenda," he said.

But in Mingora, the threat of further reprisals casts a fearful shadow, and students at Malala's Khushal Public School were forced to honour her in private.