A senior Pakistani Taliban leader in an open letter Wednesday urged the Pakistani teenager, Malala, nearly killed by Taliban gunmen for campaigning for girls' education, to return home.
In the letter addressed to Malala Yousafzai, the senior Taliban commander Adnan Rashid said he was shocked by the shooting and expressed regret about the attack.
The open letter comes just days after the teenage activist gave an emotional speech at the U.N. headquarters in front of hundreds of students and delegates including the general secretary of United Nations Ban Ki-moon.
"The Taliban believe you were intentionally writing against them and running a smear campaign to malign their effort to establish an Islamic system in (the) Swat Valley, and your writings were provocative," said the Taliban leader in the open letter.
"You have said in your speech ... that the pen is mightier than the sword. So they attacked you for your sword not your books or school," said Adnan Rashid.
The U.N. body marked Malala's 16th birthday on Friday, July 12 as Malala Day.
"Dear friends, on the 9th of October, 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed," said Malala Yousafzai addressing the U.N.
"Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured," said Malala. "I am just one of them. So here I stand, one girl among many."
The Taliban leader ended his letter by advising the teen activist to return to Pakistan.
"Adopt the Islamic and Pushtoon culture, join any female Islamic madrassa near your home town, study and learn the book of Allah, use your pen for Islam and plight of Muslim ummah and reveal the conspiracy of tiny elite who want to enslave the whole humanity for their evil agendas in the name of new world order," said Adnan.
Taliban men opened fire upon Malala while she was returning home from school in 2012. This act sparked massive protests in Pakistan and condemnation worldwide.
