Is Malala's story real?

July 12, 1997. Malala is born in Mingora, Pakistan, to proud parents Ziauddin and Toor Pekai Yousafzai. Ziauddin names his daughter after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine. Welcoming a baby girl is not always cause for celebration in Pakistan — but Ziauddin is determined to give Malala every opportunity that a boy would have. read more

Malala’s father told the doctor that Malala’s real name was Jane and she was born in Hungary in 1997. Her real biological parents were Christian missionaries who, after traveling to Swat in 2002, left Malala as a gift to her adopted parents after they secretly converted to Christianity. read more

After reading Malala’s blog for the BBC, The New York Times features Malala and Ziauddin in a short documentary about their life and fight to protect girls’ education in Swat. read more

To them, Malala represents success in the face of a failed state for which the bureaucrats are responsible. The religious fundamentalists are incensed because Malala is a girl. Only that. read more