Malala’s friends Shazia and Kainat honoured at awards ceremony
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The two school girls injured alongside Malala Yousafzai in last year’s bus attack in Pakistan have been honoured alongside their friend in a ceremony to celebrate influential Asians in the UK.
With support from A World at School, the two girls – who initially stayed in Pakistan after the attack before it become too unsafe – are now living and studying in the UK.
Awarded the Hammer Award at the Garaji Gujurart 2 Leadership Awards, Kainat Riaz said: “The whole world prayed for Malala and for us. Now we are here we can get a very good education. Now we get freedom.â€
Shazia Ramzan added: “We have made lots of friends. They know what happened to us and are supportive.â€
Malala herself was named the most influential Asian in Britain following her inspirational campaigning for girls’ education over the past 12 months. In a video message recorded specially for the awards, she said: “I am very happy to see Kainat and Shazia included because they are really brave and the day they were shot with me they didn’t lose hope.â€