Ziauddin Yousafzai says he was on the "right side of history" when he decided to send his daughter, Malala, to school on Oct. 9, 2012.
That day, Malala was famously shot in the head while on her way to her classes in Pakistan’s Swat valley. The shooting earned global attention, and Malala become an internationally recognized symbol and advocate for girls' education. In 2014, she became the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
Looking back on the shooting, her father said he has the peace of mind of knowing he was “on the right side of history” when he sent his daughter to school, despite the danger she faced.
"I think we were very clear what we were doing, and I think that I was very clear that the wrong thing has been done to us," he told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.
In fact, as a father and somebody who believes in human rights, Yousafzai said it was "normal" for him to defy threats from the militant group.
"A concerned citizen has to decide what option he has to take, whether he has to live for long in subjugation and under slavery, or he has to raise his voice for his rights and for his freedom," he said.
Yousafzai spoke about the incident while in Canada to accept an honorary degree from Wilfred Laurier University and to atten the opening of the Global Peace Centre Canada at the University of Waterloo.
The centre will work to create a scholarship for students from conflict zones, Yousafzai said, and to develop curriculum for learning about peace.
On its website, the centre says its work is inspired by Yousafzai and his daughter, and that it plans to begin working with universities, civil society and government in Pakistan, before branching out to projects around the world.
On Friday, Yousafzai said helping with the centre is part of his family’s mission to bring peace and education to the world.
