Malala’s friends Shazia and Kainat honoured at awards ceremony

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.”

Shazia Ramzan added: “We have made lots of friends. They know what happened to us and are supportive.”

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.”