Pakistani Girl Shot by Taliban Asks That College Not Be Renamed in Her Honor

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager and advocate for girls’ education who was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in October, has asked the government not to rename a college in her honor. This month, students protested the Swat Valley government’s decision to rename a local college after her, tearing down a poster of her and throwing stones. On Friday, Ms. Yousafzai requested that the name change be reversed, citing concern for the safety of female students.

“The female students were feeling apprehensive,” Kamran Rehman, the top civilian government official in Swat, said Friday. They feared “that the change in name might lead to an attack on their college and endanger their lives.”

The college closed after the protest, with the authorities announcing that the winter break would be held earlier than scheduled.

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