The recent address of Yana Mir, a social activist and journalist from Jammu and Kashmir, at the UK Parliament has become a hot topic. Speaking at an event hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Study Centre in the UK, she asserted she was “not Malala Yusufzai” and was safe in India.Â
“I am not a Malala Yusufzai because I am free and I am safe in my country, in my homeland Kashmir, which is part of India. I will never need to run away from my country and seek refuge in your country. I will never ever be a Malala Yusufzai but I object to Malala Yusufzai defaming my country, my progressing homeland by calling it oppressed,” she said in her address.Â
At the event in the UK Parliament, Ms Mir received the Diversity Ambassador Award from UK MP Theresa Villiers in the presence of MPs Bob Blackman and Virendra Sharma.Â
Here are 5 facts about Yana Mir:
Yana Mir is an activist, journalist, and TedX speaker from Srinagar. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from IEC University and an MBA from the University of Mumbai. Ms Mir is currently a writer (freelance) at Firstpost and the managing editor at iTV Network. She has earlier served as the editor-in-chief at TRK News and held the role of head of marketing at a Mumbai-based firm. She is the first woman YouTuber from Jammu and Kashmir and has over 20 lakh subscribers on her YouTube channel. Her channel features more than 165 videos. She is also the Vice President of All JK Youth Society (AJKYS), a social welfare wing of the Zaberwan Group, which is committed to working for the welfare, safety, and empowerment of the youth across the Kashmir Valley.
