Pakistani-Canadian senator bonds with Malala Yousafzai’s parents in UK

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Senator Salma Ataullahjan, right, poses for a photo with Yousafzai, father of Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani education activist shot by the Taliban, in Birmingham, England, on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012, in this handout photo. Salma Ataullahjan was just another international well-wisher paying a visit to injured Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai in Britain - that is, until the Canadian senator began to speak in the family\'s native tongue. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Office of Senator Salma Ataullahjan

OTTAWA – A Conservative senator has paid a visit to the parents of injured young education activist Malala Yousafzai.

Salma Ataullahjan, a Pakistani Canadian, says it was a personal decision to take a detour to Birmingham, England, from Geneva where she was attending a conference.

Fourteen-year-old Yousafzai was shot by a pair of Taliban militants as she rode a school bus in early October.

The senator says the parents were taken aback when they discovered she was from the same region of Pakistan as they were, and that she spoke their language of Pashto.

The visit in a private room of a hospital wound up lasting more than 90 minutes, as they chatted about Pakistan and their respective children.

Ataullahjan says the Yousafzais are pleased with Malala’s recovery, and that she’s aware of the outpouring of support from Canadians.

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