 |
| In this Feb. 18, 2014 file photo, Malala Yousafzai, visits Zaatari
refugee camp near the Syrian border in Mafraq, Jordan. Children's rights
activists Yousafzai, 17, of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India
were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday, Oct. 10, 2014. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File) |
[AS
ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO
READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP
SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully
Palestine]
http://news.yahoo.com/malala-kailash-satyarthi-win-nobel-peace-prize-090630266.html
Malala, Satyarthi win Nobel Peace Prize
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Malala
Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India jointly won the
Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for risking their lives to fight for
children's rights.
Malala, a
17-year-old student and education activist, is the youngest ever Nobel
winner. She was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago for
insisting that girls also have the right to an education.
Satyarthi,
60, has been at the forefront of a global movement to end child slavery
and exploitative child labor since 1980, when he gave up his career as
an electrical engineer. The grassroots activist has led the rescue of
tens of thousands of child slaves and developed a successful model for
their education and rehabilitation. He has also survived several
attempts on his life.
"This
is an honor for all my fellow Indians, as well as an honor for all those
children in the world whose voices were never heard before properly,"
Satyarthi told India's NDTV network.
The
Nobel committee's announcement reflected a delicate diplomatic balance,
naming one activist from Pakistan and another from India, two countries
that are long-time bitter rivals; one Muslim and one Hindu; both sexes;
an elder statesman of child's rights and a youthful advocate who had
herself been a victim.
The
Nobel Committee said it was an important point to reward both an Indian
Hindu and a Pakistani Muslim for joining "in a common struggle for
education and against extremism." The two will split the Nobel award of
$1.1 million.
By highlighting children's
rights, committee widened the scope of the peace prize, which in its
early days was given for efforts to end or prevent armed conflicts.
"It
is a prerequisite for peaceful global development that the rights of
children and young people be respected," the committee said. "In
conflict-ridden areas in particular, the violation of children leads to
the continuation of violence from generation to generation."
Malala
was barely 11 years old when she began championing girls' education in
Pakistan, speaking out in TV interviews. The Taliban had overrun her
home town of Mingora, terrorizing residents, threatening to blow up
girls' schools, ordering teachers and students into the all-encompassing
burqas.
She was critically
injured on Oct. 9, 2012, when a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus
and shot her in the head. She survived through luck — the bullet did not
enter her brain — and by the quick intervention of British doctors
visiting Pakistan.
Flown to
Britain for specialist treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Birmingham, she underwent numerous surgeries but made a strong recovery.
Malala currently lives with her
father, mother and two brothers in Birmingham, attending a local school.
She has been showered with human rights prizes, including the European
Parliament's Sakharov Award.
The Nobel committee said Satyarthi was carrying on the tradition of another great Indian, Mahatma Gandhi.
"Showing
great personal courage, Kailash Satyarthi, maintaining Gandhi's
tradition, has headed various forms of protests and demonstrations, all
peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial
gain," the committee said.
The
founder of the Nobel Prizes, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, said
the prize committee should give the prize to "the person who shall have
done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the
abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and
promotion of peace congresses."
The
committee has interpreted those instructions differently over time,
widening the concept of peace work to include efforts to improve human
rights, fight poverty and clean up the environment.
"The struggle against
suppression and for the rights of children and adolescents contributes
to the realization of the "fraternity between nations" that Alfred Nobel
mentions in his will," the committee said.
Former Indian diplomat Lalit Mansingh praised the Nobel committee's choices this year.
"The
Nobel committee is always aware of the international situation and is
conscious of helping in conflict resolution. The award, especially at a
time when India-Pakistan relations are under stress, is a nice
gesture," he said.
The Nobel Prizes in medicine, chemistry,
physics and literature were announced earlier this week. The economics
award will be announced on Monday.
All awards will be handed out on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
