India, Pakistan activists win Nobel Peace Prize

Oslo: Taleban attack survivor Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel winner ever as she and Kailash Satyarthi of India won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for working to protect children from slavery, extremism and child labour at great risk to their own lives.

By honouring a 17-year-old Muslim girl from Pakistan and a 60-year-old Hindu man from India, the Norwegian Nobel Committee linked the peace award to conflicts between world religions and neighbouring nuclear powers as well as drawing attention to children’s rights.

“Child slavery is a crime against humanity. Humanity itself is at stake here. A lot of work still remains but I will see the end of child labour in my lifetime,” Satyarthi said at his office in New Delhi.

Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said it was important to reward both an Indian Hindu and a Pakistani Muslim for their common struggle for education and against extremism. The two will split the Nobel award of $1.1 million.

“There is a lot of extremism coming from this part of the world. It is partly coming from the fact that young people don’t have a future. They don’t have education. They don’t have a job,” Jagland said.

Malala said she was “honoured” to be the first Pakistani and the youngest person to be given the award and dedicated the award to the “voiceless”. “This award is for all those children who are voiceless, whose voices need to be heard,” she said.

She invited the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers to the prize-giving ceremony which she will share with fellow winner Kailash Satyarthi of India.

“I myself requested that honourable prime minister Narendra Modi and honourable prime minister Nawaz Sharif both join us,” she said, referring to a conversation she had with Satyarthi.

Sharif hailed Malala as the pride of Pakistan. “She is (the) pride of Pakistan. She has made her countrymen proud. Her achievement is unparalleled and unequalled. Girls and boys of the world should take the lead from her struggle and commitment,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.

Indian Prime Minister Modi also tweeted congratulations to the Pakistani girl. “Malala Yousafzai’s life is a journey of immense grit & courage. I congratulate her on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,” Modi said.

Greeting Indian winner Satyarthi, Modi tweeted: “Shri Kailash Satyarthi has devoted his life to a cause that is extremely relevant to entire humankind. I salute his determined efforts.”

“This award is a dedication to all those people and activists fighting for the cause of children. I hope this will give strength to the struggle of children working as labourers,” Satyarthi said.

By highlighting children’s rights, the committee widened the scope of the peace prize, which in its early days was only given for efforts to end or prevent armed conflicts. The 1965 peace prize had a similar theme, going to the UN Children’s Fund, Unicef.