Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousafzai have shared the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014. Satyarthi became the first Indian to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Malala, the 17-year-old Pakistani education activist who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating women's rights to education, had been nominated last year as well, and has become the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is also the first time that India and Pakistan have shared the Nobel. Given that the shared prize comes at a time when Indo-Pak tensions were at the peak, this could be seen as a move by the international organisation to promote peace between the neighbouring nations.
Delhi-based Satyarthi, who leads the Bachpan Bachao Andolan group in India, became the seventh Indian to win the Nobel prize. Satyarthi has been working actively for the last three decades to fight child exploitation and child trafficking.
While announcing the prize, the Nobel Prize Committee jury said that the prize for the two was for "their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education."
Satyarthi, was overwhelmed with the news of the award, and said he would "invite Malala to join hands with him to work for child rights".
"This is a great honour. This has also thrown light on how so many children are living as labourers," Satyarthi said in his interviews with news channels.
The Nobel Prize Committee said the shared Peace Prize between India and Pakistan was "an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism", NDTV reported.
The panel lauded Satyarthi for 'showing great personal courage and maintaining Gandhi's tradition'. Satyarthi has been at the forefront of protests and demonstrations focusing on the issue of child exploitation.
Malala Yousafzai
Malala survived a Taliban attack in 2012 and was transferred to the UK with her family, and has since become a worldwide symbol for the fight against oppression on women and the right to education.
She defied threats of Taliban against her campaign for right to education.
Yousafzai has become a global advocate for human rights, women's rights and right to education and has also penned an inspiring book, "I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban."
