Nobel Peace Prize: Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi win 2014 award

Children's rights activists Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India are the 2014 winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel committee said it "regards it as 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."

Yousafzai, 17, is the youngest winner of the prize. An outspoken advocate for girls’ education, she was critically injured on Oct. 9, 2012, when a gunman shot her in the head while she was riding home on a school bus in the city of Mingora. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Satyarthi, 60, in maintaining the traditions of Mahatma Gandhi has "headed various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain," the Nobel committee said Friday.

Nobel Peace Prize: Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi win 2014 award

Who among us has not heard of Malala and not been deeply moved by her brave struggle to recover from the bullet to the head delivered at close range by the Taliban? Her speech to the UN later was nothing short of awe-inspiring. The world knows her outspoken devotion to the cause of education for girls. She is a true role model for those struggling to learn under oppressive circumstances and her appreciation of her education is an inspiration to everyone. Her biography is here


I admit to knowing little or next to nothing about the Indian winner, an activist to stop the exploitation of children for financial gain, but his wiki is here.

In reflecting on the selection, I can mentally picture the buttons on Malala's father's shirt pop one by one.


I am also so thrilled that the prize did not go to any political leader such as Putin and Harper who were both nominees.

Good choices, as women's rights will have to be addressed and obtained in the Muslim world at some point. The 20th and (so far) 21st century have seen huge gains in women's rights around the world, except in nations like Saudi Arabia, and the class of cultures likely pivots on this one issue. As equality on many issues gains worldwide, this sticking point separates nation from nation and culture from culture. The Nobel Peace Prize once again points this out, and this choice gives women and children in Muslim-ruled countries another glimpse at the coming and inevitable equality.

a reply to: FlyersFan

I am thrilled too. For the fun or it, here's what the Nobel page has to say about Obama:

Barack H. Obama
Born: 4 August 1961, Honolulu, HI, USA
Residence at the time of the award: USA
Prize motivation: "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"
Role: 44th President of the United States of America
Field: arms control and disarmament, world organizing

Source

a reply to: Aleister

Oh boy. That seems like an impossible task for Muslim women to be treated as equals. I wonder if I'll see an improvement in that regard in my lifetime.

This is a nice dream pretending humans can have peace. Funny how so many conflicts are tied to opposing religious beliefs.

Well deserved Malala!
About time someone who deserved the prize was awarded it.
The news commentator was saying that there was a "feeling in the Nobel comitee that this time it had to go to someone who really deserved it."

I agree-unlike when it was given to Drone Lord Obama,or the neo kleptocratic EU for goodness sake..

originally posted by: aboutface
a reply to: FlyersFan

I am thrilled too. For the fun or it, here's what the Nobel page has to say about Obama:

Barack H. Obama
Born: 4 August 1961, Honolulu, HI, USA
Residence at the time of the award: USA
Prize motivation: "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"
Role: 44th President of the United States of America
Field: arms control and disarmament, world organizing

Source

World organising ?

Obama couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

a reply to: aboutface

Outstanding. It's good to see that the voting committee are coming to their senses and chose the right recipients.

I Hope Kissinger is throwing a tantrum at this decision- that man was never worthy of the honor bestowed upon him.

Good, I'm glad they chose somebody worth giving a Nobel Prize this time around.

Her story and her work after the fact, can be truly labelled as "peace keeping or promoting peace".

Good for her, good for her movement.

~Tenth

This may be an interesting tidbit for those who don't know:

Refused the Peace Prize


Le Duc Tho had had long experience of fighting against great powers when he negotiated with Henry Kissinger for an armistice in Vietnam between 1969 and 1973. As a young man he became a Communist, and the French colonial authorities imprisoned him for many years. He gained a place in the Communist Party's leadership during Japan's occupation of Vietnam in the Second World War. Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent after the defeat of Japan in 1945, but the French returned, and Le Duc Tho became one of the military leaders of the resistance against the French.

After the defeat of the French, Vietnam was divided. The USA supported a government in South Vietnam which the Communists in the north regarded as an American puppet government. When the United States decided to negotiate after 1968, Le Duc Tho was appointed North Vietnam's chief negotiator, confronting Henry Kissinger.

When Hanoi was bombed at Christmastime on Kissinger's orders, Le Duc Tho agreed to an armistice. But when he received the Peace Prize together with Kissinger in the autumn of 1973, he refused to accept it, on the grounds that his opposite number had violated the truce.

Source

Meet Kailash Satyarthy

a reply to: aboutface

Well deserved ,

I'm sure as the years pass she will become a real force for the betterment of her country , possibly a leader in waiting.

It is good to see that the Nobel was given to someone who deserved it. It has almost become a joke, lately...with some of the selections, and nominees, over the years. I mean, Obama and Putin. Are you really serious? Sometimes, I wonder if this is reality....

The Nobel Peace Prize is worthless. Peaceful Obama who turned Libya into a cesspool of terrorists won it. Libya is now one of the most peaceful countries in the world.

That is wonderful news. Malala deserves it. It's good to see the nobel prize given to someone who really deserves it. Unlike Obama

a reply to: aboutface
Like many others, I was disappointed that Malala did not win the Peace Prize last year.

This time, the Norwegian Nobel Committee for the Peace Prize got it right. The sheer rightness of recognizing this courageous, far-sighted and determined young woman has to be applauded. And yes, to jointly recognize Kailash Satyarthi for the award helps to give even greater meaning to what the Peace Prize represents.

Has Malala Yousafza condemned muhammed for raping his child bride Aisha when she was only nine? Unless she has, her efforts to protect children is only half hearted and she does not deserve a nobel prize.

This woman deserves it! Good for her!

Im glad to see that she has brought honor back to this prestigious award!

I hope they never cheapen it again by giving it to some idiot like Obama......

Thank you Malala! you are a true hero~

originally posted by: Deny Arrogance
Has Malala Yousafza condemned muhammed for raping his child bride Aisha when she was only nine? Unless she has, her efforts to protect children is only half hearted and she does not deserve a nobel prize.

Ooops hey....

*points*

Your bigotry is showing......might wana put that back somewhere