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With its pick, Nobel Committee draws renewed attention to India-Pakistan conflict With its pick, Nobel Committee draws renewed attention to India-Pakistan conflict
(about 4 hours later)
LONDON — In a year of rapidly proliferating conflicts, the Swedish Nobel Committee on Friday renewed attention to one of the world’s most durable and dangerous standoffs by splitting its annual peace prize between a teenage Pakistani activist and a graying Indian Gandhian. LONDON — In a year of rapidly proliferating conflicts, the Swedish Nobel Committee on Friday renewed attention on one of the world’s most durable and dangerous standoffs by splitting its annual peace prize between a teenage Pakistani activist and a graying Indian Gandhian.
The richly symbolic selection brings together individuals who took very different paths to the award, but who hold much in common in their outspoken advocacy for the rights of children.The richly symbolic selection brings together individuals who took very different paths to the award, but who hold much in common in their outspoken advocacy for the rights of children.
The pick also reaches across ethnic, religious and political lines to kindle new hopes for peace on the South Asian subcontinent, where one-fifth of the world’s population lives.The pick also reaches across ethnic, religious and political lines to kindle new hopes for peace on the South Asian subcontinent, where one-fifth of the world’s population lives.
The conflict between India and Pakistan – a tense showdown between nuclear-armed neighbors that has featured three major wars over 67 years — has flared again in recent days, with cross-border shelling in the disputed region of Kashmir. The conflict between India and Pakistan — a tense showdown between nuclear-armed neighbors that has featured four major wars over 67 years — has flared again in recent days, with cross-border shelling in the disputed region of Kashmir.
The prime ministers of the two nations may have an unusual chance to discuss the conflict in person in December at the Nobel awards ceremony, having been invited by the winners. Although there was no immediate response, the invitation puts pressure on both leaders to translate the warm feelings generated by Friday’s prize into more concrete progress toward a de-escalation. The prime ministers of the two nations may have an important and unusual chance to discuss the conflict in person in December at the Nobel awards ceremony, having been invited by the winners. Although there was no immediate response, the invitation puts pressure on both leaders to translate the warm feelings generated by Friday’s prize into more concrete progress toward a deescalation.
Malala Yousafzai, who at 17 became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate, won the prize exactly two years and one day after she was nearly killed by a bullet to the head in a Taliban assassination attempt in her native Swat Valley. She was targeted for her outspoken advocacy of female education – a cause she has championed relentlessly ever since, in spite of further threats. Malala Yousafzai, who at 17 became the youngest Nobel laureate, won the prize exactly two years and one day after she was nearly killed by a bullet to the head during a Taliban assassination attempt in her native Swat Valley. She was targeted for her outspoken advocacy of female education — a cause she has championed relentlessly ever since, in spite of further threats.
Speaking from the British city of Birmingham on Friday, she reveled in the committee’s decision to share her prize with an Indian, 60-year-old Kailash Satyarthi, who has spent decades crusading against child slavery.Speaking from the British city of Birmingham on Friday, she reveled in the committee’s decision to share her prize with an Indian, 60-year-old Kailash Satyarthi, who has spent decades crusading against child slavery.
“One is from Pakistan, one is from India. One believes in Hinduism, one strongly believes in Islam,” she said in a statement to the world’s media that she gave only after finishing her usual school day, having learned of the award from a teacher Friday morning. “And it gives a message to people, gives a message to people of love between Pakistan and India and between different religions.”“One is from Pakistan, one is from India. One believes in Hinduism, one strongly believes in Islam,” she said in a statement to the world’s media that she gave only after finishing her usual school day, having learned of the award from a teacher Friday morning. “And it gives a message to people, gives a message to people of love between Pakistan and India and between different religions.”
The selection of Yousafzai and Satyarthi was heralded on both sides of the line dividing India from Pakistan. It marked the first Nobel Peace Prize win for either country, and it was a rare occasion when both populations could celebrate the same event. The selection of Yousafzai and Satyarthi was heralded by leaders on both sides of the line dividing India from Pakistan. It was a rare occasion when both populations could celebrate the same event. Abdus Salam was the first Pakistani to win a Nobel Prize, when he captured the physics award in 1979. Satyarthi is the first Indian-born Nobel prize winner; Mother Teresa, a naturalized Indian citizen, won the Peace Prize in 1979.
But it was less clear whether the prize will actually change the underlying dynamics in a dispute that has never ended since India and Pakistan were violently partitioned from one another in 1947. But it was less clear whether the Peace Prize will actually change any of the underlying dynamics in a dispute that has never ended since India and Pakistan were violently partitioned from one another in 1947.
“It’s a timely reminder that this conflict hasn’t gone away. There are a lot of conflicts in the world, but here’s one between two nuclear powers that seems to be flaring up,” said Gareth Price, a senior research fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House.“It’s a timely reminder that this conflict hasn’t gone away. There are a lot of conflicts in the world, but here’s one between two nuclear powers that seems to be flaring up,” said Gareth Price, a senior research fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House.
Price said the prize will likely have “less impact than it should.” That’s because India has signaled its intention to focus first on improving relations with Nepal and Bangladesh while Pakistan endures just the latest round in a decades-long internal struggle between its military and civilian leadership. Price said the prize will probably have “less impact than it should.” That’s because India has signaled its intention to focus first on improving relations with Nepal and Bangladesh, while Pakistan endures the latest round in a decades-long internal struggle between its military and civilian leadership.
Neither Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif nor Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately jumped at the chance to accept Yousafzai’s invitation for the pair to attend the December awards ceremony at Oslo city hall. Neither Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif nor Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately jumped at the chance to accept the winners’ invitation for the pair to attend the December awards ceremony at Oslo City Hall.
If they do attend, it could mark an unusual and important meeting for the leaders of the feuding nations, who between them represent nearly 1.5 billion people — or about 20 percent of the world’s population. India and Pakistan have fought four wars since 1947 and continue to be at odds over the disputed Kashmir region. Satyarthi, speaking on Indian television, called the joint award “a big statement” about India-Pakistan relations but acknowledged there would be no quick breakthroughs.
Yousafzai repeatedly praised her co-winner — while acknowledging that she did not know how to pronounce his last name. “It will not take one day or one month,” he said. “It will take a long time.”
Satyarthi, 60, has been a longtime crusader against child slavery and is credited with saving tens of thousands from abuses and misery. At the very least, Price said, Friday’s prize illustrates that Pakistan and India “very much face shared challenges.”
The Nobel committee praised Yousafzai and Satyarthi “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” High among them is the welfare of children — an issue that has been central to the activism of Yousafzai and Satyarthi.
“What we are saying is that we have awarded two people with the same cause, coming from India and Pakistan, a Muslim and a Hindu. It is in itself a strong signal,” Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told reporters following the announcement. The Nobel Committee praised the pair “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”
Of the two winners, Yousafzai is far better known globally. Yousafzai became a worldwide symbol of Taliban atrocities after she was critically injured in a 2012 attack by militants who stormed the bus she was riding with other students. At the time of the attack, she was already known across Pakistan for daring to defy the radical Islamist group by speaking out against its policy of denying education to girls.
Rather than shrink from further Taliban threats after recovering from the attack on her, she instead expanded her advocacy work, writing a best-selling book and giving addresses at major international gatherings, including at the United Nations. Rather than shrink from further Taliban threats after her recovery, she instead expanded her advocacy work, writing a best-selling book and giving addresses at major international gatherings, including at the United Nations.
“They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed,” Yousafzai said in her U.N. speech. “And then, out of that silence, came thousands of voices.” Her appeals, however, have angered militants and others in her native country. Yousafzai and her family have been forced to live in exile in Britain since her recovery.
Her appeals, however, have angered militants and others in her native country. Some in Pakistan have feared that a high-profile award such as the Nobel would only antagonize the Taliban and trigger further violence. In her native town of Mingora on Friday, many were reluctant to celebrate.
Nonetheless, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday called Yousafzai the “pride of Pakistan.” “Some people are silent as they don’t like her and her father, but others are quiet due to the possible threat from the militants,” said Aftab Ali, a 41-year-old businessman.
“Her achievement is unparalleled and unequalled,” Sharif said. “Girls and boys of the world should take the lead from her struggle and commitment.” Nonetheless, Sharif on Friday called Yousafzai the “pride of Pakistan.”
Satyarthi is less of a global figure, but he is well-known in India. In making the announcement, Jagland credited Satyarthi with “maintaining Gandhi’s tradition” by leading “various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain.” “Her achievement is unparalleled and unequaled,” Sharif said. “Girls and boys of the world should take the lead from her struggle and commitment.”
Jagland said there are 168 million child laborers in the world today, but noted that the figure is down 78 million from 2000. Satyarthi is not nearly as well-known as Yousafzai. In making the announcement, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjorn Jagland credited Satyarthi with “maintaining Gandhi’s tradition” by leading “various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain.”
Satyarthi has fought against child labor for more than two decades and is credited with helping free tens of thousands of children from harsh working conditions and other forms of forced labor, including in the carpet industry and traveling circuses popular in India. Satyarthi is credited with helping free tens of thousands of children from harsh working conditions and other forms of forced labor, including in the carpet industry and traveling circuses popular in India.
That work has prompted a backlash. There have been attempts on Satyarthi’s life, and his home was ransacked and his office in New Delhi set on fire in 1994. In selecting a pair of winners from South Asia, the Nobel Committee injected itself directly into the India-Pakistan standoff, but sidestepped direct commentary on other conflicts that have commanded far more attention this year. Among them are the proxy war between Russia and the West in Ukraine, the capture of wide swaths of Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State and the third major round of battle in the Gaza Strip in the past six years.
“Even as a child, I was passionate about issues related to child labor,” Satyarthi said in an interview with the Times of India this summer. “On my first day of school, I saw a child of my age sitting on the doorsteps of my school along with his father. They were cobblers. It was the first time that I saw a contrast in the lives of two kids. I asked my teacher, we are sitting in the classroom and that boy is sitting outside, working. Why is that?” Brian Murphy in Washington, Haq Nawaz Khan in Mingora, Pakistan, Rama Lakshmi and Annie Gowen in New Delhi and Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.
Following the announcement, Satyarthi said he was “delighted” by the award, which he described as “recognition of our fight for child rights.”
“I am thankful to the Nobel committee for recognizing the plight of millions of children who are suffering in this modern age,” he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations, saying that Satyarthi had "devoted his life to a cause that is extremely relevant to entire humankind."
The selection of Yousafzai and Satyarthi comes during a tumultuous year that has seen new conflicts emerge and old ones expand.
A proxy war in eastern Ukraine between Russia and the West has left more than 3,500 people dead and a country dismembered, all while raising fears of a new Cold War.
In Iraq and Syria, Islamic State militants have carved out a swath of territory larger than Britain and used it to carry out atrocities against ethnic and religious minorities, while executing American journalists and British aid workers.
The death toll in the Syrian war has more than doubled in the past year, with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces continuing to battle rebels in a conflict that has taken an extraordinary toll on civilians.
A war between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza — the third in six years — claimed more than 2,000 lives.
Meanwhile, the Ebola outbreak — enabled by poverty and a lack of quality health care in West Africa — continues to spread, reaching new countries daily.
The selection of two individuals for the 2014 prize follows two years in which the Nobel committee has picked an organization. Last year, the peace prize was awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons amid that group’s efforts to disarm Syria of its stockpile amid a civil war.
In 2012, the prize went to the European Union for helping to “transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace.” President Obama won the award in 2009, less than a year into his presidency.
The prize, which comes with a medal and a $1.24 million check, has been awarded annually since 1901. Unlike the Nobel prizes for physics, chemistry, literature, economics and medicine, which are awarded by specialist committees in Sweden, the peace prize recipient is selected by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament.
The prize is formally awarded during a ceremony in Oslo City Hall on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, who left a fortune in his will to annually honor whoever “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.”
Murphy reported from Washington. Karla Adam in London and Rama Lakshmi in New Delhi contributed to this report.