OSLO, Norway (AP) — Taliban 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 labor at great risk to their own lives.
By honoring 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 neighboring nuclear powers as well as drawing attention to children's rights.
"This award is for all those children who are voiceless, whose voices need to be heard," said Malala, who chose to finish her school day in the central English city of Birmingham before addressing the media. "They have the right to receive quality education. They have the right not to suffer from child labor, not to suffer from child trafficking. They have the right to live a happy life."
She said it was an honor to share the prize Satyarthi, who has worked tirelessly to protect children, and invited the prime ministers of both India and Pakistan to attend the Nobel ceremony in December.
Satyarthi has been at the forefront of a global movement to end child slavery and exploitative child labor, which he called a "blot on humanity."
"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 labor in my lifetime," Satyarthi told The Associated Press at his office in New Delhi.
News of the award set off celebrations on the streets of Mingora, Malala's hometown in Pakistan's volatile Swat Valley, with residents greeting each other and distributing sweets. At the town's Khushal Public School, which is owned by Malala's father, students danced in celebration Friday, jumping up and down.
When she was a student there, Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago for insisting that girls as well as boys have the right to an education. Surviving several operations with the help of British medical care, she continued both her activism and her studies.
Malala was in chemistry class when the Nobel was announced and remained with her classmates at the Edgbaston High School for girls.

Winning any Nobel Prize - let alone the celebrated Nobel Peace Prize - is usually a cause for national jubilation.

But in Pakistan the excitement felt by some at the news that 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai has become the youngest person ever to win the peace prize has been met in equal part by antagonism.

On social media congratulatory messages were followed closely by scornful and sarcastic ones.

It did not even make the grade for Pakistani TV's typically hysterical breaking news marathons. Many Pakistanis would not even have known she was up for the award.

Indeed, Tariq Khattack, editor of the Pakistan Observer newspaper, actually condemned it, telling the BBC: "It's a political decision and a conspiracy."

"She is a normal, useless type of a girl. Nothing in her is special at all. She's selling what the West will buy."

This kind of talk will seem utterly incomprehensible to most observers, including many in Pakistan, but it has been an all too common view expressed in the two years since Malala was shot in the head by Taliban militants.

Of course most political leaders said the prize was well-deserved. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former President Asif Zardari congratulated her and the people of Pakistan on this rare achievement, saying she had done the nation proud.

A few girls' schools in Punjab offered thanksgiving prayers.

No celebration
But in Malala's hometown of Mingora in north-western Pakistan, it remained a quiet Friday.

Many were busy with prayers when the news arrived. Most schools were closed for Eid, and those that were open did not have any special celebrations.

It was in this town that Malala defied the draconian edicts of the Taliban and made a bold stand in favour of education.

As a schoolgirl she wrote a diary for BBC Urdu under a pseudonym, and when the Taliban were forced out of the region by the military in 2009, she launched an open campaign.

She became an international celebrity after she was shot in the head by militant gunmen in 2012 but she remain in the UK where she received treatment, largely because it is not safe for her to return home.

Conspiracy theories
While many in Pakistan have praised her for her desire for education and her courage to make a stand for it, many others view her as a stooge of the west, as someone the Americans have set up to become a role model and misguide Pakistani Muslims.

"The Americans and Malala's father conspired to get her shot so she can become a hero," was the somewhat surprising conclusion of one editor of a Mingora-based newspaper some months ago.

One Islamabad housewife said: "What has she done to deserve [the Nobel prize]? She may be brave, but she's only a child. They should have waited 10 years and let her make a mark among the deprived sections of the society."

It is a view that has infuriated many more liberal Pakistanis who made their anger known on Twitter, excoriating those who tried to belittle this win.

This division in views on Malala is for the most part symptomatic of a division that dates from the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan.

Father's politics
Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who has been her guide and mentor, is associated with ANP, a political party that links up with the Red Shirt movement. This is a secular force of Pashtun nationalists that was allied to Mahatma Gandhi's All India Congress and opposed the Indian partition.

After independence, the Red Shirts were dubbed as traitors and Indian agents, and often persecuted by successive military regimes that used religion and religious groups to garner support and legitimacy.

As the only political party in the Taliban-infested north-west to publicly call itself secular, the ANP suffered major setbacks during the last few years when scores of its leaders and activists were assassinated by militants. And while it still has a large support base, opposition to its outlook has been growing.

Even Tariq Khattack felt the need to make mention of Malala's father in his BBC interview.

"Her father is a good salesman, that's it, and the daughter has also become a salesgirl, dancing to the tune of the West. They don't deserve anything," he said.

So the mixed reaction that Malala has attracted can be partly explained in terms of her political heritage in a society where religion - and an enduring perception of the West as the enemy of Islam - has come to dominate public discourse.

And she is not alone in this.

In fact, she is the second Pakistani to win the Nobel prize.

The country's first Nobel laureate, physicist Dr Abdus Salam, belonged to the Ahmadi community, which was declared un-Islamic in 1970s.

Nobody, not even the government, has in living memory observed either his birthday or the anniversary of his death.

Malala's pedigree may prove to be slightly more tolerable.

 Hordini wrote:
(And for the record, I don't mean that as a criticism of Obama, but rather the prize committee...).

 Ouze wrote:

 Hordini wrote:
(And for the record, I don't mean that as a criticism of Obama, but rather the prize committee...).

Well, President Obama himself, at the time he accepted the award, said he didn't feel he deserved it, either. So, you guys agree.

But at the time - what were his options? Turn it down, and spit in the face of a big chunk of the world community not even a full year into office? He has no hand in the nominations or selections, it's not like he threw his hat in the ring.

The other option was to accept that it was an award that honored the American people, which is what he did - he explicitly stated such in his acceptance speech - I think that was the better option.

 Ouze wrote:
Yeah, I can tell you now what the Fox News headlines would have been to that - don't kid yourself.

Well, now that we got the obligatory "Thanks, Obama" out of the way, back to Malala, I guess?

 Ouze wrote:
Yeah, I can tell you now what the Fox News headlines would have been to that - don't kid yourself.

Well, now that we got the obligatory "Thanks, Obama" out of the way, back to Malala, I guess?

 Eilif wrote:
Would have been nice if Malala and Kailash could have gotten a whole page to themselves without someone bringing Obama up, but that was probably too much to hope for.

 Hordini wrote:

Oh yeah, my bad. I didn't realize legitimate praise was the only acceptable content in a thread about the Nobel Peace Prize. Sorry for dropping some legitimate criticism into the mix.

Again, it's not about Obama, it's about the prize committee.

One Islamabad housewife said: "What has she done to deserve [the Nobel prize]? She may be brave, but she's only a child. They should have waited 10 years and let her make a mark among the deprived sections of the society."

 Eilif wrote:

 Hordini wrote:

Oh yeah, my bad. I didn't realize legitimate praise was the only acceptable content in a thread about the Nobel Peace Prize. Sorry for dropping some legitimate criticism into the mix.

Again, it's not about Obama, it's about the prize committee.

It's clearly about both. But no worries, your gracious apology is gladly accepted.

 Hordini wrote:

Again, it's not about Obama, it's about the prize committee.

 dogma wrote:
While I doubt this was the intent, I can understand the argument against essentially putting a target on the back of a 17 year old girl.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:
This is upsetting, but I suppose not surprising.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29568637

Spoiler:

Winning any Nobel Prize - let alone the celebrated Nobel Peace Prize - is usually a cause for national jubilation.

But in Pakistan the excitement felt by some at the news that 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai has become the youngest person ever to win the peace prize has been met in equal part by antagonism.

On social media congratulatory messages were followed closely by scornful and sarcastic ones.

It did not even make the grade for Pakistani TV's typically hysterical breaking news marathons. Many Pakistanis would not even have known she was up for the award.

Indeed, Tariq Khattack, editor of the Pakistan Observer newspaper, actually condemned it, telling the BBC: "It's a political decision and a conspiracy."

"She is a normal, useless type of a girl. Nothing in her is special at all. She's selling what the West will buy."

This kind of talk will seem utterly incomprehensible to most observers, including many in Pakistan, but it has been an all too common view expressed in the two years since Malala was shot in the head by Taliban militants.

Of course most political leaders said the prize was well-deserved. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former President Asif Zardari congratulated her and the people of Pakistan on this rare achievement, saying she had done the nation proud.

A few girls' schools in Punjab offered thanksgiving prayers.

No celebration
But in Malala's hometown of Mingora in north-western Pakistan, it remained a quiet Friday.

Many were busy with prayers when the news arrived. Most schools were closed for Eid, and those that were open did not have any special celebrations.

It was in this town that Malala defied the draconian edicts of the Taliban and made a bold stand in favour of education.

As a schoolgirl she wrote a diary for BBC Urdu under a pseudonym, and when the Taliban were forced out of the region by the military in 2009, she launched an open campaign.

She became an international celebrity after she was shot in the head by militant gunmen in 2012 but she remain in the UK where she received treatment, largely because it is not safe for her to return home.

Conspiracy theories
While many in Pakistan have praised her for her desire for education and her courage to make a stand for it, many others view her as a stooge of the west, as someone the Americans have set up to become a role model and misguide Pakistani Muslims.

"The Americans and Malala's father conspired to get her shot so she can become a hero," was the somewhat surprising conclusion of one editor of a Mingora-based newspaper some months ago.

One Islamabad housewife said: "What has she done to deserve [the Nobel prize]? She may be brave, but she's only a child. They should have waited 10 years and let her make a mark among the deprived sections of the society."

It is a view that has infuriated many more liberal Pakistanis who made their anger known on Twitter, excoriating those who tried to belittle this win.

This division in views on Malala is for the most part symptomatic of a division that dates from the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan.

Father's politics
Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who has been her guide and mentor, is associated with ANP, a political party that links up with the Red Shirt movement. This is a secular force of Pashtun nationalists that was allied to Mahatma Gandhi's All India Congress and opposed the Indian partition.

After independence, the Red Shirts were dubbed as traitors and Indian agents, and often persecuted by successive military regimes that used religion and religious groups to garner support and legitimacy.

As the only political party in the Taliban-infested north-west to publicly call itself secular, the ANP suffered major setbacks during the last few years when scores of its leaders and activists were assassinated by militants. And while it still has a large support base, opposition to its outlook has been growing.

Even Tariq Khattack felt the need to make mention of Malala's father in his BBC interview.

"Her father is a good salesman, that's it, and the daughter has also become a salesgirl, dancing to the tune of the West. They don't deserve anything," he said.

So the mixed reaction that Malala has attracted can be partly explained in terms of her political heritage in a society where religion - and an enduring perception of the West as the enemy of Islam - has come to dominate public discourse.

And she is not alone in this.

In fact, she is the second Pakistani to win the Nobel prize.

The country's first Nobel laureate, physicist Dr Abdus Salam, belonged to the Ahmadi community, which was declared un-Islamic in 1970s.

Nobody, not even the government, has in living memory observed either his birthday or the anniversary of his death.

Malala's pedigree may prove to be slightly more tolerable.

 dogma wrote:

One Islamabad housewife said: "What has she done to deserve [the Nobel prize]? She may be brave, but she's only a child. They should have waited 10 years and let her make a mark among the deprived sections of the society."

While I doubt this was the intent, I can understand the argument against essentially putting a target on the back of a 17 year old girl.

 dogma wrote:

 Hordini wrote:

Again, it's not about Obama, it's about the prize committee.

The Peace Prize has always been something of a sham. Politics are involved in awarding all the Prizes, but the Peace Prize is the only where its central to the decision.

Anyway, I find the Ig Nobel Prizes far more interesting.