Two defenders of the human rights of children — Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India — who fought powerful adversaries in the course of their lives have been jointly honoured with Nobel Peace Prize. The joy brought on by the recognition of a fight for the right of children to education, and their right not to have the most innocent years of their lives spoiled by having to work as bonded labour because of the straitened economic circumstances of their families, overshadows the ample hints of symbolism, even tokenism, in the timing of the awards.
The joint award to an Indian and Pakistani at a time when tensions are high on the Line of Control and the International Border seems a little artificial. But would it be right to argue against the logic of those who decide on a deeply political but renowned and coveted world award? It is only fair to conclude that the powers behind the Nobel awards committee may have been driven by a wish to play peacemaker in one of the world’s long-running disputes between two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Seen in the light of the current prize symbolising real peace in the choice of ordinary individuals rather than political leaders, there may be a touch of cuteness to the current awards although we know the Nobel has proved extremely controversial in the past. Ignored was a gigantic figure of history in the progenitor of non-violent struggle, Mahatma Gandhi, while the likes of Henry Kissinger and Barack Obama, who were more famous for being involved in their nation going to war than waging peace, were honoured.
The choice of the 17-year-old Malala from Pakistan is evocative of the fight the world must necessarily put up against terrorism. The courage she has shown in facing up to the physical danger of opposing the Taliban deserves to be recognised, especially when the present is fast being defined as the age of terrorism. Disfigured by the Taliban and forced to flee her land for medical treatment, Yousafzai has been a candidate for the peace prize for more than a year now. That she heard the news when she was in her classroom in Birmingham adds a very sentimental touch to the announcement.
Kailash Satyarthi has championed the cause of the rights of children, taking risks early on in fighting to rescue children from the clutches of exploitative employers. He helped in the mapping of child workers, making a mark decades ago in defining a product like a rug as having been made without the help of child labour. No society that sees even its poorest children wallow in labour, doomed as they are to a lifetime of bondage in the worst possible living and working conditions, can think of itself as a healthy one.
