Heartbroken, shocked: Nobel laureates Malala, Kailash Satyarthi on Pak school killings
New Delhi: Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Tuesday termed the killing of 124 students in a school in Pakistan's Peshawar by Taliban militants as "one of the darkest days of humanity" and offered himself to the terrorists if they were ready to free the children taken hostage.
Satyarthi, who received the Nobel Peace Prize a week back along with Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, who was also the target of a Taliban attack, said Pakistan government must take all possible steps to protect children and schools from violence.
"If they can hear me, they can keep me hostage, kill me but release those 400 children of mine who are trapped there," he said.
"The Taliban terrorist who have held them hostage, who are shooting them down are enemy of humanity, they are enemies of Allah, enemies of religion, enemies of Islam. They are enemies of all of us. I pray to God that they get wisdom from somewhere," he said.
Read: This dastardly and inhuman attack exposes real face of terrorism: India
In a series of tweets, Satyarthji expressed his anguish and urged all right-thinking people to rise against the "inhuman" crime.
"My heart bleeds for bereaved families. One of the darkest days of humanity," he said adding "these are all our children who've been murdered today. My prayers and condolences are with the families.
"Pakistan government must take all possible steps to protect children and schools from violence. Children are the first casualty of violence and war. It is time we all came together and put a stop to this violence," Satyarthi said.
Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, said she was "heartbroken" by "the senseless and cold blooded killing" of scores of children by Taliban militants Tuesday in Pakistan.
"I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us. Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this," Malala said in a statement.
"I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable."
Seventeen-year-old Malala, who now lives in Britain, became a global icon after she was shot and nearly killed by the Taliban in her native Pakistan in October 2012 for insisting that girls had a right to an education.
Let them kill me but release the kids who are still stuck there: Kailash Satyarthi on Peshawar terror attack pic.twitter.com/fJk0ygGyXh
— ANI (@ANI_news) December 16, 2014