Symbolic, yet pragmatic

This year, Norwegian Noble Committee awarded Peace Prize to two South Asian child rights activists— Malala Yousafzai (being a teenager) and Kailash Satyarthi (working for children). It represents both symbolic and pragmatic dimensions. For Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel Prize is a due recognition of his pragmatic achievement. Kailash (60) — an anonymous figure, even more than his co-recipient Malala – established ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan,’—an anti-child slavery organisation in 1980 and till today, he directly rescued a large number of 80,000 children from child slavery, exploitation, abuses, trafficking etc.

India constitutes a large number of child laborers, close to 50 million, compared to 168 million in the world and among them around 10 million are bonded as their parents sold them out– a chronic medieval slavery). This anonymous and silent campaigner organised ‘Global March against Child Labor in 1990s to free exploited children through a number of Gandhian approach of nonviolent demonstrations and protests. Since 1901, a number of 128 outstanding people received the Nobel Peace Prize. Notable among were Woodrow Wilson (establishing League of Nations), Cordel Hull (working for UN organization), Martin Luther King (nonviolent campaign for civil rights), Henry Kissinger (contribution in ending Vietnam war), Nelson Mandela (terminating apartheid), Mother Teresa (charity missionary), Aung San Suu Kyi (peaceful transition for democracy), Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama etc. With these noble Nobel Peace laureates, Malala and Kailash shouldn’t be compared, rather they should be evaluated differently. Kailash and Malala belong to separate causes — citizen activism and its spillover effects on the entire globe.

First Muslim woman in fight against oppression, Prof Shirin Ebadi of Iran (also among Forbes’ 100 most powerful women in the world) organized ‘Million Signatures Campaign’ against legal discrimination of Iranian women. Liberia’s Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf boosted up women’s participation in peace movement, terminating bloody second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Along with them, Yemen’s Tawakkul Karman , first Arab and second youngest (32) Nobel Peace laureate, who received the award for peace-building work through her organisation named ‘Women Journalist Without Chains,’ advocates women rights and provides journalistic skills. Since 2007, Tawakkul introduced weekly protests in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, against systematic government repression and in 2011, she redirected the protesters toward ‘Arab Spring’ and that is why she is called as ‘Mother of the Revolution’ and ‘Iron Woman’.

But, what did Malala do anything pragmatic? If not, what she does symbolise then? Yes, she let the world know a medieval scenario of women repression and symbolises courage of nonviolent social change and very positively her symbolic role achieves recognition. This youngest ever Nobel peace laureate had since 2009 been writing on critical issues of girls rights through Urdu blog service of BBC using a pseudonym, ‘Gul Makai,’ on universal education, girls’ rights and Talibanist atrocities in Swat valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. She termed terrorists as fearing her as ‘A Girl with a Book.’ Soon, fanatics shot at her and accused her of promoting ‘secularism’. She was immediately taken to UK for treatment where she was allowed to live and continue her studies. In 2013, she released her memoir, ‘I am Malala’—a bestseller co-written with British Journalist, Christina Lamb. Before the Nobel award, European Union (EU) also awarded her ‘Sakharov Prize’ for her freedom of thoughts and incredible strength for universal child education in 2013. Moreover, introducing ‘Malala Day’ (July 16th as her birthday), the UN promotes Global Education First Initiative. She says “One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.” Thus Malala is not an individual’s name; rather she has become a synonym for millions of girls who are deprived of basic education rights in different parts of Pakistan and beyond.

Certainly Malala has to face a couple of challenges in upcoming days like—how she will maximise her campaign for universal girl’s education in a measurable way as her predecessors — Ebadi, Lemah etc – did in their concerns.