- Title: NOBEL-PRIZE/PEACE MALALA HOMETOWN Malala's home town celebrates Nobel win
- Date: 10th October 2014
- Summary: VARIOUS OF MALALA'S PHOTOGRAPH ON SCHOOL NOTICE BOARD
- Embargoed: 25th October 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Pakistan
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA1G5RDEM3IAF7TTETB77PCOHP
- Story Text: Cakes were cut and residents rejoiced in Malala Yousafzai's home town in northwest Pakistan on Friday (October 10) in celebration of her Nobel Peace Prize win.
The 17 year old, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' right to education, claimed the 2014 prize alongside the Indian campaigner against child trafficking and labour, Kailash Satyarthi.
The pair was picked for their struggle against the oppression of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
Many residents were ecstatic in Malala's native Swat Valley, where she was attacked, in northern Pakistan.
"I will not say that this is a cause of happiness only for Malala. It is a cause of happiness for Khushal School and for the entire Swat region. In fact it is a cause of happiness for the whole of Pakistan. An intelligent child of ours, who had great longings in her heart for education, and especially for girls' education, she has attained this great success today. We are very proud of her today," said Meboob Khan, a school teacher in Khushal School where she used to study.
"Malala has won the Nobel Prize for Peace. This is great news for Pakistan and for Swat, and very happy news. From this, the world has got a message that extremists do not live in Swat and Pakistan. There are also those people who struggle for peace, who work for the education of women. From this, Pakistan has gained a new identity," said a local librarian, Fazal Rabi.
Yousafzai was attacked in 2012 on a school bus in the Swat Valley by masked gunmen as a punishment for a blog that she wrote for the BBC's Urdu service as an 11-year-old to campaign against the Taliban's efforts to deny women an education.
Unable to return to Pakistan after her recovery, Yousafzai moved to England, setting up the Malala Fund and supporting local education advocacy groups with a focus on Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, Syria and Kenya.
Many in Swat said they were proud of their brave daughter.
"Allah has given a beautiful gift to the people of Swat in the shape of Malala. She is a blessing from Allah for Pakistan. I want to congratulate the people of Swat and all of you on this very good news," said shopkeeper Mohammad Tariq.
Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also congratulated Malala and her family.
"A child, a Pakistani girl, because of her courage, bravery, her commitment and her sincerity, has won this prize at a very young age. Peace prizes are given every year, but as you know, many people who get them have spent their entire lives working in a special field. But this is the first time that such a young girl has received the Peace Prize at such a young age. So we heartily congratulate Malala, her family and the people of Swat," interior minster Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan told a news conference in Islamabad.
The prize, worth about $1.1 million, will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the award in his 1895 will.
The previous youngest winner was Australian-born British scientist Lawrence Bragg, who was 25 when he shared the Physics Prize with his father in 1915.
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