Malala Yousafzai wins European Prize for freedom of thought

By The Voice | Thu 10th October 2013 - 2:45 pm

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Malala is known to all as the Pakistani girl shot through the head and neck after protesting against the Taliban’s closure of girls schools in her region of the Swat valley. Now fully recovered she has been awarded the 2013 European Parliament Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, human rights and democracy.

Liberal Democrat MEP Sir Graham Watson was the first to put Malala Yousafzai forward as a nominee and led the campaign for her nomination and award in the European Parliament. In a press release, he said:

This prize is not just for Malala but for the millions of other girls and boys worldwide, Muslim and non-Muslim, who like her have been denied their universal right to education. She now personifies the fight for that right with her ‘weapons of books and pens’.

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4 Comments

Tony Greaves 10th Oct '13 - 4:20pm

This girl’s story is extraordinary and inspiring. But am I the only person to wonder if she ought now to be left alone for a while to get on with her life and her education?

Tony
Peter Watson 10th Oct '13 - 4:45pm

I agree with all of the good things that have been said about this wonderful and inspirational girl.
It is a great shame that other readers of this site decided that a free market think tank wonk would make a much better Liberal Voice of the Year (https://www.libdemvoice.org/and-the-winner-of-our-liberal-voice-of-the-year-award-is-sam-bowman-32632.html).
Andrew Colman 11th Oct '13 - 10:17am

I saw some of the religious facists (talaban) on TV who tried to kill Malala threatening to try and complete the job. What kind of religion/philosophy supports the killing of young girls just because they want to go to school.

I don’t think we can negotiate with such barbarians. I suggest they are all dispatched to some enclave somewhere where they could live out their barbaric philosophy amongst willing company, probably all male.
David White 11th Oct '13 - 5:55pm

A wonderful and very brave young woman who deserves all the support that we can offer to her.

I am sure that the great God shared by both Christians and Islam will condemn to eternal hellfire and damnation those heretics who continue to hate Malala.