Malala, Satyarthi receive Nobel Peace Prize - Daily Times

OSLO - Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi received their Nobel Peace prizes on Wednesday.

Malala, widely praised for her global campaign since she was shot in the head on her school bus in 2012, became by far the youngest Nobel laureate when she won the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17. Some groups in Pakistan, however, have accused her of being a puppet of the West and violating the tenets of conservative Islam.

Addressing a gathering in Oslo´s Ornate City Hall on Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel´s death anniversary Malala said, "I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not. It is the story of many girls."

Although the focus was undoubtedly on Oslo, Nobel Prize winners in literature, chemistry, physics, medicine and economics were gathered in Stockholm in order to receive their prizes from King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf later in the day.

Satyarthi, who is credited with saving around 80,000 children from child labour sometimes in violent confrontations, kept a modest profile in Oslo." I have lost two of my colleagues. Carrying the dead body of a colleague who is fighting for the protection of children is something I will never forget, even as I sit here to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Satyarthi spoke of his work.

Arriving in Norway with friends and young activists from Pakistan, Syria and Nigeria, Malala met thousands of children, walked the streets to greet supporters and will open an exhibit where her blood stained dress, worn when her school bus was attacked, is put on display.

"She is very brave and tough, fighting even after the Taliban shot her in the head," said Andrea, 12, who was among the thousands of children hoping to greet Malala in Downtown Oslo.

The award is likely to help the Norwegian Nobel Committee repair its reputation, damaged by controversial awards in recent years to the European Union (EU) and United States (US) President Barack Obama.

"I am pretty certain that I am also the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who still fights with her younger brothers. I want there to be peace everywhere, but my brothers and I are still working on that," Malala said.