True Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners were announced to the world, and for once they got it right. Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, hailing from Pakistan and India respectively, were the very deserving winners for 2014. 

Malala, who is the youngest recipient ever of the Nobel Peace Prize, has spent the entirety of her youth fighting for the rights of young girls in Pakistan to receive the same education as boys. Most notably, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago upon her insistence that girls receive the same education as the boys in the town of Mingora, which, according to the Associated Press, is “the main town in Pakistan’s volatile Swat valley.” 

Kailash Satyarthi, 60, was awarded for his life’s work as a kingpin for the movement to end child slavery. Satyarthi has stated, “Child slavery is a crime against humanity. Humanity itself is at stake here. A lot of work still remains but I will see the end of child labor in my lifetime.”

Both of these recipients are notable because, “By highlighting children’s rights, the committee widened the scope of the peace prize, which in its early days was given for efforts to end or prevent conflicts.” Also, Peace Prize committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland stated, “It was important to reward both an Indian Hindu and a Pakistani Muslim for joining in a common struggle for education and against extremism.” 

The importance of these two winners is paramount to the daily struggle against radical Islam and groups like the Taliban who try to take the lives of those like Malala who fight for equal freedoms for all in Pakistan. Unlike the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2009, these two individuals have dedicated their lives to ensure the children in their countries are more safe and prosperous.

Barack Obama, the winner in 2009, has done absolutely nothing to strengthen peace throughout the world. Obama has created the most partisan atmosphere the United States has ever seen, and we are hated by countries that were once our allies and laughed at by countries that once feared us. The dichotomy between the Nobel Peace Prize recipients in 2009 and 2014 is vast – talk about comparing apples to oranges.

Even liberal talk show host Bill Maher, in his spat last week with actor Ben Affleck, argued that radical Islam is extremely dangerous. Maher stated, “Freedom of speech, freedom to practice any religion you want without fear of violence, freedom to leave a religion, equality for women, equality for minorities including homosexuals, these are liberal principles […] but when you say in the Muslim world this is what’s lacking, then they get upset.” Affleck thought Maher’s thought process was “gross, racist, and disgusting” but when it comes down to it, radical Islam is rooted in intolerance and ignorance.

It is hard to argue that without people like Malala Yousafzai , who are willing to stand up to injustices, many women who live under Sharia Law and radical Islam would not have a voice. Liberals like Ben Affleck and our own president refuse to see that true evil does exist throughout the world. By refusing to acknowledge the problem, we continue to distance ourselves from implementing solutions. It is my sincere hope that the legacy left by Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi radiate throughout Pakistan and India and more individuals are courageous enough to speak the truth, even in the face of imminent danger.