MOSCOW, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenage girl who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for women’s and girls’ rights to education, called on President Barack Obama to put an end to arming the world and instead promote education, NBC News reports.
"I said instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending weapons, send teachers," the young human rights activist spoke of her recent meeting with Barack Obama. In her opinion, the US President could contribute more to peace in many countries if he would use soft measures instead of military tactics.
Malala Yousafzai began to advocate for girls’ and women’s education rights when she was 12. She started writing an internet blog where she described her life under Taliban rule and tried to promote literacy, as well as better education prospects for girls and women. When Malala was 15, she was shot in the head by Taliban attackers while returning from school. She managed to survive and is currently living with her parents in Great Britain, where she is continuing her “rights for education” campaign, as reported by Reuters.
Malala often says that her life is similar to a novel or a film story. "At the end, the villain loses and the hero wins, and there is a happy ending."
The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Malala jointly with an Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education." Her prominent co-winner, Kailash Satyarthi, aged 60, has also dedicated his life to the protection of human rights, championing for children’s education opportunities and fighting against child slavery.
The dual prize is meant to be symbolic, it was awarded with the hope the leaders of India and Pakistan will stop their decades-long rivalry over Kashmir and concentrate on cultural, geographic, and economic ties, existing between the two countries.
However, according to the Bangkok Post, the sales in US arms to India have significantly risen, a measure undermining peace prospects between the two countries and making the resolution of the Kashmir conflict much more difficult.
