Dharamsala, HP, India,10 October 2014 - Immediately on receiving news of the announcement of this year’s Nobel Prize winners, His Holiness wrote to both of the laureates.
“I am writing to congratulate you on your being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a matter of great joy to me that the work you have both been doing in your different circumstances to support children and their education should have been acknowledged today.”
To Malala Yousafzai he wrote:
“For someone so young you showed immense courage in the stand you took to defend girls’ right to education. Later, you again showed tremendous strength as you recovered from the injuries inflicted by those who violently disagreed with you. That you have continued, unbowed, to promote the basic right to education earns only admiration.”
While to Kailash Satyarthi he remarked:
“Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation and someone I consider to be a personal mentor, has been of widespread inspiration across the world, for his dedication to peaceful, non-violent change. I see the award of this prize to you, his follower, as an acknowledgement of him as well.”
He expressed to both awardees his feeling that the decision to award the Peace Prize to a man and a woman, an Indian and a Pakistani, together emphasizes that only as human brothers and sisters will we create a more peaceful, happier world. He commended them both for working to support children who are among the most innocent and vulnerable in society, but who are also the seeds of the future, stating that that future will only be secured if we ensure that children receive a full and equal education.
He concluded both letters with the same words:
“The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to both of you serves as reminder of the fundamental importance of education if we are to improve ourselves and create a better world. It is an inspiration to children, girls and boys, everywhere.”
