Malala Yousafzai arrived in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony tomorrow, where she will be honoured along with her co-winner Indian children rights activist Kailash Satyarthi.
Addressing the media, along with Satyarthi, Malala said that those who stand against education are “indoctrinated, but not educated”
“I believe Islam is a religion of peace and humanity. However, some people know they are Muslims but they do not understand their religion,” Malala said.
“They (the people who are fighting against education) need to get a real education of Islam, and they need to study it,” Malala, the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner, said.
“Islam is about learning new things and discovering the world that is education,” she said in response to a question.
Sathyarthi, during the press conference, referred to Malala as his “daughter”, to which she jokingly replied, “I feel really honoured to be sitting here with my father.”
She went on to say, “It is a great honour to be sitting with a person who has been struggling for children’s rights. We are not here just to accept our award, we are here to tell children that they need to stand up and struggle for their rights,” she said.
She said children should be provided with education as that is all they request.
“It is a simple request. They are not asking for iPads, they are just asking for a book and a pen. Why can’t we just give them that? It would change the world.”
MALALA INVITES FIVE GLOBAL CHAMPIONS TO OSLO:
Meanwhile, the Malala Fund announced on Tuesday that the young campaigner for girls’ education has invited five remarkable and inspiring girls to join her at Wednesday’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
For this first-ever Nobel Peace Prize “Girl Delegation”, Malala, the youngest Nobel winner ever, will be joined in Oslo by Shazia Ramzan, Kainat Riaz and Kainat Soomro from Pakistan, Mezon Almellehan from Syria and Amina Yusuf from Nigeria. The young women will be Malala’s special guests as she accepts the award at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to be held on December 10.
“Though I will be one girl receiving this award, I know I am not a lone voice,” said Malala.
“This Nobel Peace Prize is for all girls everywhere who want an education. These courageous girls are not just my friends, they are now my sisters in our campaign for education for every child.”
Malala’s long-time friends Shazia Ramzan, 16, and Kainat Riaz, 17, were also shot during the Taliban attack on Malala in 2012 as the girls were on their bus home from school. After Shazia and Kainat recovered from their wounds, they were awarded scholarships to attend school in the United Kingdom, where they are one year into their studies.