Malala picks up another award as Nobel beckons

Malala is also among the favourites for the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be announced on October 11.


Afp October 05, 2013
Malala Yousafzai waves her RAW (Reach All Women) in War Anna Politkovskaya Award while giving a speech after receiving the award at the Southbank Centre in London October 4, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' schooling, added another award to a growing list on Friday.

She was given the RAW in WAR Anna Politkovskaya Award, named after the Russian investigative journalist who was shot dead seven years ago next Monday.

Malala is also among the favourites for the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be announced on October 11.

The 16-year-old was presented with the award in London and said she hoped she could be "as brave as (Politkovskaya) was".

"I greatly admire Anna's dedication to truth, to equality, and to humanity," Malala added.

The award was presented by the so-called "British Schindler", Nicholas Winton, now 104, who in 1939 saved the lives of more than 600 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia as World War II was about to start.

As well as being a frontrunner for the Nobel, Malala has also been shortlisted for the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.

Malala was flown to Birmingham in central England following the shooting, where surgeons have rebuilt her skull.

She attends school in the city, which has a substantial population of Pakistani heritage.

Her autobiography, "I Am Malala" is published in Britain and the United States on Tuesday, the eve of the anniversary of the attack on her as she travelled in a school bus.

RAW in WAR promotes women who have defended human rights. Last year's winner was Marie Colvin, the journalist with British newspaper The Sunday Times, who was killed covering the Syrian conflict.

COMMENTS (13)

darbullah | 10 years ago | Reply

Another salt in Pakistans wound.

Mike | 10 years ago | Reply

I am shocked and like many in the west very disappointed that the brave acts of a girl standing up against the criminal thugs that make up the Taliban should be criticised in these readers comments. How can any decent person , regardless of race or religion, think that shooting a teenager in the head can be defended under ANY circumstances . If somebody can please show me the passage in the Koran that demands that girls should not be educated or that they be punished by death I would be happy to listen. Do not mistake chauvinistic , primitive tribal bigotry as being the same as spiritual enlightenment .

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