Batley MP nominates girl for peace prize
BATLEY and Spen MP Mike Wood has nominated Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Malala was shot by Taliban gunmen in north west Pakistan in October in retaliation for her work campaigning for girls’ right to education.
She survived the attack and is recuperating in the UK. A national petition calling for the 15 year old to be awarded the peace prize has attracted tens of thousands of signatures in the UK alone.
Mr Wood said: “Such an award is a great idea and one which underlines the sort of support we should be giving to people, especially women, in Pakistan and elsewhere who are campaigning for basic human rights that we often take for granted. “I have been encouraged to do this by a number of my constituents and others, who like me, are enormously impressed by this young woman’s courage. “Malala was shot as a direct result of her stand on the importance of accessible education for all, including girls. She has said that she knew in so doing that her life was in real danger but that the principle was one from which she could not retreat. Should she be granted the award it will also greatly enhance the fight which she holds dear and undermine the efforts of those prepared to shoot dead a child rather than accept her right to be educated.” Mr Wood has written to the Norwegian Nobel Committee to make the nomination. Parliamentarians are among those able to make such nominations.
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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