Tag: Nobel Laureate

  • Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins Nobel Prize

    Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins Nobel Prize

    A jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, Narges Mohammadi, is the winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight against the oppression of women and advocacy for social reform.

    She was awarded the prestigious prize on Friday, while she is till behind bars, for her efforts to promote human rights and freedom for all”, as stated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

    “Her brave struggle has come with tremendous personal costs. Altogether, the regime has arrested her 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes,” head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said in Oslo during the announcement.

    51-year-old Mohammadi is an Iranian human rights activist who has played a leading role in the campaign for women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty in the country.

    She is currently serving a number of sentences in Tehran’s Evin prison, adding up to about 12 years of jail, including charges of spreading anti-state propaganda.

    Mohammadi is the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organisation led by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

    The New York Times approached her after she was named the winner. “I will continue to fight against the relentless discrimination, tyranny and gender-based oppression by the oppressive religious government until the liberation of women,” she stated.

    “I also hope this recognition makes Iranians protesting for change stronger and more organised. Victory is near.”
    On the contrary, Tehran has accused the Nobel committee of politicising the issue of human rights.

    “The action of the Nobel Peace Committee is political move in line with the interventionist and anti-Iranian policies of some European governments,” Nasser Kanaani, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said.

    “The Nobel Peace committee has awarded a prize to a person convicted of repeated law violations and criminal acts, and we condemn this as biased and politically motivated,” he added in a statement carried by state media.

  • Who won the Nobel Peace Prize 2022?

    Who won the Nobel Peace Prize 2022?

    This year’s Peace Prize is awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties.

    Ales Bialiatski:

    Ales Bialiatski was one of the initiators of the democracy movement that emerged in Belarus in the mid-1980s. He has devoted his life to promoting democracy and peaceful development in his home country. Among other things, he founded the organisation Viasna (Spring) in 1996 in response to the controversial constitutional amendments that gave the president dictatorial powers and that triggered widespread demonstrations. Viasna provided support for jailed demonstrators and their families. In the years that followed, Viasna evolved into a broad-based human rights organisation that documented and protested against the authorities’ use of torture against political prisoners.

    The Center for Civil Liberties:

    The Center for Civil Liberties was founded in Kyiv in 2007 for the purpose of advancing human rights and democracy in Ukraine. The center has taken a stand to strengthen Ukrainian civil society and pressure the authorities to make Ukraine a full-fledged democracy. To develop Ukraine into a state governed by rule of law, Center for Civil Liberties has actively advocated that Ukraine become affiliated with the International Criminal Court.

    After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Center for Civil Liberties has engaged in efforts to identify and document Russian war crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population. In collaboration with international partners, the center is playing a pioneering role with a view to holding the guilty parties accountable for their crimes.

    The Memorial:

    The human rights organisation Memorial was established in 1987 by human rights activists in the former Soviet Union who wanted to ensure that the victims of the communist regime’s oppression would never be forgotten. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and human rights advocate Svetlana Gannushkina were among the founders. Memorial is based on the notion that confronting past crimes is essential in preventing new ones.
    Since its inception in 1901, about 109 individuals and 25 organisations have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

  • Nobel Peace Prize 2022: Muslim Indian journalist listed as unofficial favourite

    Nobel Peace Prize 2022: Muslim Indian journalist listed as unofficial favourite

    Co-founders of Indian fact-checking website Alt News, Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair have been listed as an unofficial favourite for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, ahead of the announcement of the winner on October 7.

    TIME magazine, in a report, compiled a list of “some of the favourites to win, based on nominations that were made public via Norwegian lawmakers, predictions from bookmakers, and picks from the Peace Research Institute Oslo.”

    The list includes journalists Mr. Sinha and Mr. Zubair, who “have relentlessly been battling misinformation in India.” The Time report said that the duo has “methodologically debunked rumors and fake news circulating on social media and called out hate speech.

    Mohammed Zubair is a co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News. He is a critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, and regularly tracks and highlights anti-Muslim hate speech by Hindu right-wing activists and politicians.

    He was detained earlier this year because of a tweet from 2018 that included a screenshot from a well-known Hindi film, which authorities claim was insulting to Hindu religious beliefs.

  • Miftah Ismail commended for his ‘bold and clear’ comments on violence against religious minorities

    Miftah Ismail commended for his ‘bold and clear’ comments on violence against religious minorities

    Speaking on Geo News’ programme “Naya Pakistan”, Finance Minister (FM) Miftah Ismail on Sunday said that most Pakistanis are driven by emotions and not rationality.

    “How many people spoke up for a Christian couple burnt alive in an industrial kiln? A few days ago, an Ahmadi was killed but not many people raised their voices. People are scared.”

    Read more: Ahmadi man allegedly murdered for not chanting slogans in praise of Khadim Rizvi

    A 62-year-old member of the Ahmadi community named Naseer Ahmad was stabbed to death in Chenab Nagar on August 12, for allegedly refusing to chant slogans in praise of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) founder Khadim Hussain Rizvi.

    https://twitter.com/SAMRIReports/status/1559108747502538753?s=20&t=1PbwDx-IqmjAnhPaRqTy-A

    Miftah went on to say that we don’t value education and that we are an emotionally driven country. “We are an emotional country that does not give much precedence to rationality and thinking.”

    “We don’t own Nobel laureate, Dr Abdus Salam, because he was an Ahmadi. Our daughter, Malala [Yousafzai] won a Nobel Prize and we find all kinds of faults in the world and associate them with her,” said Miftah.

    The minister also said that our country lacks the basic awareness required for a country to progress because we don’t give preference to education.

    Twitterati reacted to Miftah’s comments about minority rights.

  • VIDEO: ‘Just leave the house,’ Malala warns Asser if he shaves his beard

    VIDEO: ‘Just leave the house,’ Malala warns Asser if he shaves his beard

    A video of Nobel laureate and women’s education rights activist Malala Yousafzai and her husband Asser Malik taking a New Year challenge to decide their resolutions for the next year has been doing rounds on social media.

    In the video, the couple can be seen sharing three resolutions each, but with a twist: the final decision on whether or not the resolution must be followed depended on the glass which was kept across the table.

    The couple sat armed with a few pens each and shared their resolutions one by one after which they threw a pen towards the glass. If the pen fell inside the glass, it meant adopting the resolution, otherwise not.

    Among the three resolutions that Malala shared, one was that she should start going to the gym. The Nobel prize winner was relieved when the pen fell outside the glass.

    For her second resolution she asked whether her husband Asser Malik should shave his beard. Malala then herself threw the pen sideways saying: “You can’t, this is not allowed.”

    “If you shave your beard just leave the house,” she said.

    On the other side, Asser’s first resolution was whether the couple should buy a Play Station or not. Much to Malala’s relief and Asser’s disappointment, the pen fell outside the glass once more.

    Malala held her breath for Asser’s second resolution which asked whether she should follow “no-shopping January”. Fortunately, Malala’s shopping passion did not take a hit with the pen again falling outside the glass.

    The couple then asked whether they should “unfollow” American comedian Hasan Minaj on Instagram. They threw their pens in one by one but none of them dropped inside the glass.

    The last major resolution where Malala stood up, reached over and dropped the pen herself in the glass was about donating to the Malala Fund, an international non-profit organisation that advocates for girls’ education.

    “Should people watching this video, including Hasan Minaj, support girls’ education by donating funds to Malala Fund?” she asked, and then dropped the pen in the glass herself.

    To conclude, the duo high-fived each other and ended the video.

    Have a look:

    Yousafzai and Malik tied the knot on November 9 in an intimate Nikkah ceremony at her house in Birmingham.

    The two have become one of the most-watched couples on the internet since they tied the knot.

  • ‘An absolute vision’: Priyanka, Katrina and others pour in congratulatory wishes for Malala

    ‘An absolute vision’: Priyanka, Katrina and others pour in congratulatory wishes for Malala

    Pakistani Nobel laureate and activist Malala Yousafzai tied the knot with Asser Malik in a small intimate nikkah ceremony. Soon after Malala shared the pictures on her public social media accounts, congratulatory messages started pouring in by transnational celebrities.

    Have a look at some of the messages:

    Read more- ‘Precious day in my life’: Malala Yousafzai ties the knot

    “Congratulations @malala Wishing you so much joy and happiness. You are an absolute vision!!”, wrote Priyanka Chopra on her Instagram story.

    Bollywood star Katrina Kaif also left a message under Malala’s post.

    Pakistani celebrities Zara Noor Abbas, Aima Baig, Meesha Sahafi, Adnan Malik and politician Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari also sent greetings to the newly weds.

    On her special day, Malala looked radiant in a tea-pink shalwar kameez while Asser Malik wore a black suit with a matching tea-pink tie to compliment Malala’s dress.

  • Everything you need to know about Malala’s husband

    Malala Yousafzai has tied the knot with Asser Malik in a small, intimate nikkah ceremony in Birmingham.

    Malala looked radiant in a tea-pink shalwar kameez while Asser Malik wore a black suit with a matching tea-pink tie to compliment Malala’s dress.

    July 12, 2021, Asser wished Malala on her 24th birthday by tweeting, “Happy Birthday to the most amazing @Malala. @iamsrk had to make a necessary cameo of course.”

    June 23, 2019, AsserMalik shared a picture with Malala on his Instagram profile with the caption,” Best day at @homeofcricket with Waqar Younis, @aslitareen, and @malala   #CWC19.”

    On June 26, 2019, Asser shared another picture, “Rooting for Pakistan with Saqlain Bhai, @aslitareen @adnanmalik1 and @malala #cwc19.”

    Skilled in Sports Management and developing unique concepts and ideas, Asser brought the world’s largest amateur cricket league (LMS) in Pakistan.

    He is currently serving as the General Manager High Performance at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

    His formative education is from Aitchison College and then he went to Lahore University of Management Science (LUMS) to pursue a bachelor’s in Economics and Political Science.

  • Malala: Pakistan’s pride

    Malala: Pakistan’s pride

    Malala Yousafzai, a name that evokes different emotions – from pride to love to respect to a need to protect her from everything that is vile. Malala is the youngest Nobel laureate and the second Pakistani to win the Nobel after Dr Abdus Salam. Unfortunately, both Pakistani Nobel laureates have been vilified by many in Pakistani society – Dr Salam for being for being an Ahmadi and Malala for just being Malala.

    Malala’s recent interview to British Vogue has created quite a controversy yet again. So much so that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has even asked Malala to explain her comments regarding partnership. This despite the fact that Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, explained in a tweet that Malala’s comments were taken out of context by the media and social media and have been spread in a negative way.

    The 23-year-old young girl spoke about several issues – from relationships to wearing a dupatta to politics to college life. In her interview, the young Nobel Laureate defended her choice to wear a dupatta (scarf) to cover her head. “And Muslim girls or Pashtun girls or Pakistani girls, when we follow our traditional dress, we’re considered to be oppressed, or voiceless, or living under patriarchy. I want to tell everyone that you can have your own voice within your culture, and you can have equality in your culture.” She also talked about marriage and how she is unsure about getting married. She was quoted as asking why marriage “can’t just be a partnership”. Several people on social media and our very own Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly have taken this as an opposition to the concept of nikkah or marriage. It seems quite obvious that as any other young girl of the same age, Malala is unsure of what being married entails. She is asking why marriage is seen as just a contract or signed papers and not a partnership… a partnership that is more about companionship, similar values, compatibility, etc. She did not say anything about nikkah or a live-in relationship, which is how her words are being misconstrued and misinterpreted. It is quite appalling to see the way Malala is being attacked for an innocent query.

    This is of course not the first time that Malala is targeted so viciously on social media. That she barely survived a brutal assassination attempt by the Taliban is questioned by the anti-Malala brigade. They call it a ‘drama’. Well, they should be glad that none of them have had to go through this brutality. When Malala released a statement on Israel and Palestine, she was questioned for why it was not worded more strongly. Of course these Twitter warriors did not know that Malala has done far more for the children of Gaza than any one of them. Back in 2014, she gave $50,000 for the reconstruction of Gaza schools. In May this year, Malala donated $150,000 for children in Gaza. But who can argue with social media warriors and conspiracy theorists with logic?

    Let Malala live her life and give her a break. She does not owe anyone an explanation. Long Live, Malala, our pride!

  • Hardliners smear portrait of Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam outside National Science College

    A group of youngsters, allegedly science students, has smeared a portrait of the only Nobel laureate physicist from Pakistan and champion of science in the developing world, Dr Abdus Salam.

    A video doing rounds over the internet showed the group, consisting of State Youth Parliament Pakistan members, painting the portrait black while raising slogans against the minority Ahmadiyya community, of which Dr Salam was a member, outside Gujranwala’s National Science College.

    “They are students of so-called science colleges, what a shame,” read a strongly-worded post by Facebook page ‘The Hoodbhoyist’ that describes itself as a “social club for liberal, secular, humanists and progressive”.

    When he won the Nobel prize in 1979, Dr Salam became the very first Pakistani to achieve this distinction, and only the fourth from the subcontinent.

    Born in 1926 in a remote village in Punjab, British India, Salam was a child prodigy. He came from humble beginnings, growing up in a small brick house with a large family of eleven. While Salam’s legacy looms large in the world of physics, he is largely forgotten in Pakistan because of his faith.

    “Salam — The First ****** Nobel Laureate” — a feature-length film on Dr Salam’s life — was released on Netflix in October last year.

    It has won accolades on the international film festival circuit, including DFW South Asian Film Festival, South Asia Human Rights Festival, South Asian International Film Festival and the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal, among others.

  • Malala declared decade’s most famous teenager by UN

    Malala declared decade’s most famous teenager by UN

    The United Nations (UN) has declared Pakistani education activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai as “the most famous teenager in the world” in the second decade of the 21st century, Pakistan Today reported.

    According to the details, the UN in part one of its review series has taken into account the events that happened between 2010 and the end of 2013 and highlighted the devastating Haiti earthquake in 2010, the beginning of the ongoing Syrian conflict for 2011 and Malala’s work in favour of girls’ education for the year 2012.

    Malala became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 in recognition of her efforts for children’s rights. She was shot in the head at point-blank range by the Taliban in October 2012 as she was returning home from her school in Swat valley.

    UN in its report wrote, “The attack made waves around the world, and was widely condemned: on Human Rights Day that year, a special tribute to Malala Yousafzai was held at the Paris headquarters of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), pushing for action to ensure every girl’s right to go to school, and to advance girls’ education as an urgent priority”.

    “Malala’s activism and profile have only grown since the assassination attempt. She became a UN Messenger of Peace in 2017, with a special focus on girls’ education,” the report noted, adding that she was known for speaking out in favor of the educating girls and highlighting the atrocities of the Taliban from a young age.

    The 22-year-old was also recently chosen by Teen Vogue — a United States (US) print magazine — as its cover person for its last issue of the decade.