Satyarthi and Malala receive the Nobel Peace Prize

Oslo, Dec 10: India's child rights crusader Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan have received the Nobel Peace Prize for risking their lives to fight for children’s rights. Satyarthi, age 60, and the 17-year-old Malala, the youngest ever Nobel winner, collected the award at a ceremony in Stockholm, the Norwegian capital, to a standing ovation. Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said that all children have a right to childhood and education instead of forced labor and “this world conscience can find no better expression than through” this year’s winners. Later Wednesday, the Nobel awards in medicine, physics, chemistry and literature will be presented in Stockholm. The award ceremonies are always held on Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. Amjad Ali Khan performs at the Nobel award ceremony. Kailash Satyarthi Wednesday said that his life's aim was to "make sure that every child is a free child" after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize here. "My only aim in life is to make sure that every child is a free child, I refuse to accept that all the temples, mosques, churches and prayer houses have no place for the dreams of our children," said the Nobel laureate in his acceptance speech at the Oslo City Hall. Satyarthi has worked for child rights for over 30 years through the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO which is credited with freeing over 80,000 children from bonded labour across India. "I have seen gods in the smiles of kids I have rescued, I represent the sounds of silence, the voices of innocence," said Satyarthi. "In the pursuit of global progress, not a single person should be left out in any corner of the world. Let us work together for the good of the whole world. I represent millions of children who are left behind."