Tuesday began on a celebratory note but ended with sadness for child rights activist and Nobel Peace prize winner, Kailash Satyarthi, who came to his ancestral home here for the first time after receiving the coveted prize. As soon as news about the killing of school children in Pakistan broke, the mood in the town became sombre. A public function organised by residents to felicitate him began with the observance of a two-minute silence.
Strongly condemning the attack, Mr. Satyarthi called the perpetrators enemies of Allah. “The terrorists who have committed this heinous crime are the enemies of humanity. They are enemies of Allah, they are enemies of society and they are enemies of Islam. I pray that somewhere in their hearts, their conscience awakens,” he said.
Mr. Satyarthi arrived in the morning by train from Delhi, two hours behind schedule due to thick fog en route. But people waited at the station and outside to give him a rousing welcome.
Apart from his brothers and other relatives, a large number of men, women and children from the town turned up to receive him. Celebrations started the moment he stepped out of the Dakshin Express and continued till he reached his house.
Although it was just a two-km drive, it took nearly three hours to cover the distance as his convoy was stopped to let individuals and representatives of traders and other associations welcome him with garlands and sweets.Rajya Sabha MP and an old associate, Munawar Saleem, and ex-MLA Prathap Banu Sharma accompanied Mr. Satyarthi on the jeep as it wound its way through lanes and bylanes of the town with a music party leading the procession.
