Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Thursday termed the burning of schools in Kashmir as unacceptable.
“Education is attacked, schools are burnt, teachers are kidnapped and children are killed, this is a widespread global phenomenon. The extremists are scared that education will open up the minds of children,” he said, adding that extremists want to create a situation where children cannot get education.
“For if they go to schools, the children will learn about technology, citizenship, peer-to-peer relationship, mutual respect, history, culture and values, and then the extremists won’t be able to brainwash and use them for their own vested interests.”
Mr. Satyarthi was speaking at the announcement of the launch of a global initiative, “Nobel Laureates and Leaders for the Children”. The platform aims to bring together Nobel laureates and world leaders to commit to accelerating progress and achieving breakthroughs to benefit children.
He said the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation will convene the first-ever gathering called the “Laureates and Leaders for Children Summit” on December 10-11 at Rashtrapati Bhavan here. The summit will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee.
