Peace will not be sustainable unless there is compassion: Satyarthi

Calls child labour as “violence”,a global problem

Indian children's right activist Kailash Satyarthi speaks with the media at his office in New Delhi October 10, 2014. Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' right to education, and Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Satyarthi, 60, and Yousafzai were picked for their struggle against the oppression of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. Satyarthi dedicated the Nobel Peace Prize that he shared on Friday to children in slavery, pledging to "join hands" with fellow laureate Yousafzai of Pakistan as their two countries fought over the territory of Kashmir. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (INDIA - Tags: SOCIETY HEADSHOT)

For sustainable peace between India and Pakistan, the joint recipients of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, people of both nations will need to come together and work together said Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Monday.

“Peace will not be sustainable unless there is compassion, and compassion begins with children” he said, adding: “For me peace means people. Sustainable peace will come when people value each other’s concerns, dignity, identity and issues and realise we have to work hand in hand.”

At an interaction at the Foreign Correspondents Club here, Mr. Satyarthi who has been a campaigner for child rights, regretted that child labour was a reality despite the ban across the globe. He however, had a word of praise for the Indian judiciary, crediting it for coming up with some of the “best” judgements on child labour, slavery, trafficking and related issues. “I believe in Indian democracy and the judiciary,” he said.

Books, not bullets

Referring to child labour as “violence” and as a “global problem,” he said governments world over have invested more in “guns and bullets” than in “books and toys” for children. “Child trafficking is the third largest illicit trade after arms and drugs. Though it is outlawed in many countries, child labour is still not abolished. I work across 140 countries; it is not an isolated problem.”

“Children are our collective future and our collective responsibility is to protect them,” he said and called for creating a socio-economic and political environment where children do not have to live in warzones or face insurgency.

“Intolerance has spread like plague, let us involve children and the youth for peace,” Mr. Satyarthi said stressing on zero tolerance for “child sexual abuse.”

On why he has demurred in extending an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony, like Malala Yusuzai, the co-winner of the coveted Peace Prize, Mr. Satyarthi said: “I am an ordinary person, I cannot invite them. I don’t have much knowledge about diplomacy. But I will do what I have done for the past 25 years, continue to work with people. I will do my best to work with Malala and the children in Pakistan.”