Tens of thousands of Britons called on the government on Friday to nominate Malala Yousufzai, for the Nobel Peace Prize. The 15-year-old is receiving specialist treatment in the English city of Birmingham after gunmen shot her on October 9 for standing up against the Taliban and openly advocating education for women. The attack has drawn widespread international condemnation and Yousufzai has become a powerful symbol of resistance to the Taliban's attempts to suppress women's rights.
On Friday, a campaign led by a Pakistani-British woman urged Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior government officials to nominate Yousufzai for the Nobel Peace Prize. "Malala doesn't just represent one young woman, she speaks out for all those who are denied an education purely on the basis of their gender," campaign leader Shahida Choudhary said in a statement issued by global petition platform Change.org.
More than 30,000 people have signed the petition in Britain as part of a global push by women's rights advocates to nominate her for the prize. Similar campaigns have sprung up in Canada, France and Spain.
Under the Nobel Committee's rules, only prominent figures such as members of national assemblies and governments are able to make nominations. Meanwhile, Malala on Friday thanked her global supporters, one month on from the brutal attack. "She wants me to tell everyone how grateful she is and is amazed that men, women and children from across the world are interested in her well-being," said her father Ziauddin Yousafzai, on behalf of the 15-year-old.
"We deeply feel the heart-touching good wishes of the people across the world of all caste, colour and creed," he said in a statement issued by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where Malala is being treated. Her father added: "I am awfully thankful to all the peace-loving well-wishers who strongly condemn the assassination attempt on Malala, who pray for her health and support the grand cause of peace, education, freedom of thought and freedom of expression."
The hospital on Friday published photos of Malala sitting and reading a book, while others showed her poring over get-well cards. The call to nominate the girl comes on the eve of this Saturday's "Global Day of Action" for Yousufzai, marking one month since her shooting. In October, the Nobel Peace Prize went to the European Union for promoting peace and democracy.
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