HYDERABAD: Speakers at a gathering titled ‘Celebrating daughter of Pakistan and son of India Nobel pair’ urged Pakistan and India to focus on human development in a regional framework and an integrated manner to mitigate poverty, unemployment and backwardness which, according to them, were the issues behind extremism and fundamentalism.

The event was organised by the Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) and the Institute for Democracy and Development here on Monday.

The speakers paid tribute to the Nobel laureates Malala Yusufzai and Kailash Satyarthi and appreciated them for inviting the prime ministers of Pakistan and India to the award ceremony in Oslo.

They said the invitation should be accepted to encourage the peace-loving people of the two countries and disappoint terrorists and extremists who wanted war and bloodshed to rage in the region.

The speakers expressed their optimism that the pair could play a pivotal role in getting bilateral relations significantly improved.

The speakers, including writers, academia, students and activists of various peace, human rights and women’s rights organisations, said that Ms Yusufzai and Mr Satyarthi were awarded the world’s most prestigious peace prize for their resolve and commitment to make South Asia a society free from all kinds of exploitation where every children was educated.

Sindh University Teachers Association secretary general Dr Arfana Mallah said Ms Yusfuzai was a symbol of courage and bravery who fought terrorists with her pen and commitment.

Zulfiqar Halepoto of the PPC said that Pakistan and India sharing the peace prize was a way forward to capitalise on struggle for child rights as a non-conventional confidence building measure (CBM) for a peaceful relationship between the two countries.

Women Action Forum leader Amar Sindhu said that Malala represented a mindset that had challenged anti-women and anti-education narratives globally.

Participants in the gathering adopted several resolutions urging that the Dec 10 International Human Rights Day in Pakistan should be named after Malala Yusufzai and in India after Kailash Satyarhi; nation-wide celebrations in Pakistan to be organised at the state level; and inclusion of a full chapter on Malala Yusufzai in the textbooks of social studies.

Punhal Sario, Suleman Abro and others also spoke at the gathering.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014