OPINION:
At 17, Malala Yousafzai has now been recorded as the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient in history (“Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi win Nobel Peace Prize,” Web, Oct. 10). While people have celebrated the news of her victory all around the globe, her win has received mixed reactions in her home country of Pakistan.
Malala is Pakistan’s second Nobel Prize winner after Dr. Abdus Salam, who won in 1979. Malala has received acclaim and respect outside of her country, and Dr. Salam was in a similar predicament.
Although he was a noted scientist who received the Nobel Prize in physics for his pioneering work on subatomic particles, some did not consider him a true patriot to his country because he belonged to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. Ahmadi Muslims are considered non-Muslims, according to the Pakistani government, and are persecuted for their beliefs because they believe in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the promised messiah. Dr. Salam eventually left Pakistan and settled in Europe, where he passed away in 1996.
One can only hope that Malala will not remain cut off from her homeland as Pakistan’s first Nobel laureate was.
SHUMAILA AHMAD
Chantilly
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