Sir: This year the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to two South Asian social activists — Malala Yousafzai, who is a teenager and an education activist and Kailash Satyarthi who is also a child rights and labour rights activist. The former gained fame after defying the Taliban, who wanted to suppress women and deprive them of education. It is probably because of that that the Nobel Committee upheld her symbolic unbeaten stand towards girls’ education in Swat. The other recipient — relatively unknown to the world — has silently campaigned for three long decades and has achieved remarkable successes against child suppression in India. Therefore, I believe that it was wise to choose this duo as the joint Peace Prize has both a symbolic and pragmatic dimensions. RAKIBUL HASAN Via Email