Quoting Gandhi, Satyarthi says he is honoured to win Nobel

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Sunday stated that he is honoured to win the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, adding that the prize was not his alone but was recognition of all those who had taken up the mantle of fighting for the rights of children.

"I am fortunate to be born in India and I have always felt that I must do something in the service of 'Bharat Mata'. I took up the issue of the most neglected, oppressed and insulted children and it was very difficult. There was no paved road for me and so I had to take each step on my own and had to clear each and every obstacle on the way," Satyarthi said, addressing his first press conference since receiving the award in Norway.

"Today, I am honoured that I have come before my country with the high accolade that is the Nobel Prize. I reiterate that this award is not mine alone. I am an ordinary man and an ordinary worker," he added.

The Indian child rights activist further said that during the award ceremony, he recalled the advice given by Mahatma Gandhi to Jawaharlal Nehru.

"When I was sitting at the award ceremony in Oslo, I kept thinking of the children I rescued, because while freeing them, I too have been freed. I also remembered Mahatma Gandhi, and his advice to Jawaharlal Nehru. He said that whenever Nehru might make any law or scheme, he must remember the most oppressed person he has ever met, and see if the law or scheme benefits even that man," he said.

"I feel that when children, who are living as slaves and are bought and sold at prices lower than even that of animals, realise that they are free and smile, that smile is the world's biggest prize," he added.

Satyarthi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Pakistan's Malala Yousufzai at a ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday.