Who Is The Other Winner Of The Nobel Peace Prize Alongside Malala?

Though not as well-known as Malala Yousfzai, Kailash Satyarthi is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost advocates against child labor. He embodies a tradition of non-violent activism that stretches back to Mahatma Gandhi.

Everybody knows Malala Yousfzai, the young Pakistani women's rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. But what about her co-recipient, Kailash Satyarthi?

Staff / Reuters

Born in India in 1954, Satyarthi has spent most of his life fighting against child-labor. According to his website, the activist has "led the rescue of 78,500 child slaves."

Kailash Satyarthi @k_satyarthi

Former child slaves at Balashram celebrate Dusshera,festival of victory of good against evils.

08:11 AM - 05 Oct 2014

Satyarthi has repeatedly said that advocating against child labor is important in itself, but also as an entry point to attack structural problems.

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

"Poverty must not be used as an excuse to continue child labor and exploitation of children," he said in a televised address, reported by the New York Times. "It's a triangular relationship between child labor, poverty and illiteracy, and I have been trying to fight all of these things together."

One of Satyarthi's most prominent fights has been against the use of child labor by garment factories and rug-making operations.

AP Photo/Altaf Qadri

He was one of the founders of Rugmark (now know as GoodWeave), an organization that certifies rugs to ensure they were not made with child labor.

Over the course of his long career, Satyarthi has faced death threats and violence from those who employ children.

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

For example, in 2004, he was assaulted by Nepali circus owners when he tried to liberate children who were forcibly working for the traveling shows, reported Worldpress.

The fact that the Nobel Prize Committee jointly awarded the Peace Prize to activists from India and Pakistan was loaded with political significance.

Annalisa Merelli @missanabeem

"We will try to bring strong relationship between India and Pakistan." Says #MalalaYousafzai of her conversation of Kailash Satyarthi.

Fri Oct 10 15:48:04 UTC+0000 2014

Although he is now the second Indian Nobel Peace Prize winner after Mother Theresa, Satyarthi was not very well known in his own country before receiving the prize.

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

“I have never seen this kind of media attention here. My father tried to keep a low-profile because at times he personally goes and rescues children and does not want to be recognized,” Satyarthi's 29 year old daughter Asmita told Quartz.

Satyarthi remains committed to continue the cause. As Indiaspend pointed out, over 60 million children are still held as slaves in India.

AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal

Indian boys fix a car at a repair shop in New Delhi, India on Oct. 10.

"I believe in Gandhi's philosophy of the last man," he told the New York Times in an interview in 1992. "That is, the bonded laborer is the last man in Indian society, that we are here to liberate the last man."