What is the issue?

The most powerful symbol of non-violence in the last century, M.K.Gandhi , was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

When was Father of Our Nation nominated?

• There were several nominations made in this regard.
• Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, and 1939 by Ole Colbjørnsen, a Labour member of the Norwegian Storting (Parliament).
• In 1947, Gandhi was nominated again by B G Kher, G V Mavalankar and G B Pant.
• Pandit Pant described him as the “the greatest living exponent of the moral order and the most effective champion of world peace today”.
• Finally, there were six nominations on his behalf, including from the 1947 and 1946 Laureates, after his assassination.

What was the reason cited by the committee?

• During the initial nominations, the Nobel Committee’s adviser, Professor Jacob Worm-Müller submitted a report.
• In the report he argued that Gandhi is a good and noble person but he took sharp turns in his policies.
• This aspect made him both a freedom fighter and a dictator, an idealist and a nationalist.
• Worm-Müller referred to the critics who alleged Gandhi was not consistently pacifist.
• Further he stated that his struggle in South Africa was on behalf of the Indians only, and not of the blacks.
• During 1947, the then Committee’s adviser, historian Jens Arup Seip, wrote a rather favorable, yet not explicitly supportive report.
• Three out of five members did not want to honor Gandhi in the middle of Partition and riots.
• However after his assassination, there was a strong voice for his nomination.
• Even the Nobel Foundation’s statutes did allow a posthumous award under certain circumstances.
• But Gandhi did not belong to an organization and had not left a will, so it was unclear who would receive the prize money.

What does the official website says?

• Gandhi was not a real politician or proponent of international law, not a humanitarian relief worker, not an organizer of global peace congresses.
• The Committee’s archives do not suggest that a possible adverse British reaction to an award to Gandhi was ever taken into account.
• In 1947, a majority in the Committee had doubts about the consistency of Gandhi’s pacifism.

Source: The Indian Express