Did you know? Mahatma Gandhi Was Nominated 5 Times For The Nobel Peace Prize – Here’s Why He Never Won | Today’s news

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and several senior leaders across party lines paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Samvidhan Sadan in the national capital on Friday, October 2, to mark the 157th birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Numerous Indian diplomatic missions around the world celebrated Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on Friday by offering floral tributes and recalling his enduring principles of truth, non-violence and peace.

International Day of Non-Violence

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the International Day of Non-Violence, the High Commission of India in Australia laid floral tributes at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial located in Glebe Park, Canberra.

“High Commissioner Nagesh Singh, along with officers and staff of the mission, community leaders and members of the Indian community, paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and recalled his timeless ideals of truth, non-violence and peace,” the Indian High Commission in Australia posted on X.

Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. His birthday is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and around the world as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Gandhi is considered the father of the nation in post-colonial India. He was also commonly called Bapu, an endearment roughly meaning “father”, during the Indian nationalist movement and for several decades immediately afterwards.

Gandhi, who played a significant role in liberating India from the clutches of 200-year-old British rule, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times – in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and just days before his assassination in 1948. Despite his insignificant contribution to peace and excessive violence, he was never awarded. years, especially around his birthday.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who led a non-violent struggle for freedom in the North-West Frontier Province, became the Frontier Gandhi. (HT archive)(HT_PRINT)

Later members of the Nobel Committee publicly regretted this omission. When the Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said it was “in part to honor the memory of Mahatma Gandhi”.

“However, the committee has never commented on the speculation as to why they did not award Gandhi, and until recently there were no sources available to shed some light on the matter, according to www.nobelprize.org.

Primary reason for omission

One of the main reasons often given for the mission was that Gandhi did not fit into the traditional categories that the Nobel Committee had established for potential recipients of the prize.

According to the committee, as quoted by India Today, Gandhi was not a politician or an advocate of international law, nor was he primarily a humanitarian or an organizer of international peace congresses.

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In the famous book “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential People in History” Michael H Hartan American astrophysicist and extraterrestrial life researcher, also explained why Gandhi was not included in his top 100.

“… Gandhi was not the founder of the Indian independence movement, nor was he the main political leader at the time when independence was finally achieved,” Hart writes in the foreword to the 1978 book.

Gandhi’s approach to peace and non-violence was unique and groundbreaking, which may have made it difficult for the committee to assess his contributions within their established framework, the India Today report said.

The Nobel committee was concerned about Mahatma Gandhi’s pacifism and his involvement in the 1947 India-Pakistan conflict, he said. “Some members of the committee believed that Gandhi was too strongly committed to one side of the conflict, and there were doubts about his consistent rejection of war. These factors probably influenced the committee’s decision not to award him the award,” it said.

What is the Nobel Peace Prize Awarding Process?

The Norwegian Nobel Committee selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The selection is an eight-month evaluation managed by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize can be submitted by anyone who meets the nomination criteria. A call for submissions is not required. Names of nominees and other information about nominations can only be published after 50 years.

No prejudice to posthumous awards

Another reason that often involved a significant issue was the lack of precedent for posthumous awards. Gandhi was assassinated two days (January 30, 1948) before the deadline for nominations for the 1948 Nobel Peace Prize.

While the Nobel Foundation’s bylaws at the time allowed for posthumous awards under certain circumstances, Gandhi did not belong to any organization and left no will, so it was unclear who would receive the prize money.

The commission ultimately decided against the posthumous award.

Siliguri (West Bengal), Oct 1 (ANI): School children of Bright Academy dressed as Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturba Gandhi hold placards highlighting the major freedom movement on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti on Thursday. (NOT a photo)(Diptendu Dutta)

According to an entry in the diary of Norwegian economist Gunnar Jahn, the Nobel Committee seriously considered awarding Mahatma Gandhi posthumously. But when the commission did not award such a prize for formal reasons, it decided to reserve the prize.

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The 1947 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to two Quaker organizations – the Friends Service Council (UK) and the American Friends Service Committee – on behalf of all Quakers worldwide. The award was a tribute to decades of impartial aid to victims of war, famine and persecution (including world wars and refugee rescue) without regard to race or nationality.

The latest nominations

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, two days before the deadline for nominations for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The committee received six letters nominating him, including letters from former Nobel laureates.

The committee ultimately decided against a posthumous award, leaving Gandhi’s contributions to peace open to interpretation and regret.

But Gandhi’s death created an unprecedented question for the committee: could the Nobel Peace Prize be awarded to him posthumously? On 18 November 1948, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided not to award the Peace Prize that year because “there was no suitable living candidate”.

(With inputs from India Today and agencies)