Who deserves a Nobel Peace Prize?
Thinking of Mahatma Gandhi everyone can picture a half-naked old man with his trademark spectacles. We can recall him as a hero who could defeat the superior British Empire by the so-called non-violence movement that he had invented. And, eventually, he got the Nobel Peace Prize. Or oh, wait.
Mahatma Gandhi was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was nominated five times and shortlisted in three years but one of the greatest peacemakers of the world was never eligible to receive the title. The initial nominations arrived in 1937, 1938 and 1939 but only with that first year, Gandhi was deemed suitable for placing his name to the short list. According to the official website of the Nobel Prize, there could have been numerous reasons why the Nobel Committee neglected the Indian freedom fighter. Surprisingly, one of those was that he was considered ‘too Indian’, meaning his actions were bound up with the life of Indians instead of intending to be for the whole of mankind’s sake. For instance, Gandhi was often criticized for his interest in improving the living conditions of Indians but not black workers in South Africa where he had fought against the authorities’ inhuman behaviour and discriminative rules between 1895 and 1915.
Gandhi became a fearless and enthusiastic leader of Indian workers in South Africa. During 20 years, he could convince the impoverished, deprived and uneducated masses to follow his unusual ideas and acts. As a lawyer, he drew attention to unfair regulations in letters to officials, urged the authorities to change unjust laws in his own newspaper and started a civil disobedience movement. He called upon strikes, moreover, and advocated the breaking of unreasonable laws due to injustice. Violating legislation were everyday acts of participants and the consequences immediately came. Indians were beaten by the police officers and usually had to go to prison. In Gandhi’s view, the Indians should have to bear the punishment. Mostly they obeyed the instructions of their leaders and stayed calm but over and over again there were bloody clashes between the defence forces and demonstrators.
Violent confrontations weren’t uncommon even in India. One of the most infamous incidents took place in Chauri Chaura, a North Indian village, in 1922, where angry protestors mobbed a police station because their leaders had been arrested in a previous demonstration. Eventually, the mass killed 23 policemen. Critics of Gandhi’s acts often reproached him for his non-violence movement leading to violence. This was the other reason why he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize on the first three occasions.
He had two other chances in 1947 and 1948. India was independent from British rule but divided into two countries by then. Pakistan was founded and a merciless religious war was set off between Hindus and Muslims. We know from historical documents that the Nobel Committee did not want to award Gandhi in that sparking moment, herewith supporting India in the midst of the conflict. One year later, it was too late. Gandhi was assassinated by a militant Hindu nationalist, Nathuram Godse. The killer was persuaded to believe that Gandhi held bias towards Muslims instead of Hindus and did not protect enough the interests of India. Gandhi was nominated the prize before his death but the Nobel Committee was not willing to award him posthumously. No one was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1948. The Nobel Committee declared that
‘there was no suitable living candidate’.
