Why Didn’t Gandhi Win the Nobel Peace Prize?

By Alex in Everything Else on Oct 15, 2007 at 7:46 pm

In the midst of all this brouhaha over whether Al Gore deserved to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, consider this: the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s answer why Mahatma Gandhi never won the prize.

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) has become the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century. It is widely held – in retrospect – that the Indian national leader should have been the very man to be selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was nominated several times, but was never awarded the prize. Why?

Link – via reddit

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K
Oct 15th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Cos he failed in the very thing he preached.
Justin
Oct 15th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Well according to some people if you get a few facts wrong, you don’t deserve it.
Terry
Oct 16th, 2007 at 2:44 am
Given the time, probably racism.
Twitchings
Oct 16th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Its not that he got a few facts wrong (which is embarrassing) it’s that an enormous group of people believed him. FNORD!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least Ghandi tried.

Thats ok, because the Nobel Peace prize means nothing now, it has been shamed and marginalized. True heroes do not require sunshine blown up their asses.

-Twitchings
Sid Morrison
Oct 16th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Probably a lot of the reasons stemmed from the suspension of Nobel awards for 5 years during World War II. Immediately thereafter, the prizes went to WWII related global peace initiators — The International Red Cross & Cordell Hull, the U.S. Sec’y of State who (regretably) pushed for the formation of the U.N.

Once the immediate global peace post-war issues were out of the way, Gandhi (seen as a *regional* peace leader) was at the top of the list again. He was the leading contender when he was murdered by another peace loving Hindu in 1948. It’s widely believed he would have won that year had his compatriot not blown him away. Nobody else is to blame for that, so stop looking for conspiracies. They don’t give the award posthumously (yet), but the Noble Committee is such a bunch of weak knees, I’m sure they will someday. And then Abraham Lincoln can get one, and John Lennon, and Princess Diana … sigh.

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