Gandhi and the Nobel Peace Prize

172 Pages·2017·2.363 MB·English

by  Rajinder Singh

GANDHI AND THE
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
The Nobel Prize, according to the will of its founder Alfred Nobel, are
awarded to persons for their services in the fi eld of chemistry, physics,
medicine and physiology, literature and peace. The Economic Sciences
Prize was introduced by the Swedish Bank and fi rst awarded in 1969.
Till 1964, fourteen Indians – Aga Khan III, Raja Mahendra Pratap
Singh, Hari Mohan Banerjee, Sanjib Kumar Chaudhuri, Benegal
Narsing Rau, Rajah Bhushanman Manikam, Mahesh Prasad Varma
alias His Holiness Bal Brahmachari, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Acharya
Vinoba Bhave, Mehar Chand Davar, Sri Aurobindo Ghose, Jawaha-
rlal Nehru, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Mahatma Gandhi – were
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
An apostle of non-violent struggle and a crusader against colonialism
and inequality Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (popularly known as
Mahatma Gandhi) was a much revered world fi gure. Between 1924
and 1948, in nearly 100 nominations (individual or joint) he was pro-
posed for the Nobel Peace Prize. And yet despite international support,
Gandhi was never a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Why was it so?
Was it the fault of the Nobel Committee? Perhaps his associates made
mistakes? In order to answer such questions, the nomination letters,
newspaper cuttings, reports of the experts’ of the Nobel Committee,
confi dential record of the Committee, and other unpublished docu-
ments were consulted from the Archives of the Peace Prize Institute.
The results are discussed and analysed in this volume.
Rajinder Singh is Post-Doc at the University of Oldenburg, Germany.
He is a member of editorial teams: Indian Journal of History of Science,
Indian National Science Academy, Delhi; and Science and Culture,
Indian Science News Association, Kolkata.
Dr. Singh has written more than 90 articles and seventeen books.
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group
http:/taylorandfrancis.com
Gandhi and the
Nobel Peace Prize
RAJINDER SINGH
~~ ~~o~!~;n~~;up
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Contents
FOREWORD 9
PREFACE 11
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 13
INTRODUCTION 15
1. Gandhi vs. Aga Khan: The First Indian
Nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize 19
Nobel Peace Prize: Rules and
Regulations 19
Aga Khan’s Nomination: India’s First
Candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize 22
Opinion of Aga Khan’s Nominator 24
Memorandum of the Services of
H.H. the Aga Khan to the Cause of
International Peace 25
Gandhi or Aga Khan: ‘Council of
State Debates’—Official Report 30
The Negative Role of British Empire 34
6 CONTENTS
The Negative Role of the Media 35
Strictly Confidential Documents:
Judging Khan’s Achievements 38
Gandhi’s First Nomination in 1924 40
2. Gandhi and the Nobel Peace Prize
for the Year 1937 45
Indias Venner: Friends of India in
Norway—Gandhi’s Nomination
in 1937 46
Evaluating Gandhi’s Work: Detailed
Summary of the Expert’s Report 50
3. Gandhi’s Nomination for the Years
1938 and 1939: More than
40 Nominations 73
Friends of India: Denmark 74
Gandhi’s U.K. Nominators 76
Gandhi and the Women’s International
League for Peace and Freedom 82
4. Gandhi’s Nomination for the Year
1947: Different Opinions of the
Members of the Nobel Committee 85
The First Nominations from India
for Gandhi 86
CONTENTS 7
Unrecorded Nominations 87
Second Evaluation: J.A. Seip’s Report 90
Opinion of the Nobel Committee 115
5. Gandhi on the Verge of Receiving
the Nobel Peace Prize: The Failure of
Mahatma’s Followers 123
Gandhi’s Nominators for the Year 1948 123
The U.S. Nominators 124
Nominations from France 125
U.K. Supporters 126
Norwegian Support: Just in Case 127
Nominations after Assassination 128
Indian Nominators 128
Nomination from the U.K. 128
More than 20 Nominations from
the U.S.A. 129
Gandhi’s Female Nominators from
the U.S.A. 134
Gandhi’s European Women Nominators 136
The Secret Behind the American
Enthusiasm to Nominate Gandhi 137
Gandhi and the Positive Reports
of the Experts 140
8 CONTENTS
Summary of Findings of the Right
Interpretation of the Law 149
Searching in Despair for Gandhi’s
Heirs: Role of Kishorelal Mashruwala,
Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad and
Jawaharlal Nehru’s Government 151
The Harijan Trust 151
Sarvodaya Samaj 152
The Gandhi Memorial Fund 152
Not the Nobel Committee: Gandhi’s
Followers Failed 155
Bibliography 159
Index 165
Foreword
GANDHI AND THE Nobel Peace Prize! Both epitomize
the best in human civilization and inspire awe. In
historical reality, they did not correspond or converge.
But Dr. Rajinder Singh has brought the two together,
that too, based on original records. I doubt whether
Gandhi ever wrote on, much less aspire for, the Nobel.
But he was discussed many times in the proceedings
of the Nobel Committee. The absence of Gandhi on
its scroll probably still hangs deep on its conscience.
This small book brings it out so vividly. Gandhi was
nominated for the first time in 1924 but from 1937
to 1948 numerous nominations were filed. Dr. Singh
dissects each nomination, the motives, the process
and the result. He sets it in the political context of the
time which makes the second half of the book even
more interesting. The book is not about the persona
of Gandhi but how he was viewed by his contempo-