Mahatma Gandhi Never Got The Nobel Peace Prize, The Committee Did This Instead

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, get to know the reason why Mahatma Gandhi never got the Nobel Peace Prize. It is one of the quirks in history that has rattled many and though the reasons for Mahatma Gandhi not winning the Nobel Prize are many, one of the grounds that were reflected in all his nominations was that he was too "nationalistic" or "patriotic" for the award to be given to the world as a beacon of peace, according to the Nobel Foundation article.

Mahatma Gandhi was actually nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize a number of times even before India’s independence. However, his importance was just not understood until India’s independence. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in the years 1937, 1938, 1939,1947 and 1948. It was almost certain that he would get the prize hands down. But a few days before the announcement of the Nobel Prize was finalized, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, who was a Hindu nationalist.

The Nobel Foundation's statutes do allow a posthumous award under certain circumstances. Gandhi did not belong to an organization and had not left a will, making it unclear to whom the prize money would be awarded. In consultation with prize-awarding institutions, the Committee's lawyer was advised not to award a posthumous prize. Ultimately, the Committee said that there was no suitable living candidate that year.

Also, it is one of the norms of the Nobel Prize that only a living candidate would be awarded the prize. That is the reason in 1948, The Norwegian Nobel Committee did not award anyone the Nobel Prize as a mark of respect to him. It was announced by the committee in 1989 that the award was partly a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi when the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

History has shown that Mahatma Gandhi did not require the Nobel Prize to have a worldwide influence. To date, even the Nobel Prize committee considers itself unfortunate and regrettable that this great man has never been awarded the Nobel Prize. He remains above these and remains a world leader whose principles remain relevant, even after decades.