Nobel Peace Prize rumour

BOTH the Bombay Chronicle and the Voice of India give publicity to an Ahmedabad rumour that Mahatma Gandhi has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. There will be no difference of opinion among the overwhelming majority of educated and patriotic Indians that no living man deserves this particular prize more than the Mahatma, whose whole life has been dedicated to the cause of peace and who, as most of them think, has made a contribution of enduring value and importance to the promotion of that cause. The idea of Satyagraha, which embodies this contribution, did not, it is true, originate with Mahatma — he never claimed that credit — but to him belongs the undoubted credit of having developed and popularised that idea as no one else had done before. His services in this direction are not unlike those of Herbert Spencer in the domain of evolutionary philosophy. Just as Spencer did not originate the idea of evolution but worked it out in all possible directions, in psychology, in social science, in morals, so Mahatma Gandhi, who did not originate the idea of Satyagraha, worked it out in all possible directions, though with particular reference to the political and social conditions of his country and time. What is more, he enforced his teachings by his personal example, as the author of the idea in our own time had no opportunity of doing. Our only doubt is whether those with whom the decision rests in this matter can be expected to award the prize to an Indian whom calumny as well as ignorance have helped to brand in Europe as an enemy of the peace of his own country. Had India carried on her own propaganda against the machinations of her enemies, there might have been something to hope for.

#Mahatma Gandhi