Harsh Mander and Karwan-e-Mohabbat in PRIO shortlist for Nobel Peace Prize 2022
'Alt News' Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha also mentioned as worthy candidates
New Delhi: Social activist and former IAS Officer Harsh Mander, who resigned after the 2002 Gujarat Riots, with his campaign Karwan-e-Mohabbat (Caravan of Love), has been listed in the shortlist of Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize this year.
The winner is to be announced in October. The shortlist was announced by PRIO on September 30, 2022.
PRIO is not Nobel Peace Prize Committee neither it is an associated body of the Nobel Foundation, but based on their professional assessments, PRIO Directors have made it a tradition to offer their personal shortlists for the Peace Prize.
It may be noted that PRIO mentioned Alt News co-founders Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha also as worthy candidates for the Peace Prize.
Alt News co-founders Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha
The shortlist features Harsh Mander and Karwan-e-Mohabbat (Caravan of Love) of India; Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya of Belarus and Alexei Navalny of Russia; the International Court of Justice (ICJ); Ilham Tohti of China, Agnes Chow and Nathan Law of Hong Kong and the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) and the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS).
An author, social activist and director of the Centre for Equity Studies in New Delhi, Harsh Mander has been among those striving in India to retain the nation’s image of religious tolerance and priority to maintain peace, as the last few years have seen a sharp increase in incidents of religion-based violence across the country. The situation of Muslims in India has especially seen a down slide under the Hindu nationalist outlook of the administration. In 2017, he launched the campaign Karwan-e-Mohabbat to express support to victims of such hate crimes. Mander is today a major voice for religious tolerance in Indian society, while his campaign is a force to reckon with for people opposing conflict and violence in the name of religion, said PRIO.
Zubair and Sinha were mentioned for fighting against religious extremism and intolerance in India. The fact-checking site Alt News has contributed greatly to exposing misinformation that aims at verbally abusing Muslims in India, said PRIO.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Alexei Navalny: Tsikhanouskaya and Navalny are open critics of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They have strongly protested the Russian aggression and the assistance by Belarus, and simultaneously fought to be democratic and non-violent alternatives to Lukashenko and Putin.
International Court of Justice: Citing the example of the ICJ order to Russia in March 2022 to "immediately suspend the military operations" in Ukraine, PRIO said that the ICJ attempt to promote peace through international law is a major step in support of multilateral collaboration for peaceful relations.
Ilham Tohti, Agnes Chow and Nathan Law: Scholar Tohti, who was jailed for life in 2014, fought against human rights abuse meted out to the Uyghurs. Law has been in exile in the UK since the enactment of the national security law in 2020, while Chow has faced imprisonment for her political activity.
HRDAG and CANVAS: Based in San Francisco, HRDAG systematically documents and analyses data on human rights abuses, said PRIO, adding, that CANVAS, based in Belgrade and co-founded by Srđa Popović and Slobodan Đinović, educates activists around the world in non-violent forms of protest and resistance.”
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
