A number of media outlets had quoted Asle Toje, the Deputy Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, as saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize". But Toje has dismissed it, saying it was fake news, nothing more.
Who is Asle Toje?
Asle Toje is indeed the Vice Chair of the 5-member Norwegian Nobel Committee, As per the Nobel Prize official website, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is responsible for selecting the Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
But who is he actually?
As per Toje’s official website, the 49 year old is a scholar and an author who has lived and worked in Germany, France, Belgium, England, and the United States. He was educated at the Universities of Oslo and Tromso and received his PhD from Cambridge University.
Toje wrote his PhD thesis titled “American Influence on EU Security Policies. He was the Research Director at the Norwegian Nobel Institute from 2012-2018 and is the Deputy Leader of the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee, a position he will hold until 2024.
Did Toje really make the statement attributed to him by media outlets?
Toje in a subsequent interview to ANI said, ''...A fake news tweet was sent out. I think we should treat it as more ALL fake news. It is fake, let's not discuss it or give it energy or air or oxygen. I categorically deny that i said anything resembling what was in that tweet.”
Video clippings of this interview are available on other Twitter pages, but not on ANI’s official page. Neither is any tweet on him debunking the claim available on ANI’s Twitter page.
So as per Toje, ''No'', he did not make the statement.
If he had indeed said what he said...
Toje would have flouted the 50-year secrecy rule of the Nobel Committee.
The 50-Year Secrecy Rule
The Committee does not itself announce the names of nominees, neither to the media nor to the candidates themselves. In so far as certain names crop up in advance speculations as to who will be awarded any given year’s prize, this is either sheer guesswork or information put out by the person or persons behind the nomination. Information in the Nobel Committee’s nomination database is not made public until after fifty years.
But what did Toje exactly say?
In interviews to several media outlets, Toje did appreciate India’s intervention to remind Russia of the consequences of using nuclear weapons.
He said that India is ready to shoulder its global responsibility, and be a force of power.
And very importantly, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said he is happy to see that PM Modi is using his power to give back to mankind and that Modi is one of the most reliable faces of peace in the world.
However, there was no mention of PM Modi as a strong contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, as claimed and headlined by media outlets.
(Edited by : Pradeep John)
First Published: Mar 16, 2023 7:32 PM IST
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