Why Mahatma Gandhi never got the Nobel Peace prize

In India, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as the Mahatma (great soul), is regarded as the “Father of the Nation”, even if his teachings are not particularly observed in letter or spirit.

Martin Luther King, American civil rights leader, acknowledged he had been inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent form of mass protest. King went on to win the Nobel prize for peace in 1964.

Yet his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi, never won the Nobel prize though nominated five times for the prize, because the Nobel Committee judged that he was “neither a real politician nor a humanitarian relief worker,” according to a report on Indian television channel IBNLive.

The Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation in Sweden, Michael Sohlman, says that it was a mistake by the Norwegian Peace committee, according to the TV channel. “We missed a great Laureate and that’s Gandhi. It’s a big regret,” he said.