South Asians don’t take pride in their Nobel laureates

It is often claimed that those deserving of the Nobel Prize in India (and South Asia) were, and are, often ignored because these choices wouldn’t serve the West-inspired agenda of the Nobel Committee.

The question is: Does South Asia deserve its Nobel laureates? If the answer is ‘Yes’, then why are they treated in such a rotten manner, as if they are evil best got rid of at the earliest.

When Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, there was speculation on how India and Pakistan would treat the two laureates. And, sure enough India and Pakistan did not celebrate it — together or separately — in their respective countries like Indians and Pakistanis in Oslo did it, together and separately.

In the deep, dark mid-December winter, snow-bound Oslo came alive with the warmth unleashed by events related to the Prize. Satyarthi and Malala were the toast of the town. Amidst much celebration, they were feted as one — for their achievements in the struggle for child rights — and there were none of the hostile vibes that mark India-Pakistan relations.

The Norwegians this writer spoke to were pleased with the choice of Malala and Satyarthi. They assumed that India and Pakistan would be proud of one (each) from their country getting the Nobel. They could not have been more wrong.

In the months since then, Satyarthi and Malala may have wowed the world — their award ceremony had the highest ever media attendance — but few Indians and Pakistanis are demonstrably proud of their country’s laureate. Neither Official India nor other sections feel there is anything special to Satyarthi being honoured.

Nordic diplomats are disappointed by the poor impact of the Nobel Prize on the government and people in ‘power circles’. “We didn’t expect Pakistan to applaud Malala, but we expected India and Indians to be more appreciative. Instead, what we hear is that Satyarthi may feel honoured; but why should India feel honoured for the focus on child labour, which is a blot on the country,” said a Nordic observer.

Malala, who was targeted by extremists, has been forced to flee the country for her safety and security. But living in the West has earned her more enemies at home. Predictably, she’s seen as agent of anti-Islam forces in the West. However, it was expected that she would be sought after elsewhere in South Asia. That has not happened.

Against this backdrop, the news of Kerala school students inviting Malala for the Onam festival is a reminder of how badly South Asia treats its Nobel laureates. Whether Official India would encourage Malala to visit is a moot point. It is no comfort that the ‘neglect’ of Satyarthi and Malala is benign compared to the shabby treatment meted out other laureates such as Pakistani physicist Abdus Salam, Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus and India’s philosopher-economist Amartya Sen in their respective countries.

Sen is vilified for his criticism of Narendra Modi for the killing of Muslims in Gujarat under his watch in 2002. Sen has also raised issues of identity and academic freedom, which are resented by Hindutva forces and its proponents in government. Instead of being honoured, valued and utilised in the national interest, Sen has been hounded out of Nalanda University.  Yunus fared no better in Bangladesh: he was reviled, including by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and ousted from the board of the iconic institution epitomising his work, which inspired the micro-credit movement worldwide. Pakistan refused to accept Salam — one of the world’s greatest physicists — as one of its own, because he was an Ahmadi, an excommunicated Muslim minority.  

It is ironical that South Asia laments over being deprived of ‘due recognition’ and yet treats its globally acclaimed Nobel laureates in such a despicable manner.

The author is an independent political and foreign affairs commentator