Barack Nobel Obama

Eureka! The American president Mr. Barack Hussein Obama has been conferred The Nobel Peace Prize. Congratulations Mr. Obama and thank you the Nobel jury for giving us something to laugh about. It is common knowledge that almost all awards are rigged and bogus barring a few viz. the Oscars, the Pulitzer award, the Man Booker award and the Nobel prize to name a few. But this peace Nobel to Mr. Obama runs the risk of causing a great dent to the clean image of the Nobel Prizes. Alfred Nobel, in whose remembrance the Nobel Prizes are given, must be turning in his grave thinking about the audacity of the selection for the peace Nobel. By these standards (with all due respect to Mr. Obama) even Asif Ali Zardari would start dreaming about winning a Nobel one day (Isn't he fighting the most deadly war against terrorism ? Atleast he says so) !

The press release from The White House says that Mr. Obama is humbled and surprised at being chosen for such a coveted honour. Humbled he may be, but surprised we are not! Given the clout of the US and the kind of influence that it wields, they could have managed to secure the prize even for Mr. George Bush, had he not been such a hate figure across the world. Deep down inside his heart Mr. Obama himself knows that he does not deserve the honour and to his credit has acknowledged the same in public.

What has Mr. Obama done to merit the peace Nobel? The American forces haven't yet started their withdrawal from Iraq, war still rages in Afghanistan, Israel still continues its atrocious acts in Palestine, diplomatic relations with Iran have hit rock bottom, North Korea still behaves as if George Bush is helming the US presidency and to top it all Pakistan still continues to be the hub of terrorism, that too with diverted American aid (something that even the American intelligence agencies have acknowledged). Weren't all these causes that the American president (read Mr. Obama) championed about before he actually became the president?

Agreed that winning the elections for the premiership of America in a racially charged atmosphere is no child's play and by doing so Mr. Obama has done a world of good to the sagging image of America, but that doesn't make you eligible for the Nobel Prize, does it? That's the only noticeable thing Mr. Obama has done in the past one year other than making promises and getting his daughters a pet dog. Mrs. Hillary Clinton must be rueing her missed chances. Her's is a case of being so near yet so far! For, her victory in the elections would have been hailed as the victory for gender equality and women liberation and who knows, landed her a Nobel Prize.

Quite a few world leaders have said and quite rightly that this peace Nobel for Mr. Obama has come way too early, too fast. There's no denying the fact that Mr. Obama has vision and genuine concern for world peace, but he must put his vision into work first. Simply attending the climate change conference and showing cooperation with the United Nations cannot be the criteria for winning the Nobel Peace Prize (Sorry Mr. Ban Ki Moon). The Indian prime minister, the honourable Dr. Manmohan Singh has a zillion more achievements to his credit in the economic sector and has done much more for the Indian economy (considering India's status as a developing nation) than the Clintons, the Obamas or the Putins have collectively done for their respective countries, yet he is not considered good enough for the Nobel Prize for economics ! Speak of double standards !!

When Mr. Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Prize the world knew about his contributions, when Mr. Yasser Arafat won it the world knew how deserving a candidate he was, but with Mr. Obama the world is divided with some trying to reason it and some searching reasons for it. This peace Nobel for Mr. Obama is nothing but an extension of the world's obsession with the phenomenon called Barack Hussein Obama. At a time when his approval ratings are on a decline in his own country Mr. Obama continues to be the toast of the town outside of it.