Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the Centre over what he described as the government’s ‘lack of acknowledgement’ of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Navi Pillay , a South African-born jurist of Tamil descent. Pillay’s parents were of Indian origin.
Notably, Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay had also congratulated Pillay on her win. Pillay’s 2026 Nobel Peace Prize award was celebrated by her relatives in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district, bringing the international recognition closer to her ancestral roots.
Sharing an AI-generated video of her life and work, he wrote on X, “It’s been six days since this remarkable woman of Indian origin won the Nobel Peace Prize. And the government of India, her ancestral homeland, hasn’t so much as congratulated her? Shame on the petty men who have made such a deplorable decision. One social media user, however, hit back at Tharoor, asking whether the Congress had congratulated Smit Machchhar, an Indian national who helped prevent an alleged attempt to crash a flight bound for Israel.
In a post on X, Tharoor called the government’s ‘lack’ of acknowledgement for the Indian-origin jurist “deplorable”. A former judge at the ICC, she said she was dedicating the award to the “survivors of international crimes”. She has been “instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo. Earlier reporting noted: Shashi Tharoor in a post on X, aiming at the government, said the missing congratulatory messages for the Indian-origin Nobel Peace Prize winner was “deplorable” Shashi Tharoor in a post on X, aiming at the government, said the missing congratulatory messages for the Indian-origin Nobel Peace Prize winner was “deplorable” Earlier reporting noted: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has taken a swipe at the Centre in connection with what he claimed was the near silence of the government on South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay winning the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Earlier reporting noted: Tharoor in a post on X, aiming at the government, said the missing congratulatory messages for the Indian-origin woman was “deplorable”.
