Two unquiet bits about Nobel Peace Prize

Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi has received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. You can read about her and, as the Norwegian Nobel Committee put it, 'her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all'.

More power to Mohammadi. But two things niggle. One pertaining to the 51-year-old who 'receives' the award while still being in jail. Will the international acclaim that the prestigious award brings push the needle to make Iranian authorities release Mohammadi? And, if not, apart from the worthy salutations, who gains? This is not to argue that the truly brave campaigner shouldn't have been awarded the Nobel just because she's not free to receive it.

But it does make one wonder what another bout of 'condemnation from the international community' - the first round came when she was jailed, for a second time, for 16 years in 2016, released in October 2020, and then rearrested in November last year - will do to help Mohammadi and her cause.


The other conundrum is about the Peace Prize itself. Coming from the estate, and established by the will, of the 19th-century inventor of dynamite and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, a peace gong bearing his name seems rich. Maybe it is a posthumous contrition of sorts for all the unpeace the man wrought to become extremely wealthy, wealthy enough to evaluate peace.