South Asian Bloggers On Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize · Global Voices
Rezwan

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The President of USA Barack Obama received the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize today. According to the Nobel Committee he achieved it for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”.
This has been a surprise to many people in the world. In theory this prize should be awarded to an individual or organization engaged in the resolution of a protracted armed conflict. But there were some exceptions in the past and Obama's is one of them since he only started his job as president when he was nominated in last February.
The New York Times summarizes some feedbacks from the world. Now let us look at how the bloggers and micro-bloggers from South Asia are expressing their reactions on the news.
From Bangladesh, An Ordinary Citizen is skeptical terming the award as premature.
We appreciate his effort for peace which he just initiates and we have to wait for the result.
Isn’t it a bit premature for him to get the prize? We are not sure how it will affect his mindset.
Indian blogger Churumuri has some simple questions:
Does Obama deserve The Prize? Has he done anything to warrant it? Does giving it to so young a man, in the infancy of his Presidency, devalue all those who worked long and hard to earn it? Or does it not matter at all, because the Nobel is such a political prize anyway (as anybody who has read Irving Wallace’s The Prize will know), given to Yasser Arafat and Menachem Begin?
Still from India, Zooni is a Obama fan, but is surprised nonetheless:
Ok before u get it wrong i am certainly not an Obama hater … i love him seriously, i had made a post congratulating him on his presidential win, but what the hell he won for what, he was 2
weeks in office when he was nominated (nominations ended on feb 1st). I guess obama won the nobel peace prize for great campaigning!
From Pakistan, Temporal at Baithak blog is a bit harsh in reaction:
This may well turn out to be the watershed year in the decline of Nobel Prizes. What were the committee members eating or smoking?
President Obama may well deserve this award in years to come. But not at this time. He has just begun his strive and is yet to leave a mark on world peace.
Sri Lankan blog Indi.ca thinks that this prize may hurt Obama domestically:
I think Obama is definitely the coolest person walking the face of the earth today. However, I don’t think he’s done what he’s set out to do yet. The Nobel might theoretically help him, but it can also hurt domestically.
Micro-bloggers across the world were busy today expressing their surprise and skepticism after hearing the news. Here are some of the reactions from the South Asian Twitter users:
@vijaysankaran: Nobel Peace Prize is now like the Bharat Ratna… it’s about who you are, not what you did-)
@tantanoo: So Bush declares war, Obama lobbies peace and wins Nobel Peace prize. Nice algorithm I say.
santhemant: “president of USA Obama gets Nobel Peace prize for active in WAR at so many places..supporting Pakistan and Ignoring democracies like India.
saniakhan: dunno if I can support President Obama's win of the Nobel Peace Prize with the drones in #Pakistan still going on.
YusufKhan: Guantanamo still open, drone bombings on Pakistan continue, the war in Iraq/Afghanistan still on, and Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Yay.
@TinyToots: I also want Nobel Peace Prize. Everyday I refrain from doing violence to so many people. Why is nobody nominating me?
@OldmonkMGM: Pick the odd man out: The Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Barack Obama.