Tharoor nominates Kerala fishermen for #NobelPeacePrize; here's why
Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, has nominated the fishermen of Kerala for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. He has reportedly written to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to nominate the fishermen for the prestigious award in recognition of their "selfless, lifesaving service" during last year's floods that had devastated the state of Kerala. Here's more.
Fishermen played a pivotal role in rescue operations
In his letter to Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chairperson of Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, Tharoor has recommended that Kerala's fishing community should be awarded the prize. The fishermen played a key role last year during the flood rescue operations in August 2018.
Tharoor tweets his letter: Fishermen's courageous service and sacrifice
Here's what the Thiruvananthapuram MP wrote in his letter
"I would like to nominate the fishermen of Kerala for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize," Shashi Tharoor has written in his letter to the Committee Chairperson Reiss-Andersen. "They represent an outstanding and wholly deserving candidacy, one that would be a worthy addition to the champions of humanity that the award has recognized over the years," he wrote in the letter.
Fishermen also turned down compensation offered by government
"Even as their own houses fell victim to the deluge, their (fishermen's) thoughts and concerns were directed towards the larger safety of strangers," Tharoor pointed out in his letter. "When the state government offered compensation in cash and kind for their efforts, many of them politely turned down...pointing out that they found it unseemly to accept a reward for their humanitarian service," he added.
Entire country owes unrestrained gratitude to Kerala fishermen: Tharoor
"It is with this in mind, and in testament to their invaluable and selfless service, that I submit for the kind consideration of the Nobel Committee, that all of these elements are present in Kerala's fishermen...to whom an entire country owes...unrestrained gratitude," Tharoor wrote.
A little about the devastating August 2018 Kerala floods
Last year, from 8 August, severe floods affected Kerala -the worst the state had witnessed in nearly a century- due to unusually high monsoon rainfall. Torrential rains wreaked havoc in the southern state that led to landslides and heavy floods, pushing it towards disaster. Almost all 14 districts of Kerala were affected. According to reports, the devastating floods claimed as many as 480 lives.
