Upon investigation, We discovered that Toje was widely misquoted by the media, as he had not speculated on Modi’s chances of winning the Nobel Prize during his interviews. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was called “the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize” by the Deputy Leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Asle Toje, on March 15, 2023, according to reports in several Indian newspapers.
India fake News discovered that these stories were untrue, and that Toje had been greatly misquoted about his views on Modi. Toje was asked by reporters about Modi’s chances of winning the Peace Prize, and he responded by saying, “I hope every leader in every nation is inspired to do the work that is necessary to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.” Toje praised Modi’s leadership and recognised India’s role as a global peace broker.
Toje is a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, so he is prohibited from discussing the chances of the Nobel Peace Prize candidates or revealing the identities of those who have been shortlisted for the award. With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Toje advocated for global peace on March 14 at a roundtable discussion at an event titled “Alternative Growth Model & Peace,” organised by the India Center Foundation at the India International Center in New Delhi.
Toje addressed the media after the ceremony and shared his thoughts on India’s participation in international efforts to promote peace. Media outlets went into a frenzy reporting on Toje’s comments that Modi was the “greatest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize” after their interviews with him. A video interview with Toje was posted to Times Now with the headline, “‘PM Modi is the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize’- says #AsleToje, Deputy leader of the Nobel Prize Committee. A copy of the tweet (which has since been deleted) may be viewed here.
With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Toje advocated for global peace on March 14 at a roundtable discussion at an event titled “Alternative Growth Model & Peace,” organised by the India Center Foundation at the India International Center in New Delhi.
Toje addressed the media after the ceremony and shared his thoughts on India’s participation in international efforts to promote peace. Media outlets went into a frenzy reporting on Toje’s comments that Modi was the “greatest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize” after their interviews with him.
A video interview with Toje was posted to Times Now with the headline, “‘PM Modi is the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize’- says #AsleToje, Deputy leader of the Nobel Prize Committee. A copy of the tweet (which has since been deleted) may be viewed here.
On Tuesday, We watched the live stream of the ‘ADM & Peace’ event and analysed Toje’s speech and responses to audience questions in detail. There was not a single quote from him that mentioned Modi’s chances of winning the Nobel Peace Prize that we could discover.
In addition to India Today host Gaurav Sawant, right-leaning website OpIndia, and right-leaning Twitter account MeghUpdates, other media outlets also reported on this quote, including the Economic Times, the Times of India, the Business Standard, Odisha TV, Lokmat Times, Lokmat Hindi, ABP Live, Jagran English, Mint, and CNBC TV18.
We has contacted Rahul Shivshankar via email to get more information about his tweet and the claim made by Times Now. If we do hear back, we’ll be sure to revise the article accordingly.
FACT CHECK
We also reviewed all of the interviews he gave to the media, including the ones where the captions included the purported comment from him about Modi being a leading candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Although Toje praised India and Modi and recognised India’s position as a global peace broker, we did not find the now-famous quotation about Modi’s chances of winning the Nobel Peace Prize in any of his comments to media outlets.
Many journalists also probed Toje, either directly or indirectly, about Modi’s potential for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Toje tells The New Indian and ABP News, “I hope every leader in every nation is encouraged to do the effort that is necessary to be given the Nobel Peace Prize.” We contacted Manoj Kumar Sharma, who served on the event’s Core Committee on Tuesday. While Sharma was there for the length of the event, he told We that he never heard Toje make such a remark.
“Yesterday at the ITC Maurya Sheraton Hotel, I was with the Norwegian Deputy Head of the Nobel Prize Committee, Mr. Asle Toje, for an interview with a journalist from Times Now. In his keynote talk to the IIC on March 14 and in his interview with a journalist from the Times Now last night, Mr. Toje never once mentioned this “In Sharma’s words. The story will be updated if and when we hear back from Toje with his thoughts on the internet-famous phrase.
Toje Won’t Be Able to Tell Us Whether Modi Will Get the Nobel
Toje, as a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, is not permitted to publicly disclose the names of nominees shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize or speculate on their chances of winning, as these actions would be in violation of the rules and regulations governing the nomination and selection process for the Nobel Prize winners. The official Nobel Prize website states that the names of those who submit and are considered for the award cannot be made public for fifty years
How do they pick the winners?
Upon receiving nominations, the Norwegian Nobel Committee (made up of five individuals selected by the Norwegian parliament) prepares a shortlist of contenders. There are “305 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023,” with 212 individuals and 93 organisations up for consideration.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner is ultimately selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony takes place in Oslo, Norway, whereas those for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and the prize in economic sciences take place in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Nobel Prize’s official Twitter account shared a video that outlines the nomination and selection procedure. Toje explains in the film that Nobel Prize winners typically find out about their triumph just an hour before it is made public.
Today is the announcement of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2022
Ahead of the announcement watch our exclusive Q&A with Asle Toje, who helps to award the peace prize.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/idnDq4lqm6
Many accounts on various social media platforms last year asserted that Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha, the creators of the website Alt-News, were among the “list of favourites” to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Our investigation revealed that the “list” in question was not compiled by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, but rather was the product of ad hoc groups with no connection to the actual selection process.
