"Deplorable Decision": Shashi Tharoor Attacks Centre Over Nobel Laureate 'Snub'

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. However, many on social media also pointed out that his own party has not done that and so, he should be given a Nobel Prize for "hypocrisy".

Pillay's ancestors had left India over 130 years ago, first to Sri Lanka and eventually to South Africa.

The award of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Pillay had sparked celebrations among her relatives in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul district, bringing international recognition close to home. Pillay was born in South Africa's Durban in 1941; she grew up facing poverty and apartheid discrimination.

Tharoor in a post on X, aiming at the government, said the missing congratulatory messages for the Indian-origin woman was "deplorable".

"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," Tharoor said without naming anyone in the post about the woman whose ancestors were from Tamil Nadu, currently a state where the BJP is not in power.

The post included an AI-generated video that traced Pillay's life including the hardships she faced during her long career as a legal professional.

The voiceover went something like this:

"A lawyer walks into a South African courthouse, but there's one door she's forbidden to enter: the judge's chambers. Why? Because she's not white. She's qualified, she's educated, she's fighting for justice, but in her own country, she's treated like she doesn't belong. Her name is Navi Pillay, the daughter of a bus driver. Her grandfather lost both arms working in a sugar mill. Her father was forced to leave school at 8, and when Navi wanted to become a lawyer, her family couldn't afford it...

"So her community pooled their money to send her to university. She graduated, but white law firms wouldn't hire her. So in 1967, she opened her own and started fighting the very system that tried to keep her down. She defended political prisoners, exposed torture, and fought for prisoners on Robben Island, including Nelson Mandela, to have access to lawyers. Even her own husband was detained, but she refused to back down. For 28 years she practiced law in a country that wouldn't let her enter a judge's chambers...

"Then came 1995. Her phone rang, it was Nelson Mandela. She had just become a judge, and the first judge's chambers she ever entered were her own..."

It's been six days since this remarkable woman of Indian origin (see her story, attached) won the #NobelPeacePrize. 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. https://t.co/heM05YbwY4

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 18, 2026

Tharoor's post, however, received comments from the general public that punched holes in his criticism of the government.

"They should carve out an award for Nobel Hypocrisy. You should be awarded with that title," a user on X, Priyanka, said alluding to Tharoor's perceived attempt at friendship with the Congress's rivals after he lost the party president's electoral race.

Another X user, Nalini Rathnam, said, "Waiting for your leader to say a few words about Captain Smit Machchar. Until then..."

Pillay had studied law at the University of Natal and earned a doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1988. Her career included defending anti-apartheid activists and becoming the first non-white woman appointed to South Africa's High Court in 1995.

She subsequently served at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. At the Rwanda tribunal, she helped deliver the landmark 1998 Akayesu judgment, which recognised that rape and sexual violence could constitute genocide under specified circumstances.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee honoured her efforts to promote peace and international law.