The deputy leader of the Nobel Committee did not call PM Modi the biggest contender for the Peace Prize.

fact-check

On 16 March, journalist Rana Ayyub shared a video of an interview of Asle Toje with news agency ANI. In this, he says that a false statement is being shared in his name in the media. He can be heard saying that a ‘fake news’ was tweeted about him and urged users not to discuss it or ‘give it air’.

There is the full 39 second video from the ANI feed. can @ANI confirm what is the fake news their reporter is referring to? pic.twitter.com/IIL9jsm0XV

— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) Mar 16, 2023

After this, he flatly refused to say anything similar to what was said in the tweet. His exact words were, ‘A fake news was tweeted and I think we all should consider it as fake news. This is fake.

However, it should be noted that it is not clear what exactly Asley Toje was denying, as the question he was asked was not in the video and ANI did not publish the video on its Twitter timeline either.

We found a source from a news channel which had access to the ANI feed. He shared a screenshot of this reference. In which clip of Ashley Toje’s interview was being shared. According to the subsequent text, Ashley Toje was giving a statement on PM Narendra Modi’s claims of being the biggest contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Senior Editor of ABP News (Political Affairs) on 14 March Abhishek Upadhyay tweeted four screengrabs of the ABP interview with Ashley Toje.

In his tweet, he asked, ‘Has Modi become a strong contender for the Nobel Peace Prize?’ This is the first mention that Alt News found of Modi being a possible contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. It is possible that the same tweet has been picked up by other news outlets and misinterpreted as Asley Toje’s statement.

Big Exclusive—Has Modi become a strong contender for the Nobel Peace Prize?
Asle Toje, deputy leader of the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee who came to India told ABP News
“Tremendous ability to establish peace in a powerful leader like Modi.
PM Modi is the most trusted leader for stopping war and for peace. pic.twitter.com/CUZ5rrAjHG

— abhishek upadhyay (@upadhyayabhii) Mar 14, 2023

Asle Toje’s interview with ABP News is available on its official YouTube channel. However, in the entire interview, we could not find a single occasion where Asle Toje, despite the reporter’s constant prodding, said that Narendra Modi is a strong contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.

At 3 minutes 45 seconds into the interview, the interviewer asked Asley Toje whether the Russia-Ukraine war could have been stopped with PM Modi’s leadership.

Asley Toje replied, ‘Well, you are asking if he is a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. I have only one answer for you or anyone: I hope that every leader of every country is inspired to do the work that is necessary to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope the same for Modi. Obviously, I’m following his efforts; We’re all doing it. I really hope that his initiative is successful.

At 5 minutes 6 seconds, the reporter asked again, ‘Because you are the deputy leader of the Nobel Committee and are looking for possible candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. I am asking you whether Prime Minister Modi can end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ashley Toje replied, ‘It would not be my place to present a challenge to the Prime Minister of India. I want every leader of the world to work for peace and powerful leaders like Modi have more opportunities and ability to do so. I am glad to see that he is devoting his time not only to furthering India’s interest and increasing the strength to grow the Indian economy, but he is also devoting time to issues that are so close to the nation. Not in the interest of the country but in the interest of the global community and peace in the world.

We watched the YouTube live stream of the ADM & Peace Roundtable held on March 14, where Asle Toje was invited as a guest.

During his speech, he talked the most about India’s stand in global politics.

He said, ‘Coming here to India is a learning experience for me. I have come to India to know about the peace traditions of this country and to know about the energy that determines the rise of a country. India is a country that is becoming increasingly important in world politics and a country that must now decide what kind of great power it wants to be. Does it want to be a superpower? India will look at its history, look at its principles and learn lessons from its religion, its culture and give a great gift to the world. This is my hope.

However, he did not mention Modi as a possible contender for the Nobel Peace Prize during his speech or during the question-and-answer session.

50 years of secrecy of the Nobel Committee

According to the list of rules for the nomination and selection of Nobel Peace Prize laureates on the official website, the names of the nominees and other information about the nomination cannot be made public for 50 years.

In a section titled ’50 Year Secrecy Rule’, it has been said that the committee neither announces the name of the nominee nor to the media or to the candidate himself.

As far as advance speculation about who will be honored with the award, some names appear, then these are either sheer guesswork or information provided by the person or persons behind the nominations. Information in the Nobel Committee’s nomination database is not made public until 50 years later.

In a video tweeted from the official handle of the Nobel Prize in 2022, Ashley Toje has explained the nomination and selection process.

Talking about the difficulty of keeping the awards secret, Ashley Toje said that there needs to be a strong level of trust between the committee members which enables it to be kept secret.

Asley Toje constantly stresses the need for confidentiality during the selection process. He says, ‘We have to be very restrictive in giving information about what is going on inside the chamber to maintain confidentiality and trust within the committee.’

He further said that before the official announcements, the Nobel laureates get only one hour’s notice, in which they are told about their victory.

Today is the announcement of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

Ahead of the announcement watch our exclusive Q&A with Asle Toje, who helps to award the peace prize.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/idnDq4lqm6

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2022

That is, it is absolutely clear that Asle Toje, as a member of the Nobel Committee, cannot publicly name the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize, nor can he speculate on their chances of winning.

Overall, the deputy leader of the Nobel Prize Committee, Ashley Toje, did not say that Prime Minister Modi is the top contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. Asle Toje was misquoted by media outlets, most of whom later deleted her tweet.

This report was originally published on Alt News.