“We may not have agreed with all her judgments or positions. That should not diminish our respect for her courage, independence and achievements.”
Should we paper over so lightly her record of repeatedly targeting India on human rights during her career.
She never condemned as UNHCR High Commissioner Pakistan sponsored terrorism against India.
Much worse, she did not condemn Pakistan for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Her personal rhetoric on the attack was condemnable. Instead of pointing to external state sponsorship or naming Pakistan, she said this:
"Whenever there is an act of terrorism, one points fingers at neighbouring countries, thereby absolving oneself of all responsibility... Terrorists need not be from outside; they can be home grown. When you accuse others, you fail to take steps to correct the problem at home."
She not only gave a pass to Pakistan, she insinuated this terrorist attack had local origins.
What is the case for rejoicing in her Nobel Peace Prize?
Warm congratulations to Navi Pillay, the first woman of Indian origin to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Her extraordinary life story belongs to the many-storied, often heroic history of Indian migration: oceans traversed , hardships endured, discrimination confronted and new homelands served with honesty and distinction.
Her Indian inheritance and her South African experience meet in a life devoted to human dignity. Were Gandhiji alive, I believe he would have recognised something deeply familiar in that journey: the struggle against injustice in South Africa becoming a commitment to justice everywhere.
We may not have agreed with all her judgments or positions. That should not diminish our respect for her courage, independence and achievements. She is as much a daughter of India as she is of South Africa. Our national pride should be accommodating enough to embrace her independent conscience.