There were to be six names on the Nobel Committee's short list, Mohandas Gandhi was one of them. The Nobel Committee's adviser, the historian Jens Arup Seip, wrote a new report which is primarily an account of Gandhi's role in Indian political history after 1937. India's independence and India's partition. In all these matters, Gandhi had consistently followed his own principles of non-violence. It was rather favourable, yet not explicitly supportive.
Photo shows part of the crowds of refugees which poured into the city of New Delhi.
Having read the report, the members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee must have felt rather updated on the last phase of the Indian struggle for independence. However, the Nobel Peace Prize had never been awarded for that sort of struggle. One year earlier, they had strongly favoured John Mott , the YMCA leader. It seems that they generally preferred candidates who could serve as moral and religious symbols in a world threatened by social and ideological conflicts. However, in 1947 they were not able to convince the three other members.