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Kamal Haasan congratulates Navi Pillay on Nobel Peace Prize win, calls her journey extraordinary: ‘A moment of immense pride for Tamils everywhere’
Indian-origin South African jurist and human rights pioneer Navanethem “Navi” Pillay was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
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The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Indian-origin Navanethem “Navi” Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law. A South African jurist and former International Criminal Court judge, Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
What Kamal Haasan said
Actor Kamal Haasan has now reacted to the news and congratulated Navi Pillay. He said that he was deeply moved by Pillay's journey and took to his X account to pen a note. He wrote, “Some lives leave you deeply moved. Navi Pillay’s is one such life. From a family whose roots in South Africa began with her grandparents’ indentured labour, she rose to become a pioneering jurist who stood against apartheid and helped establish rape and systemic sexual violence as acts of genocide under international law.”
"What an extraordinary journey. The Nobel Peace Prize recognises the remarkable contribution of this South African jurist of Tamil origin to human rights and justice. A moment of immense pride for Tamils everywhere," he concluded.
Deep Dive
About Navi Pillay
On October 9, Pillay was announced as the winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her efforts to advance peace and international law. According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, she was honoured for her instrumental role in ensuring the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. "A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time," the committee said.
Navi Pillay, 85, is a South African of Indian Tamil origin who was the first non-white woman to be appointed judge of the High Court of South Africa.
Her family history goes back to the arrival of Indian indentured labourers in the country during British colonial rule. According to the book Navi Pillay: Realising Human Rights for All by Sam Naidu, Pillay is the granddaughter of Indian indentured servants who migrated to South Africa in the 1890s.
Born in 1941 in Natal province, Pillay was the fifth of eight children of Narrainsamy Naidoo and Santhama Naidoo. Her grandparents had travelled from India to work on sugar plantations in Natal. Her parents married in their early teens in an arranged marriage.
According to the United Nations, she was appointed an acting judge of South Africa’s High Court in 1995 and elected that year to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She served there for eight years, including four as president, and contributed to landmark jurisprudence recognising rape as a form of genocide, according to United Nations website.
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