American comedian Jeremy McLellan found himself in a controversy after he came out in support of Kashmir recently.
Last week, McLellan tweeted about Indian state terrorism on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, and he found himself at the receiving end of a lot of backlash from Indians, who have called him everything from an "ISI agent" to a "creepy white dog."
Since then it has been an eventful journey for McLellan. The April 6 tweet was his first tweet on Kashmir. The comedian is vocal on social media on issues of human rights violations across the world.
“I’ve received hundreds of comments and messages from Indians accusing me of supporting terrorism and being paid by the ISI since I posted my tweet,” McLellan told News18.
“This sort of stuff happens a lot. Anything related to Palestine or Myanmar gets a lot of hate. But that’s expected. I think this was my first tweet on the Kashmiri issue. Within hours I started receiving unprecedented hate from Indians on Twitter,” he said.
Although he did not anticipate the hatred that one tweet would bring forth, McLellan said he has learned to accept that trolling is part of social media culture.
This is not the first time McLellan has been accused of being too partial to Pakistan, a country that's close to his heart. The Charleston, South Carolina based comedian toured the country last year and instantly fell in love with everything Pakistan has to offer.
“I’ve wanted to come to Pakistan for years because of how many good friends and fans I have who are Pakistani and Pakistani-American. Also, I love the chai here! It’s nothing like when you buy it in the US,” McLellan told The Express Tribune last year. “I finally got the chance to come when my dear friend Dr Sultan Chaudhry told me about his humanitarian mission in Islamabad, with a team of dental professionals. I jumped at the chance to join their team and also do shows in Pakistan at the same time.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Machado was honoured for her efforts to promote democratic rights and pursue a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela. (Photo: Getty Images)
Maria Corina Machado awarded 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for promoting democracy in Venezuela
The Nobel Committee praised her courage and fight for peaceful democratic transition
Machado has been in hiding for a year after being barred from contesting Venezuela’s 2024 election
US President Donald Trump had also hoped to win this year’s Peace Prize
VENEZUELA’s opposition leader and democracy activist Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said she was honoured for her efforts to promote democratic rights and pursue a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela.
Machado, who has been living in hiding for the past year, was recognised “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in Oslo.
“I am in shock,” Machado said in a video message sent to AFP by her press team.
Frydnes said Venezuela has changed from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to “a brutal authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis.”
“The violent machinery of the state is directed against the country's own citizens. Nearly eight million people have left the country,” he said.
The opposition has been systematically suppressed through “election rigging, legal prosecution and imprisonment,” Frydnes added.
Machado has been “a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided,” the committee said. It described her as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.”
“Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions,” it said.
Machado had been the opposition’s presidential candidate ahead of Venezuela’s 2024 election, but her candidacy was blocked by the government. She then supported former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as her replacement.
Her Nobel win came as a surprise, as her name had not featured among those speculated to receive the award before Friday’s announcement.
Trump’s hopes for prize
US President Donald Trump had expressed his desire to win this year’s Peace Prize. Since returning to the White House in January for a second term, he has repeatedly said he “deserves” the Nobel for his role in resolving several conflicts — a claim observers have disputed.
Experts in Oslo had said before the announcement that Trump was unlikely to win, noting that his “America First” policies run counter to the principles outlined in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will establishing the prize.
Frydnes said the Norwegian Nobel Committee is not influenced by lobbying campaigns.
“In the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think this committee has seen every type of campaign, media attention,” he said. “We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say, what for them, leads to peace.” “We base our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel,” he added.
Last year, the prize went to the Japanese anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots organisation of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Nobel Peace Prize includes a gold medal, a diploma, and a cash award of $1.2 million. It will be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.
The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo. Other Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm.
On Thursday, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai. The 2025 Nobel season concludes Monday with the announcement of the economics prize.
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