US President Barack H Obama was awarded Nobel Peace Prize recently much to the astonishment of the American people and the world at large. Normally, this prize is awarded to the people who have excelled in any field of arts or science or for the cause of peace after a lot of effort and dedication. The question is that Obama has done nothing in these fields then how come he got the Nobel Peace Prize? President Obama has himself expressed astonishment when he said: I am humbled and unworthy of being counted in the company of the transformative figures of history who had won this prize. I do not view it of my own accomplishment but rather an affirmation of American leadership. I will accept this award as a call to action. This is his greatness that he said so. His historic achievement, in fact is his victory in the presidential elections, being the first African American of mixed Christian-Muslim blood to hold the office of the President of America. Though Obama was a senator with no great achievements to his credit, he was able to win the majority of votes of the blacks as well as the whites. Undoubtedly, it was the charisma of his personality and his iconic oratory in the style of Martin Luther King which attracted the people. Another factor which contributed to his success was the lacklustre personality of his opponent and the eight year rule of Mr Bush which pushed the country into the disastrous Iraq War and a back breaking recession. Immediately after entering the White House President Obama turned his attention to the two major issues - global nuclear disarmament and his reaching out to the Muslim world fearlessly without bothering about the backlash of the Jewish lobby which had always influenced the decisions of successive US presidents. President Obama declared his foreign policy initiative concerning the Muslim world from his landmark speech in Cairo in which he expressed sympathy with the Palestinians for their daily humiliations that come with occupation. He called for a two-state solution for Palestine and categorically declared that the US will not turn its back on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own. This was the first time that a US president had spoken for the rights of the Palestinians so boldly and loudly. President Obama supported the right of Israel to exist, but also reached out to the Muslim world in an unprecedented way. The Norwegian Nobel committee praised Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people and his outreach to the Muslim world. To sum up, Obama has got his Nobel Peace Prize for raising his voice for the people of Palestine whom the world has all but forgotten. The American pro-Jewish lobby and the media under their control was not happy with this honour being conferred upon their President and called it premature, while the former recipients of the Prize had praised the nomination of the US president. Mr Gorbachev, former Soviet President and Nobel laureate was the first to offer his congratulations to Mr Obama. He said: In these hard times, the people who are capable of taking great responsibilities, who have vision, commitment and political will need to be supported. The former US President Jimmy Carter said the Nobel Prize is a bold statement of international support for Mr Obamas vision and commitment. Muhammad El Baradei, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency who won the Nobel Prize in 2005, said: I cannot think of anyone today more deserving for this honour. Palestinians and Israelis both have welcomed the honour bestowed on President Obama hoping that it will help in the presidents ability to establish peace in the Middle East through a settlement between Palestinians and Israelis. The writer is former director news, PTV. Email: burhanhasan@hotmail.com