Delivering the prestigious 15th Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture in Cape Town, Congress MP and former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor mounted a passionate defence of the United Nations, declaring it absolutely indispensable despite mounting global criticism for failing to halt the devastating conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.

Drawing on his 29 years of frontline service at the UN from 1978 to 2007, Tharoor painted a vivid picture of an imperfect yet irreplaceable institution that has liberated nations from colonialism, sheltered millions of refugees, delivered food to famine-hit regions, vaccinated children in war zones, and given even the smallest countries a voice on the world stage, even while acknowledging its painful failures in places like Rwanda and Srebrenica.

Marking the UN’s recent 80th anniversary, he insisted that the answer is not to abandon the organisation but to renew it urgently through expanded Security Council membership, swifter decision-making processes, and stronger safeguards against paralysing vetoes by permanent members, because principled multilateral cooperation is now the only realistic path to tackling climate collapse, pandemics, and rising authoritarianism.

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Tharoor seamlessly blended Indian philosophy with Tutu’s legacy by invoking Swami Vivekananda’s call to move beyond condescending tolerance toward genuine universal acceptance, where every faith is respected as a valid path to truth, a principle he tied directly to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s core belief that authentic peace can never be achieved without justice and courageous truth-telling.

In an emotionally charged closing, Tharoor rejected despair as an unaffordable luxury and issued a ringing generational appeal to dismantle structures of exclusion, amplify silenced voices, reject vengeance for justice, and become active bridge-builders who keep the flame of hope burning brightly, declaring that the world has enough cynics but desperately needs more Tutu-like souls who choose compassion, courage, and cooperation over division and despair.

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