Felicitating Modi: Open Defecation by Bill Gates!
By Mohajer Ansari
US
Like billions of people on this planet, I’ve long been Bill Gates’ admirer. First and foremost, it is because of the technological innovations leading to the creation of Microsoft, which made him one of the richest men in the world.
My admiration is not for his technological prowess alone. It is his selfless philanthropy enshrined in the multifaceted manifesto of the Gates Foundation established by him and his wife Melinda, that I admire the most. Through this Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates have reached millions and billions of underprivileged who wouldn’t have otherwise received much-needed electricity, clean water, shelters and vaccines for cholera, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV and AIDS. Since its inception, a large number of innovative concepts and projects have been funded by the Foundation that are making real difference in the lives of poor and destitute all around the world: right from rural United States to the darkest villages in the sub-Sahara. And for that, the entire world owes them much adulation and gratitude.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has also instituted the Global Goals Award – an award recognizing an individual who has contributed to efforts to improve the lives of the poor. This year, the Foundation has decided to give this coveted award to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in New York City next week amidst the events surrounding the annual UN General Assembly.
I’m sure a rigorous whetting process is in place to decide which individual is truly deserving of such a prestigious award. But, of all the deserving people in the world, Modi? Modi has been known since early 2000s for inciting violence against minorities, silencing dissent and undermining human rights. For instigating his right wing supporters to kill thousands of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, he has rightly been called the Butcher of Gujarat! The anti-Muslim riots under his watch as the then Chief Minister of Gujarat resulted in 1,044 dead – more than 75% Muslims and more than 2,500 injured. After becoming the Prime Minister, his deep intolerance of minorities (nearly two million citizens of Bengali origin in Assam and Tripura, Maoists seeking separation and autonomy from Central government in nine states in central and eastern India, the marginalized Dalits and Harijans (untouchables), Christians and Muslims) has only intensified. Fanned by the chants of Hindutva by his xenophobic base, his insatiable thirst for the blood of minorities has reached unimaginable zenith!
As if these accomplishments were not enough, six weeks ago he revoked the constitutional article 307, thereby stripping Kashmir’s special status and creating a humanitarian crisis in the valley. Since August 5, Kashmir is under round-the-clock curfew with unprecedented communication block on landlines, mobile and internet. Prominent regional and state level politicians and leaders are under house arrest or in jail. Thousands of young boys have been rounded up and put in jails, and, girls from many households have been abducted by the army and paramilitary personnel. Their whereabouts and safety still remain shrouded in mystery.
On Tuesday, several demonstrators with Stop Genocide (an umbrella organization of the American human rights group Justice For All) marched to the Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle. A petition signed by more than 100,000 people of various backgrounds and descent was delivered to the Gates Foundation in Seattle. In their op-ed in The Washington Post, lawyers and human rights activists Suchitra Vijayan and Arjun Singh Sethi bemoaned this flawed decision by the Foundation, calling it a ‘danger’. “This award would legitimize Modi’s policies and embolden the ethno-nationalist forces he has championed,” they wrote. “If the Gates Foundation really wants to amplify the sanitation efforts in India, it should give the award to the community workers instead of a far-right nationalist.” Last week, Nobel Peace laureates - Shirin Ebadi, Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman and Mairead Maguire - also co-wrote a protest letter to Bill and Melinda Gates.
It would be a gross travesty and unfathomable injustice to the word ‘humanitarian’ to give such an award to a man whose nickname is ‘Butcher of Gujarat’. With his hegemony in Kashmir, he is now aptly being called, the ‘Bloody Butcher of Bharat’.
By conferring this award on Modi, The Gates Foundation is replacing compassion with cruelty, altruism with snobbery, justice with revenge and, democracy with dictatorship. What is next? In coming years, will the Foundation honor Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt, Aung Suu Kyi of Myanmar or even perhaps Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe posthumously for selfless service to their people?
Mr Bill Gates, this decision of yours literally stinks of the toilets that Modi is reportedly building in India. By giving this award to him, you are defecating on the face of the world!
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