Gates Foundation staffer quits, protesting Modi award amid Kashmir lockdown
A staff member at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says she has resigned in protest at a decision to honour India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is despite widespread allegations of human rights violations in India-administered Kashmir where an ongoing lockdown and communications blackout continues to cripple normal life on its 51st day.
…Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, with much fanfare soon after he took office in 2014. The initiative aimed to build millions of toilets for India’s poor. But his government has recently come under fire for downgrading the nominal autonomy of disputed Kashmir and imposing tighter curbs using tens of thousands of troops in the already over-militarised region, prompting activists and critics to campaign against the private American foundation.
In an interview with TRT World, Sabah Hamid, 42, a communications specialist and programme officer at the foundation for the last three and half years says it erred greatly by honouring the Indian prime minister.…
SEE ALSO:
- Global Civil Society Alliance Condemns Gates Foundation Decision to Award Modi (Sep 24, 2019, The Wire)
https://thewire.in/politics/global-civil-society-alliance-condemns-gates-foundation-decision-to-award-modi - Mahatma Gandhi’s Great-Grandson Attacks Trump’s “Father Of Nation” Remark (Sep 29, 2019, NDTV)
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/tushar-gandhi-mahatma-gandhi-great-grandson-attacks-donald-trump-remark-for-pm-narendra-modi-2109204 - The Gates Foundation shouldn’t legitimise Narendra Modi (Sep 24, 2019, The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/commentisfree/2019/sep/24/narendra-modi-gates-foundation-award-donald-trump - Shame on the Gates Foundation: Modi is not a Humanitarian (Sep 25, 2019, Medium.com)
https://medium.com/@stophindutva/shame-on-the-gates-foundation-modi-is-not-a-humanitarian-e3381e9a2de
