To protest against Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s decision to award Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Global Goalkeeper award an employee of the foundation has resigned. The employee believes Modi doesn’t not deserve the award. However, the foundation has different point of view to back the decision to honour Modi with the award.
Modi has received Global Goalkeeper award on September 24, for initiating the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, as soon as he came into power in 2014. The initiative also aimed to build millions of toilets for poor people in India.
Sabah Hamid, 42, a communications specialist and programme officer at the foundation for the last three and half years told to TRT World in an interview that the foundation is making mistake. Hamid backed his decision by making some points that emphasised failure of Modi’s BJP-led government. She told to TRT World that after August 5 this year when the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped people there are living in intense despair and are away from even medical facilities.
“The Modi led government has not only designed and implemented this crisis, their untruths and the complicity of a large part of the media means they are also trying to hijack the narrative,” told Hamid to TRT World.
Since Hamid is from Kashmir, she accepted that as far as Kashmir’s issue is concerned, it might be personnel. However, he told to TRT World that except Jammu and Kashmir issue, there are many issues erupting in India after the government came into power. Such as, the lynching of Dalits, Christians and Muslims, the NRC in Assam (and potentially elsewhere), the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. “Any of these even by itself should be the reason enough,” she further told to TRT World.
When asked whether she discussed this with her bosses before resigning, Hamid told to TRT World that she did but the foundation was not willing to change the decision to honour Modi. According to Scroll.in Hamid wasn’t the only one to oppose the foundation’s decision and the reason for opposing it was the same as Hamid’s. On the other hand, the Gates Foundation made it very clear that it respects the petitioners’ views but it can’t change the decision as the foundation works on the specific issues. “We work on the specific issues where we believe we can have the greatest impact for the world’s poorest,” the foundation had, reports Scroll.in.
