Human rights groups are calling on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to rescind its award to India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi is set to receive the Gates Foundation’s “Global Goalkeeper” prize in New York City on September 24 for his public sanitation and hygiene program, which has brought toilet access to millions across India. Yale University epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves called the award “outrageous,” tweeting, “Bill Gates should be ashamed of himself. Narendra Modi is not worthy of any award. He is a despot-in-the-making, a human rights abuser. Everyone in public health should speak up.” Modi was once banned from the United States on charges he did not intervene in a massacre against Muslims in 2002 when he was governor of the Indian state of Gujarat. In August, Modi revoked limited autonomy for Indian-administered Kashmir, arresting thousands of people, setting up roadblocks, imposing curfews and cutting off the internet and other communications.
Human Rights Groups Blast Gates Foundation for Honoring Indian Prime Minister
HeadlineSep 13, 2019