By Arul Louis
New York, Sep 19 (IANS) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be awarding the Global Gatekeepers Award to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in India's achievement sanitation, the organisation has announced.
"Modi is receiving an award at the Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the progress India is making in improving sanitation, as part of its drive toward achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals," the Foundation said in a statement to IANS on Wednesday.
"Sanitation is a key factor in improving the health and well-being of millions of people, especially women and children," it added.
Modi is being recognised by the foundation in New York on September 24 for the Swachh Bharat Mission of which the constructions of toilets is a key element.
A motley collection of Indian secularists, Pakistanis, activists and entertainers have opposed the award to Modi alleging he was responsible for human rights violations and for India rescinding the special status for Kashmir.
Some influential US media also published articles demanding that the Foundation cancel the award.
The publications include Foreign Policy magazine's website, and Washington Post that is owned by Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, which has disputes with the Indian government.
The Post published an opinion article by two Indian-origin lawyers.
An organisation called S Asian Philanthropy published in the Medium a letter signed by people of Indian origin and others representing various foundations and NGOs.
National Public Radio reported that a dozen demonstrators with "Stop Genocide, a project of the American human rights group Justice For All", delivered a petition with 100,000 signatures to the Gates Foundation headquarters in Seattle protesting the award for Modi.
The radio also said that three Nobel Peace Prize winners - Shirin Ebadi of Iran, Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman of Yemen and Mairead Maguire of Britain - had also sent the Gates a protest letter.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
--IANS
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