World

Indian poet rejects USAID award over massacre of children in Palestine

Boeing, one of the companies linked to the USAID, is known for supplying military aircraft to Israel.

Web Desk

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1 Oct 2024

Indian poet Jacinta Kerketta declined an award sponsored by USAID in protest against the involvement of the American arms industry in the genocidal war by Israel against Palestinians.

Kerketta was chosen for the 'Room to Read Young Author Award' 2024 for her children's poetry collection, Jirhul, by an Indian NGO in partnership with USAID.

However, she refused the honour due to USAID’s alleged connections with arms manufacturers supplying weapons to the Israeli military during its military onslaught in Gaza.

In a statement, Kerketta explained that while the local NGO focuses on children's education, it is funded by organisations like USAID, which profit from deals with companies responsible for the massacre of children in Gaza.

“I saw that Room to Read India Trust is also associated with [the company] Boeing for children’s education. How can the arms business and care for children continue simultaneously when the world of children is being destroyed by the same weapons?” Indian media quoted the poet as saying.

Boeing, one of the companies linked to the local organisation that nominated Kerketta, is known for supplying military aircraft to Israel. It also initiated an education program for children in partnership with former BJP minister Smriti Irani.

Jacinta Kerketta condemned the hypocrisy of providing education for children while simultaneously enabling the destruction of their lives through arms sales in Palestine.

“Books for children are important, but adults have not been able to save children – thousands of whom are being killed in Palestine,” she added.

This is not the first time Jacinta Kerketta has taken a stand for human rights by refusing an award. In 2023, she refused an award from India Today over the disrespectful portrayal of tribal groups in Manipur.

Earlier, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri withdrew her nomination for an award from the New York Noguchi Museum after it fired three employees for wearing keffiyehs at work.