Chitralekha Zutshi on the paradoxes and contradictions that trailed the political life of one of the tallest leaders of the Kashmir Valley

early 2021, the government effectively issued an export ban, directing Serum’s shots into the arms of Indian citizens. That political decision was one reason Gates’s COVID response effort failed. But this episode also helps show how many of Gates’s philanthropic projects — globally — depend on Indian corridors of power, whether it is the private sector or the Modi administration.

Q:How would you contextualise Gates’s decision to give the prestigious Global Goalkeeper Award to Prime Minister Modi in 2019?

Gates gave the humanitarian award at a time when Modi’s administration was in the midst of an international PR crisis, facing widespread reports of human rights abuses in Kashmir. Though the news media doesn’t often raise criticism around the foundation, many outlets did with this episode. So it was a big PR blunder for the foundation on the world stage, but I think it was also a political calculation by Gates. In all the work the foundation does

A:he was in prison, and away from the scene. When two nations were being born in 1947, he was in prison. During the 1964 IndiaChina war, he was in prison, and when he came out, he held a meeting with the Chinese premier, triggering a huge controversy. Being in prison during crucial periods of history prevented him from seeing the big picture at times.

Q:Would it be correct to say that Abdullah and Nehru had false expectations of each other visavis Kashmir?

Abdullah truly believed that Nehru would stand by him, but Nehru could only do so much. Discussions between both sides led to the Delhi Agreement of 1952, but both had different hopes

A:around the globe, it has to work closely with governments. The foundation needs political allies because the work it is doing, essentially, is political in nature, trying to influence public policy at the highest levels. I think this helps explain Gates’s public displays of affection for Modi, which are becoming increasingly bizarre, like the fourhourlong promotional video last month.

Q:Do you think Gates’s philanthropy ought to pivot away from ‘silver bullet’ approaches such as vaccines, and aim toward building public health infrastructure, especially in poorer countries?

The kind of work you’re describing — public health in poor nations — is, in my view, the job of the state. We should not allow billionaires to buy a seat at the democratic decisionmaking table, even if they present themselves as well meaning philanthropists. To me, the real debate is less about how to try to make the Gates Foundation kinder or gentler or less harmful, but rather how do we reorganise society and reimagine our economy so that we don’t allow people to become this grotesquely wealthy in the first place. My book focuses on Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, but it’s really a case study for the larger problem of extreme wealth and how it threatens democracy.

A:Nehru kept insisting that Abdullah implement the Delhi Agreement in full, which the latter began to see as a compromise of autonomy. He dragged his feet on its implementation; he refused to meet Nehru and then he was dismissed in August, 1953. The promises he had made to the people remained unrealised and his own regime resorted to political repression, turning on any voice of opposition against his own regime but against India as well. He stifled any antiIndia voices. But his repeated incarceration by the Indian government helped him preserve his legitimacy among Kashmiri nationalists. The agreement between Indira Gandhi and Abdullah largely reiterated the Delhi Agreement and Article 370. There is nothing really new there, his image was tarnished forever in Kashmir with that.

Q:Do you think personal ambition got the better of him?

Besides, personal ambitions, his age and health were also factors. His family too put pressure on him to make compromises. Indira Gandhi was all powerful and Pakistan was defeated in the war. All these factors possibly influenced his decision.

A:Q:The national parties, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, have always pushed for deeper integration, seen in the policies of Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi...

Absolutely. What happened to Article 370 in 2019 was the culmination in some ways of Delhi’s relationship with Kashmir and the gradual dismantling of the State’s claims. It wasn’t something that came out of the blue. It was very much along the lines of what has been happening in Kashmir since 1947.

A:Read the full interview at www.thehindu.co.in