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Jacinta Kerketta, a poet and author from an Indigenous community in India, has declined the 2024 Room to Read Young Author Award, which is co-sponsored by USAID and the Room to Read India Trust, in a show of solidarity with Palestinians.
The 41-year-old author was recognized for her children’s poetry collection “Jirhul”.
In her statement, Kerketta criticized the award’s association with organizations like USAID, which she accused of benefiting from companies complicit in the killing of children in Gaza.
She further expressed concern over Room to Read India Trust’s partnership with Boeing, a defense contractor. “How can the arms industry and children’s education coexist when the same weapons are destroying children’s lives?” Indian media quoted her as saying. Kerketta condemned the contradiction of promoting education for children while supporting arms sales that contribute to the devastation in Palestine.
“Books for children are essential, but adults have failed to protect them—thousands of children are being killed in Palestine,” she added.
Earlier, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri also made headlines for withdrawing her nomination for an award from the New York Noguchi Museum, after the institution dismissed three employees for wearing keffiyehs at work.
