Indian poet rejects US-backed arts award ‘in solidarity with Palestine’

Jacinta Kerketta is a poet from the Indigenous community of Oraon in Jharkhand in eastern India

A poet and author from an Indigenous community in India has refused a US-backed arts award “in solidarity” with Palestinians.

Jacinta Kerketta, 41, has refused the 2024 Room to Read Young Author Award, jointly awarded by USAID and Room to Read India Trust for her children’s poetry collection, Jirhul.

Room to Read India is an international nonprofit working in the areas of early-grade literacy, gender equality, and girls’ education.

“As a poet, I want to show my solidarity with the children, women and victims of Palestine,” she told The Independent.

“I saw that Room to Read India Trust is also associated with Boeing for children’s education,” she said.

In August last year, the then Indian minister of women and child development and minority affairs, Smriti Irani, announced the launch of two initiatives in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, in partnership with Boeing. According to a Boeing India statement, the group was funding Room to Read’s literacy programme, which was to be implemented in 60 primary schools over four years to “nurture independent readers”.

Boeing is said to be a key supplier of weapons to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and has a longstanding partnership with Israel.

Ms Kerketta said: “When children were being killed in Palestine, Room to Read India Trust in India was collaborating with Boeing for better education of children. And Boeing’s relationship with Israel is linked to arms business.”

“How can the arms business and care for children continue simultaneously when the world of children is being destroyed by the same weapons? Because of these concerns, I have declined to accept this USAID-supported award,” she said.

Ms Kerketta has written to both USAID and the Room to Read India Trust, declining the award and explaining her reasons for doing so.

More than 16,000 children have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched an all-out assault on the besieged territory on 7 October last year, triggered by Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel.

“The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history,” Bragi Gudbrandsson, vice chairperson of a UN committee said last month. “I don’t think we have seen before a violation that is so massive as we’ve seen in Gaza. These are extremely grave violations that we do not often see,” he said.

Jacinta Kerketta from the Oraon Adivasi community in Jharkhand refused the US-backed award due to Room to Read India's ties with Boeing, a company linked to Israel (Jacinta Kerketta / Instagram)

Ms Kerketta is a member of Jharkhand’s Oraon Adivasi community. She has authored seven other books, including Ishwar aur Bazar, Jacinta ki Diary, and Land of the Roots.

This is not the first time the Adivasi (Indigenous) writer has rejected an award for ethical reasons, having previously turned down an honour in solidarity with Adivasi struggles in the northeastern state of Manipur. “This is coming at a time when the respect for the life of the tribals of Manipur is ending,” she told Newslaundry at the time.

“The respect for the life of the tribals in central India is disappearing as well, and people from other communities are also being attacked continuously in the global society. My mind remains distressed and I am not feeling any thrill or happiness with this acknowledgement.”

Since May 2023, Manipur has been embroiled in violence between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities, driven by disputes over economic benefits and quotas.

The book Ishwar aur Bazar is dedicated to the Dalit and Adivasi communities of Niyamgiri in Odisha, who have spent over a decade resisting bauxite mining in their region.

“I see many people in India remain silent about the genocide in Palestine. Just as there is hatred for minorities within the country, similarly there is no sympathy for the people of Palestine. As a poet and writer, this also troubles me,” Ms Kerketta told The Independent.

Her poetry collection, Jirhul, aims to raise socio-political awareness among children, drawing from Adivasi culture. It was published earlier this year by Jugnu Prakashan, the publishing arm of Iktara Trust, based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

The Independent has reached out to USAID, Boeing, and Room to Read India for comment.

According to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), approximately 705 ethnic groups are classified as Scheduled Tribes in India. In central India, these groups are commonly referred to as Adivasis, a term that means “original inhabitants” or “Indigenous Peoples”.

With an estimated population of 104 million, Adivasis make up about 8.6 per cent of the total population.