THE outgoing US President Mr. Joe Biden awarding the coveted Medal of Freedom to particularly nonagenarian ‘philanthropist’ Mr. George Soros has caused quite a stir not only in the US but also in several countries including India. The main reason behind this is Mr. Soros’ reputation as an internationally controversial figure, who has been accused by various Governments of causing disturbances in different countries. The timing of Mr. Biden awarding the US’ highest civilian honour to Mr. Soros is quite amusing, to say the least. It has been no secret that the President-elect of the US Mr. Donald Trump and his close aides including business tycoon Mr. Elon Musk have been critical of Mr. Soros.

 

The Republicans have been accusing Mr. Soros of financing certain protests. But, the US is not the only country where Mr. Soros has been under fire. Surprisingly, all the criticism centres around his financing and support of protests against the Governments he does not like and is a vocal critic of. Mr. Biden is leaving behind for Americans a legacy of complexities by dubbing a man opposing nationalism across the globe to be a ‘patriot’. The Hungarian-American is also known as the man who broke the Central bank of England in 1992. The multi-billionaire has made huge money and has presence in more than a 100 countries across the globe through his Open Society Foundations. The activities funded and supported by him and the network of his organisations reflect his political interest in these countries. What has made him a villainous figure in many of these countries is his ‘opinions’ that are often presented by his network as ‘rightful interpretation of facts’. As a result, in his country of origin -- Hungary -- the Prime Minister Mr. Viktor Orban tried to stop Mr. Soros’ support for certain groups through what came to be known as ‘Stop Soros’ bill. Turkish President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, former Deputy Prime Minister of Italy Mr. Matteo Salvini, some British leaders also accused Mr. Soros of fomenting trouble.

 

Given these things, Mr. Soros comes across as a man who is constantly busy playing ‘power games’ in various countries including India. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections held last year in India, he had openly criticised Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. This was soon followed by several ‘civil society’ organisations, certain Western media outlets speaking his language and peddling narratives about alleged democratic backsliding in India. In sharp contrast, these organisations and Western media outlets kept celebrating or sympathising with countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh where human rights were being trampled upon. This led many to suspect that Mr. Soros and his network made money by way of disturbing an economy and currency speculation. In India, Mr. Soros has assumed the identity of someone conspiring to destabilise the country.

 

The ‘old, rich, and dangerous’ man, as described by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, has continued with his tirade against Indian Government and the party in power. Last month only, there was a stormy debate in Parliament over Mr. Soros. The ruling BJP accused the opposition Congress of having ties with Mr. Soros. Congress refuted the claims and levelled counter-allegations against the BJP. Against this backdrop, the Biden administration honouring Mr. Soros is being viewed as an attempt of granting some sort of legitimacy to the controversial multi-billionaire’s activities. This has not gone down well with various countries, including the allies of the US. Rather, Mr Biden honouring Mr. Soros is likely to be viewed as proof of the collusion of both with what is infamous as the ‘deep state’ in the US. This is going to disturb the US’ relations with different countries, which could be a challenge for Mr. Trump to face.