Billionaire Geroge Soros sparks row proposing billion-dollar fund to counter 'nationalism'; slams Trump, Modi and Jinping
Davos/IBNS: To counter nationalism which is often weaponised by several powerful contemporary world leaders, billionaire financier George Soros, who himself was under fire in his homeland Hungary some years ago for allegedly supporting illegal migration, has come up with a unique but potentially controversial plan to make a fund to set up a global network of higher educational institutions.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum here, Soros unveiled the plan which will target students through various initiatives to counter the "resurgent" nationalism across the world.
Talking about nationalism, it was obvious for Soros to take the name of US President Donald Trump apart from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I believe that as a long-term strategy our best hope lies in access to quality education, specifically an education that reinforces the autonomy of the individual by cultivating critical thinking and emphasising academic freedom," said Soros at Davos.
Besides calling Trump as "conman and the ultimate narcissist", Soros came down heavily upon Modi who is a member of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
1/- George Soros is pushing 90.
— dv (@strawsInTheWind) January 24, 2020
Grant him his senility.
He’s the munificent idol of a huge global chair-borne army.
It needs to pander to his Messiah-complex and jerk dollars off his wallet to keep it in Single Malt.
pic.twitter.com/KWgmbUKIKI
Holding India as an example of a sufferer of nationalism, he said, "Nationalism far from being reversed made further headway. The biggest and most frightening setback was in India where the democratically elected Narendra Modi created a Hindu nationalist state imposing punitive measures on Kashmir a semi-autonomous Muslim region and threatening to five millions of Muslims of their citizenship." (sic)
Soros attacked Xi saying the Chinese President is trying to establish total control over his people through technology.
"The world would be a better place if they weren't in power," he added in a scathing attack on the three powerful world leaders.
However, the Hedge fund mogul himself is not free from controversy. Politicians in Hungary in the past had accused him of supporting illegal migration amidst a refugee crisis.
According to a 2015 CNBC report, Soros was slammed by the country's Prime Minister "for promoting liberal migrant policies and backing a variety of organizations through his pro-democracy charity that have criticized the way Orban’s government has dealt with the crisis."
In opinion pieces published by the Financial Times and Project Syndicate, Soros had said frontline states like Hungary were shirking their asylum obligations, and controversially suggested that a comprehensive European refugee plan should provide each asylum seeker with $16,800 annually for two years to help cover housing, health care and education costs.
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