Mention of George Soros conjures diverse emotions, depending on who is asked. He is without doubt the favourite bogeyman of the hardright like French ultranationalist Marie Le Pen, Hungarian authoritarian Viktor Orban, Israeli hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Turkish ultraconservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, British Brexiteer-conservative Nigel Farage or more recently Donald Trump and his latest troubleshooter, Elon Musk.

Conversely, Soros has been a funder of the Democratic Party in the US and has self-confessedly supported causes that are inherently liberal and pro-democracy, through his muchbandied Open Society Foundation that operates in over 120 countries. But as the world turns hard-right, conspiracy theorists attribute much of the ‘DeepState’ allusions to the 94-yearold who has already donated nearly $35 billion, and is believed to be only worth about $6 billion now. Former President Joe Biden recently conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Soros recognising the philanthropist for, “supporting key pillars of open societies: rights and justice, equity and equality, freedom now and in the future.

Advertisement

His inspiring generosity reminds us of all of our capacity and our obligation to stand up to the abuse of power and to be guardians of democracy and all people yearning to be free”. A completely contrarian impression, even to the one getting increasingly asserted in India, is due to the prevailing political dynamics, polarisation and partisan preferences. That Elon Musk is called the ‘George Soros of the Right’, given that the co-billionaire........

© The Statesman