Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shaheen Bagh’s ‘Dadi’ Bilkis, who became the face of the Shaheen Bagh protests in Delhi, actor Ayushmann Khurrana are among the five Indians featured on the list of the “most people Influencers of the Year 2020 “from TIME magazine.
The annual list features pioneers, artists, titans, leaders and icons of those “who have had the biggest impact this year.”
While PM Modi appears in the “Leaders” category, Bilkis has appeared in “Icons” on the list.
PM Modi, who turned 70 this month, also last appeared on the magazine’s 2017 list.
Furthermore, Ayushmann Khurrana became the youngest Indian to appear on TIME’s list. The 36-year-old actor is among only three global players to appear on TIME’s list of influencers.
However, the most surprising addition to the coveted list was the famous Shaheen Bagh Dadi (Grandmother). Bilkis was among the leading figures in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA in 2019.
The 82-year-old man was known to sit at the protest site almost daily from morning until midnight for three months until protests stopped due to the spread of Covid-19.
Bilkis’s profile on TIME magazine’s list, written by journalist and writer Rana Ayyub, says that she (Bilkis) “became the voice of the marginalized in India.”
“With prayer beads in one hand and the national flag in the other, Bilkis became the voice of the marginalized in India, an 82-year-old man who sat in a place of protest from 8 am to midnight,” He says.
The other Indians featured on the magazine’s list include Google CEO Sundar Pichai and clinical microbiology professor Ravindra Gupta, who found a cure for AIDS.
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