Modi— the tea seller’s son who became India’s populist hero

Modi— the tea seller’s son who became India’s populist hero
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi flashes victory sign at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters to celebrate the party’s win in country's general election, in New Delhi on June 4, 2024. (AFP/File)
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Updated 09 June 2024
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Modi— the tea seller’s son who became India’s populist hero

Modi— the tea seller’s son who became India’s populist hero
  • Modi was recently humbled in India’s recent election which forced his party into coalition with allies
  • He was born in 1950, the third of six children whose father sold tea at a railway station in Gujarat 

NEW DELHI: Once shunned and now eagerly courted by the West, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has steered his country away from its secular traditions and toward the Hindu-first politics he has championed for decades.

Modi’s political ascent was marred by allegations of his culpability in India’s worst religious riots this century, and his tenure has dovetailed with rising hostility toward Muslims and other minorities.

A decade after first sweeping to national office, the 73-year-old was humbled in just-concluded elections when his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was forced into a coalition government following a worse-than-expected showing.

He begins a third term in office on Sunday forced to rely on a motley assortment of minor parties to govern.

Supporters revere Modi’s tough-guy persona, burnished by his image as a steward of India’s majority faith and myth-making that played up his modest roots.

“They dislike me because of my humble origins,” he said in rallies ahead of 2019 elections, lambasting his opponents.

“Yes, a person belonging to a poor family has become prime minister. They do not fail to hide their contempt for this fact.”

Modi was born in 1950 in the western state of Gujarat, the third of six children whose father sold tea at a railway station.

An average student, his gift for rousing oratory was first seen with his keen membership of a school debate club and participation in theatrical performances.

But the seeds of his political destiny were sown at the age of eight when he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a hard-line nationalist group.

Modi dedicated himself to its cause of promoting Hindu supremacy in constitutionally secular India, even walking out of his arranged marriage soon after his wedding aged 18.

Remaining with his wife — whom he never officially divorced — would have hampered his advancement through the ranks of the RSS, which expected senior cadres to stay celibate.

The RSS groomed Modi for a career in its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which grew into a major force through the 1990s.

He was appointed chief minister of Gujarat in 2001 but the state was rocked by sectarian riots the following year, sparked by a fire that killed dozens of Hindu pilgrims.

At least 1,000 people were killed in the ensuing violence, with most of the victims Muslims.

Modi was accused of both helping stir up the unrest and failing to order a police intervention.
He later told a BBC reporter that his main weakness in responding to the riots was not knowing “how to handle the media.”

A probe by India’s top court eventually said there was no evidence to prosecute Modi, but the international fallout saw him banned from entering the United States and Britain for years.

However, it was a testament to India’s changing political tides that his popularity only grew at home.
He built a reputation as a leader ready to assert the interests of Hindus, who he contended had been held back by the secularist forces that ruled India almost continuously since independence from Britain.

Critics have sounded the alarm over a spate of prosecutions directed at Modi’s political rivals and the taming of a once-vibrant press.

India’s Muslim community of more than 200 million is also increasingly anxious about its future.

Modi’s rise to the premiership was followed by a spate of lynchings targeting Muslims for the slaughter of cows, a sacred animal in the Hindu tradition.

But Western democracies have sidestepped rights concerns in the hopes of cultivating a regional ally that can help check China’s assertiveness.

Modi was accorded the rare honor in the United States of a joint address to Congress and a White House state reception last year at President Joe Biden’s invitation.

He has taken credit for India’s rising diplomatic and economic clout, claiming that under his watch the country has become a “vishwaguru” — a teacher to the world.

Only now is India assuming its rightful global status, his party contends, after the historical subjugation of the country and its majority faith — first by the Muslim Mughal empire and then by the British colonial project.

Modi’s government has refashioned colonial-era urban landscapes in New Delhi, rewritten textbooks and overhauled British-era criminal laws in an effort to erase what it regards as symbols of foreign domination.

The project reached its peak in January when Modi presided over the opening of a new Hindu temple in the town of Ayodhya, built on grounds once home to a centuries-old Mughal mosque razed by Hindu zealots in 1992.

Modi said during the elaborate ceremony that the temple’s consecration showed India was “rising above the mentality of slavery.”

“The nation is creating the genesis of a new history,” he added.


Philippines’ Marcos keeps economic team, replaces foreign minister in cabinet revamp

Philippines’ Marcos keeps economic team, replaces foreign minister in cabinet revamp
Updated 15 sec ago
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Philippines’ Marcos keeps economic team, replaces foreign minister in cabinet revamp

Philippines’ Marcos keeps economic team, replaces foreign minister in cabinet revamp
  • Marcos had asked all his cabinet secretaries to resign following the government’s disappointing performance in midterm elections last week
  • Cabinet shake-up is widely seen as Marcos’ attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his term
MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will retain his trade, finance, budget and economic planning ministers but will replace the foreign minister in an overhaul of his cabinet, his executive secretary said on Friday. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin announced the changes after Marcos had asked all his cabinet secretaries to resign following the government’s disappointing performance in midterm elections last week. “The president decided to retain these five members of the economic team so that there will be no more problems of perception about where the country is going,” Bersamin told a briefing.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo will be replaced by his undersecretary, Theresa Lazaro, who will take the helm from July 31. Manalo was named as the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
The environment secretary will be replaced by the energy secretary, Bersamin said, adding the performance review was ongoing and decisions would be announced as they are made.
“More action will be coming,” he said.
The cabinet shake-up is widely seen as Marcos’ attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term after a bruising midterm election and in the wake of falling approval ratings.

In New Zealand’s Parliament, a battered cookie tin decides which new laws get debated

In New Zealand’s Parliament, a battered cookie tin decides which new laws get debated
Updated 10 min 57 sec ago
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In New Zealand’s Parliament, a battered cookie tin decides which new laws get debated

In New Zealand’s Parliament, a battered cookie tin decides which new laws get debated

WELLINGTON: Under the scrutiny of a black-robed official and before a hushed audience, a decorative cookie tin rattles like a bingo drum. Inside: the future of New Zealand ‘s laws.
The ceremonial lottery at Parliament, where bills are drawn randomly from what’s known as “the biscuit tin” in local parlance, is a way to ensure every New Zealand legislator has the chance to advance a proposed law, no matter how unpopular their bid. When a rare empty slot opens on Parliament’s agenda, the battered metal cookie tin is produced from a glass case and its solemn and silly rite is hastily arranged.
Inside the faded vessel with a peeling label might be an ambitious social initiative considered too risky for partisan support, a sensible but dull measure to tweak a statute, or a lawmaker’s controversial hobby horse that their party wishes they’d stop talking about. The tin doesn’t judge.
A quirky tin becomes a democratic tool
The quaintly patterned container, bought from a Wellington department store by a Parliament staffer in the early 1990s, might seem like a gag but the ritual selection of bills from it is a serious affair. Where decisions governing which bills are debated by legislators in Parliament are often determined by backroom brokering and subject to political gatekeeping, the cookie tin strikes an egalitarian note.
“We ate the biscuits, got some bingo tokens numbered one through to 90, I think, and that is the way that the random numbers are drawn now, rather than any kind of computer system,” said David Wilson, the Clerk of New Zealand’s House of Representatives. “Which has become quite an iconic part of our democracy.”
An unusual public ritual
Most laws that pass through New Zealand’s Parliament need never enter the ballot. They’re part of the government’s legislative agenda, advanced by senior legislators from ruling parties who already know their proposals will succeed by vote.
But on one day each fortnight that Parliament sits, bills drawn from the cookie tin are debated. On Thursday, with spaces for three new bills suddenly available, Wilson presided over a ballot in Parliament’s library.
A small crowd of staffers and lawmakers watched as the clerk’s colleagues tipped numbered bingo tokens representing each bill into the cookie tin with a flourish, shook the vessel, and drew. Spectators could find out by email which bills had won the lottery, Wilson said.
“I just think they quite like the performance of it,” he said.
All lawmakers who aren’t ministers are permitted to enter one bill at a time into the ballot. It’s drawn by someone who isn’t affiliated to a political party including school students or visitors celebrating birthdays.
So-called members’ bills – and ballot or negotiation systems to select which will advance – are a feature of Westminster parliamentary democracies worldwide. But Wilson did not know of another country with such an unusual ceremony.
Tradition replaces overnight scramble
The ritual began pragmatically, a bid to end a practice that wearied officials before. Once, lawmakers would race to the clerk’s office to submit bills when a spot on the agenda became free, sometimes queuing overnight.
It prompted the purchase of the cookie tin and a tradition that blends dry procedural necessity and New Zealand’s cheerful cultural irreverence. Visitors to Parliament can buy mugs and socks printed with the tin’s distinctive blue pattern at the gift shop.
Cookie tin shapes major laws
The lottery has produced some of New Zealand’s most notable modern laws. Bills legalizing marriage equality and voluntary euthanasia were once drawn from the cookie tin and eventually enacted after their sponsors launched sweeping public campaigns to sway the opinions of their peers.
That was the hope of two lawmakers whose measures were selected from the ballot Thursday and who said they would campaign to rally cross-party support.
Arena Williams will seek a law change forcing greater transparency about the fees associated with international money transfers, which she said would especially benefit working people who send money to their families abroad. It was the second of her measures selected from the tin, improbably good luck for a lawmaker of fewer than five years.
Meanwhile, a “delighted” Tim van de Molen, whose law would prohibit the improper use or disposal of military decorations, was celebrating his first cookie tin victory after seven and a half years in Parliament.
“It’s a quirky part of our system that I think is typically Kiwi,” he said. “It’s a pretty basic sort of system, but she’ll be right. It does the job.”


Ugandan activist arrested in Tanzania found ‘tortured’ at border: rights group

Ugandan activist arrested in Tanzania found ‘tortured’ at border: rights group
Updated 36 min 11 sec ago
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Ugandan activist arrested in Tanzania found ‘tortured’ at border: rights group

Ugandan activist arrested in Tanzania found ‘tortured’ at border: rights group
  • Ugandan activist and journalist Agather Atuhaire was arrested earlier this week alongside her Kenyan counterpart, Boniface Mwangi
  • Atuhaire and Mwangi were among activists who went to Tanzania to show solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu
KAMPALA: A Ugandan activist who was arrested and held “incommunicado” in Tanzania after attempting to attend a treason trial for an opposition leader has been found at the Ugandan border with “indications of torture,” a rights group said Friday.
Ugandan activist and journalist Agather Atuhaire was arrested earlier this week alongside her Kenyan counterpart, Boniface Mwangi, a prominent campaigner against corruption and police brutality in Kenya.
Atuhaire and Mwangi were among activists who went to Tanzania to show solidarity with opposition leader Tundu Lissu at the latest hearing of his treason trial on Monday.
Ugandan rights group Agora Discourse posted on X on Friday that Atuhaire had been found.
“She was abandoned at the border by Tanzanian authorities,” it said.
Its co-founder Spire Ssentongo said that “Agather is under the care of family and friends.”
“She was dumped at the border at night by the authorities and there are indications of torture,” Ssentongo added.
Police in Tanzania initially told a Tanzanian rights group that Mwangi and Atuhaire would be deported by air.
But Mwangi was also found abandoned on a roadside in northern Tanzania near the Kenyan border, according to the local newspaper Daily Nation.
“We were both treated worse than dogs, chained, blindfolded and underwent a very gruesome torture,” Mwangi told reporters on his return to Nairobi.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said earlier this week that foreign activists would not be allowed to interfere in the country’s affairs.
She urged security services “not to allow ill-mannered individuals from other countries to cross the line here.”

North Korea denies warship was severely damaged as full investigation underway on its failed launch

North Korea denies warship was severely damaged as full investigation underway on its failed launch
Updated 47 min 13 sec ago
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North Korea denies warship was severely damaged as full investigation underway on its failed launch

North Korea denies warship was severely damaged as full investigation underway on its failed launch
  • North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un expressed fury over an incident that he said was caused by criminal negligence
  • Satellite imagery on the site showed vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of it submerged

SEOUL: North Korea is seeking to arrest those responsible for the failed launch of its second naval destroyer, as it denied the warship suffered major damage – a claim quickly met with outside skepticism.

A statement from North Korea on its handling of the botched launch came after leader Kim Jong Un expressed fury over an incident that he said was caused by criminal negligence. The main military committee said Friday that those responsible would be held responsible for an “unpardonable criminal act.”

Satellite imagery on the site showed vessel lying on its side and draped in blue covers, with parts of it submerged. North Korea says it’ll take about 10 days to repair its damage, but outside observers question that timeframe because damage to the ship appeared much worse than what North Korea claims.

Here is what you need to know about the failed ship launch:

How much damage was there to the ship

North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, said Friday that the severity of the damage to the 5,000-ton-class destroyer was “not serious” as it canceled an earlier assessment that the bottom of the hull had been left with holes.

It said the hull on the starboard side was scratched and some seawater had flowed into the stern section. But it said it’ll take a total of 10 days to pump up the seawater, set the ship upright and fix the scratches.

It’s almost impossible to verify the assessment because of the extremely secretive nature of North Korea. It has a history of manipulating or covering up military-related setbacks, policy fiascoes and other mishaps, though it has periodically acknowledged some in recent years.

Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defense Network in South Korea, said the North Korean warship likely suffered much worse damage, including the flooding of its engine room located in the stern section, and holes in the starboard. He said North Korea could simply set the ship upright, paint it and claim the ship has been launched, but that repairs could take more than a year as the replacement of an engine requires cutting the hull.

Why the ship’s launch failed

According to the North Korean account, the destroyer was damaged when a transport cradle on the ship’s stern detached early during a launch ceremony at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday.

Moon Keun-sik, a navy expert who teaches at Seoul’s Hanyang University, said North Korean workers are probably not familiar with launching a 5,000-tonne-class warship, which is nearly three times heavier than its existing main navy ships.

Observers say North Korea tried to launch the destroyer sideways, a method it has never used for warships, although it has previously employed it with big cargo and passenger ships.

Compared with those non-military vessels, Lee sad it would be more difficult to maintain balance with the destroyer because it’s equipped with heavy weapons systems. He suspected North Korean scientists and workers likely did not factor that in.

How Kim has reacted

The damaged ship is assessed as the same class as North Korea’s first destroyer, launched with great fanfare last month with a floating dry dock at a western shipyard. It is North Korea’s biggest and most advanced warship to date, and Kim called its construction “a breakthrough” in modernizing North Korea’s naval forces to cope with what he calls US-led security threats.

Subsequently, a failure to launch the second destroyer was an embarrassment for Kim. But by disclosing it to both internally and externally, Kim could be trying to show his resolve in modernizing naval forces and boost discipline at home. He ordered officials to thoroughly investigate the case and repair the warship before a high-level ruling Workers’ Party meeting in late June.

North Korea said Friday the country’s Central Military Commission summoned Hong Kil Ho, manager of the Chongjin shipyard, as it begun its investigation of the failed launch.

“No matter how good the state of the warship is, the fact that the accident is an unpardonable criminal act remains unchanged, and those responsible for it can never evade their responsibility for the crime,” the commission said, according to state media.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea appears to be using the failed launch as a chance to strengthen the ruling party’s control over science and technological sectors.

Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said that North Korea’s handling of the damaged warship could have long-term consequences for its defense science sector, especially if military scientists face harsh punishment.

“If scientists are held severely accountable, I would say the future of North Korea’s defense science doesn’t look very bright, as it would be a sign that political responsibility is being prioritized over technical accountability,” Lee wrote on Facebook.


British king to visit Ottawa amid Trump-Canada tension

British king to visit Ottawa amid Trump-Canada tension
Updated 48 min 55 sec ago
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British king to visit Ottawa amid Trump-Canada tension

British king to visit Ottawa amid Trump-Canada tension
  • The 76-year-old monarch is also Canada’s head of state as part of the Commonwealth
  • Queen Camilla will accompany him on the 24-hour visit to the capital Ottawa

LONDON: Britain’s King Charles III will travel to Canada early next week for a brief but “impactful” visit, at a time when President Donald Trump is floating the idea of making his northern neighbor the 51st US state.

The 76-year-old monarch, who is also Canada’s head of state as part of the Commonwealth, has never publicly commented on the ambitions of the US president, a noted admirer of the royal family.

Despite battling cancer for over a year, Charles accepted an invitation from Canada’s newly appointed Prime Minister Mark Carney to deliver the “speech from the throne” at the reopening of parliament on May 27, outlining the new center-left government’s priorities.

Queen Camilla will accompany him on the 24-hour visit to the capital Ottawa.

“The King and Queen are very much looking forward to the program, mindful that it is a short visit but hopefully an impactful one,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said as the couple’s May 26-27 itinerary was released this week.

The throne speech is expected to draw close scrutiny, especially on sovereignty and trade, amid Trump’s renewed rhetoric about annexing the country of 41 million and his recent imposition of higher tariffs.

Charles “will outline our government’s plan to build Canada strong,” Carney said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Earlier he said: “This is a historic honor which matches the weight of our times.”

Traditionally, the speech is read by the governor general, the monarch’s representative in Canada.

The last British sovereign to deliver the speech in Canada was Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.

Carney, who became prime minister in late April, made defending Canada’s sovereignty central to his campaign.

During a May 6 meeting at the White House, he told Trump that Canada “is not for sale.”

“It won’t be for sale, ever,” he said, responding to the US president’s talk of the “tremendous benefits” of a “wonderful marriage.”

This will be Charles’s 20th visit to Canada, but his first since becoming king in September 2022. It is Camilla’s sixth visit and her first as queen.

The visit will begin Monday afternoon with a community event at the city’s Lansdowne Park celebrating Canada’s diversity and cultural heritage through music and crafts.

The king will also meet with Carney and Governor General Mary Simon.

At Rideau Hall, the official residence of the governor general, the king will plant a tree before a short reception with the lieutenant governors of Canada’s 10 provinces and the territorial commissioners.

On May 27, the king and queen will ride in a carriage pulled by 28 horses to the Senate for the throne speech, scheduled around 1500 GMT, with full military honors.

The visit will conclude with a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

A Canadian doctor has been assigned to the king, who is undergoing weekly treatment for an unspecified cancer.