MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Standing on a stage in the centre of one of India’s most prestigious universities, the firebrand politician looked out at the cheering supporters before him and issued a sharp challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The idea of India is under threat,” said Kanhaiya Kumar, a leftist politician from the northeastern state of Bihar, his voice rising in the cold evening air. “We will not stop. Let the government use force. Let them bring the police.” He paused. “We will rise to prove them wrong. Listen, Modi!”
“Freedom!” the crowd chanted after each line Kumar barked from the stage, jabbing his hand in the air for emphasis and occasionally fingering the red scarf slung around his neck.
The 33-year-old Bihari politician has emerged in recent weeks as a major irritant and political challenge to Modi, a Hindu nationalist who has faced escalating protests over a citizenship law he introduced in December. Critics say the law, the Citizenship Amendment Act, marginalises India’s Muslim minority and undermines the country’s secular ethos.
There is no single leader in the protests, which are sweeping university campuses and which some students say are inspired by the leaderless anti-government protests in Hong Kong. But a recording of Kumar’s “Freedom” anthem is played at almost all of them, with the crowds joining in for the chorus.
Modi has won back-to-back national elections with strong majorities, and the Communist Party of India faction that Kumar leads has little clout nationally. But a senior aide to the prime minister says the government is worried that his prominence and messaging could undermine Modi’s policies and weaken him politically.
Kumar’s message has largely focused on accusations that Modi has failed to address rising unemployment and create jobs for millions of young Indians, and that his hardline pro-Hindu policies are undermining the country’s secular identity and making life difficult for minorities like Muslims.
When asked about his policies in a telephone interview with Reuters, Kumar declined to make “political promises” beyond pledging to uphold the constitution, saying his main aim was to hold the government to account.
“Let us not forget Modi has used religion to accentuate the fault lines, and he has failed to create jobs. I don’t want anyone to forget this,” said Kumar.
OPPOSITION SUPPORT
While analysts say that Kumar’s rise does not immediately threaten Modi, it could provide a basis for a resurgence of the opposition parties that were trounced by the prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the national elections in May.
Several political parties, including the main opposition Congress party, have tried to enlist Kumar to their camps, but he has so far been non-committal.
“His presence widens the scope for the fragmented opposition to unite in the near term to dent Modi’s governing style,” said Sanjay Kumar, director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, an independent research institute in Delhi.
Kanhaiya Kumar’s speech at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which has been rocked repeatedly by clashes between opponents and proponents of the new law, attracted hundreds of supporters on Jan 7.
But his words have resonated far beyond the gates of JNU’s leafy campus.
Kumar’s speeches are watched avidly by his supporters – he has about 2 million YouTube subscribers and a million Twitter followers – and his anti-Modi slogans are chanted at protests across the country.
While he has been a well-known critic of the Modi government for several years, the recent protests have put him at centre stage in the fragmented and weakened political opposition.
“Kumar is unique and forces everyone to think and question. He has been able to fill the gap created by absence of opposition,” said Sanjay Kumar of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
COMMON ROOTS
While they are separated in age by almost four decades, Kumar has much in common with Modi, who is 69. Both come from humble backgrounds, are skilful orators and are firmly committed to their political ideologies.
Modi is the son of a roadside tea seller; Kumar’s father was a farmer and his mother works for a rural childcare centre in Bihar, one of the most populous but also poorest states in India. Kumar did well at school, and was able to attend university in Patna, the state capital, where he studied geography and got involved in student politics.
He was later admitted to JNU, which has a reputation for leftist politics, and earned a doctorate in African studies and became president of the student council.
It was also at JNU that Kumar first shot to national prominence. In 2016, he was arrested at an on-campus rally and charged with sedition for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans.
In an interview with Reuters, Kumar denied the charges and said Modi government’s was trying to muzzle dissent. The courts have yet to begin hearing in the case.
“My critical thinking and ability to question Modi’s hard-line Hindu policies have scared the government since 2016,” Kumar said. “Now, I am not alone. More and more people are joining our movement against Modi.”
Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act have raged across India since December. At least 25 people have died and thousands of protesters have been arrested. The new law eases the path for people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to gain Indian citizenship, but only non-Muslims.
Critics fear the new law will be used to discriminate against Muslims in India, one of many measures issued by Modi’s Hindu nationalist government that they fear is chipping away at India’s secular constitution.
https://arynews.tv/en/kanhaiya-kumar-anti-modi-mantra/
NEW YORK: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has raised concern over the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
The UNSC met behind-closed-doors in New York discussed the grave situation in Indian occupied Kashmir for the second time in five months, reported Radio Pakistan.
After the meeting, China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told reporters at UN Headquarters that we had a meeting on Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the 15-member Council heard a briefing from the UN Secretariat on the situation.
Mr. Zhang said the issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan is always on the agenda of the Security Council.
Replying to a question, the Chinese Ambassador to the UN said our position on Kashmir issue is very clear.
China regards Kashmir as a territory disputed between India and Pakistan and supports UN resolutions calling for the exercise by Kashmiri people of their right of self-determination through a UN-supervised plebiscite.
Read more: FM Qureshi briefs UN’s Antonio Guterres on occupied Kashmir issue
To another question, the Chinese envoy said he is sure the meeting helped both parties to understand the risk of further escalation and will encourage them to approach to each other and to have dialogue and to seek means to seek solutions through dialogues.
The Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Political and Peace-building Affairs briefed the UN Security Council on the situation in Kashmir, followed by a discussion on the situation among Council members in which all of them participated.
https://arynews.tv/en/unsc-concern-tensions-india-pakistan/
NEW YORK (Dunya News) - UN Security Council members held rare talks on the disputed region of Kashmir on Wednesday amid ongoing concerns over the flashpoint between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India.
United Nations Security Council held a closed-door consultation on Kashmir after a nudge from China. A reiteration for the second round of closed-door consultations was requested by China under "AOB" (Any Other Business).
The meeting is based on an old request raised by Pakistan in December 2019.
The 15-member body met at around in New York to consult on the situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) related to political detentions and continued internet restrictions in the IoK.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun warned of “tensions” in the region and said council members heard from a UN official about the “situation on the ground” and then “exchanged views” on the divisive issue.
After the meeting, senior Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyanskiy said the 15-nation body had discussed the contentious Indian-administered region, where New Delhi has been accused of abuses against its mostly-Muslim population.
“Russia firmly stands for the normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan. We hope that differences between them will be settled through bilateral efforts based on the 1972 Simla Agreement and the 1999 Lahore Declaration,” he said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was also set to attend UN meetings in New York on Wednesday afternoon.
China has long voiced concern over the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir, and said it supports Pakistan in its fight for the Kashmiris.
India and Pakistan both hold Kashmir in part and claim the Himalayan region in full. China also controls part of the contested region, but it is India and Pakistan that have fought two wars over the territory.
UN peacekeepers have been deployed since 1949 to observe a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Long-fraught relations between the two South Asian nuclear rivals flared up further after India scrapped the special provisions of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and imposed a near-complete lockdown on Aug. 5.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other major international campaign outfits have repeatedly called on India to lift restrictions, release political detainees and switch all telecommunications back on.
https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/528122-UN-Security-Council-holds-closed-door-meeting-on-Kashmir
No comments:
Post a Comment