India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has styled himself as a great communicator. But in moments of national tension, the Hindu nationalist leader invariably has little to say.
In the eyes of his critics, he has again failed to speak up, this time after two brutal cases that have rattled India: the alleged rape of a teenage girl, and the rape and killing of an 8-year-old Muslim girl.
Growing public anger over the cases has seen thousands of angry protesters take to the streets as the country’s opposition applies pressure to Mr Modi, who remained silent for days after the details of the crimes emerged.
In Mr Modi’s four years as prime minister, Hindu right-wingers – the base of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – have been involved in rapes, lynchings, murders and other criminal acts. Mr Modi has largely refused to comment on these incidents, which his critics say makes him complicit in bringing about “this terrifying state of affairs.”
A group of 49 retired bureaucrats who had once served in key posts in federal or state governments used that phrase in a heated letter delivered to Mr Modi on Sunday. Even after the two rapes – one allegedly by a BJP legislator in Uttar Pradesh who has now been arrested, the other allegedly by Kashmiri Hindu men who were subsequently defended by Hindu right-wing groups – Mr Modi had “chosen to remain silent, breaking your silence only when public outrage...reached a point when you could no longer ignore it,” the letter read.
Before Mr Modi came to power, he served as the chief minister of Gujarat for more than a decade, at a time when the Congress party – now in the opposition – formed the government. As a series of corruption scams tumbled out of that government, Mr Modi frequently mocked the then-prime minister, Manmohan Singh, for his silence, using the Hindi word “maun” for “mute” to dub him “Maunmohan Singh”.
Throughout his own 2014 election campaign and afterwards, Mr Modi promised to be more open and communicative than Mr Singh. He used his personal Twitter feed, where he boasts 42 million followers, to post a series of messages and greetings. On Mann Ki Baat, his monthly radio show, Mr Modi shares his thoughts about social or economic matters. Through his eponymous app, he pushes mass messages and emails designed to convey his policy ideas.
But in other ways, Mr Modi has become far more inaccessible and tight-lipped than his predecessor.
While Mr Singh held a number of press conferences, Mr Modi has not scheduled a single one during his tenure. His only major interviews have been a few carefully scripted appearances with star anchors on television shows, and questions put to the prime minister are regularly vetted.
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Read more:
India's appalling treatment of women is enabled by a culture of impunity
Fury as Indian authorities are accused of protecting rapists
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His public statements after disturbing events have been similarly short and generic. When he finally spoke out on Friday about the two rape cases, he did so as part of a larger political speech in Delhi. He referred to the rapes as “incidents being discussed for the past two days”, and he promised that “our daughters will definitely get justice”.
He made no reference to the fact that a lawmaker from his own party had been accused of rape in Uttar Pradesh. Nor did he mention that two BJP ministers in Kashmir had joined other Hindu nationalist groups in protesting the arrest of eight Hindu men on charges of committing or abetting rape in connection with the 8-year-old girl’s death.
Mr Modi has previously remained silent after similarly brutal cases. In 2015, after a mob of Hindu right-wingers beat up and lynched a Muslim man because they suspected he had beef in his house, he refrained from commenting for eight days. When he finally spoke, he offered just five sentences about communal harmony and brotherhood, as well as the need for Muslims and Hindus “to fight poverty together”.
The Indian leader has refused to disown or criticise members of his party, nor Hindu groups allied to the BJP, who have made controversial or incendiary remarks.
In January, a BJP legislator in Uttar Pradesh claimed that Hindus were in danger of being swamped by a rising Muslim population. Another leader warned, last year, that Muslims must vote for the BJP or “face difficulties.” Mr Modi did not respond to these remarks.
On Twitter, Mr Modi follows several accounts that post anti-Muslim messages, or that tweet rape or death threats to critics of the BJP. In 2015, when a Twitter user named Amitesh Singh spread a false rumor about Muslims taking a train of Hindus hostage and urged the murder of 3,000 Muslims in retaliation, his account was deleted. Mr Singh was a member of a youth organization affiliated with the BJP, and Mr Modi was one of his followers on Twitter.
In the run-up to India’s next general election in 2019, the nature of political rhetoric is only set to become more charged. The BJP’s leaders have proven themselves to be inflammatory in attack. If Mr Modi chooses not to rein them in with his own words, he will be tacitly encouraging them. His silence will, in fact, speak volumes.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
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Picture of Joumblatt and Hariri breaking bread sets Twitter alight
Mr Joumblatt’s pessimism regarding the Lebanese political situation didn’t stop him from enjoying a cheerful dinner on Tuesday with several politicians including Mr Hariri.
Caretaker Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury tweeted a picture of the group sitting around a table at a discrete fish restaurant in Beirut’s upscale Sodeco area.
Mr Joumblatt told The National that the fish served at Kelly’s Fish lounge had been very good.
“They really enjoyed their time”, remembers the restaurant owner. “Mr Hariri was taking selfies with everybody”.
Mr Hariri and Mr Joumblatt often have dinner together to discuss recent political developments.
Mr Joumblatt was a close ally of Mr Hariri’s assassinated father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The pair were leading figures in the political grouping against the 15-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon that ended after mass protests in 2005 in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s murder. After the younger Hariri took over his father’s mantle in 2004, the relationship with Mr Joumblatt endured.
However, the pair have not always been so close. In the run-up to the election last year, Messrs Hariri and Joumblatt went months without speaking over an argument regarding the new proportional electoral law to be used for the first time. Mr Joumblatt worried that a proportional system, which Mr Hariri backed, would see the influence of his small sect diminished.
With so much of Lebanese politics agreed in late-night meetings behind closed doors, the media and pundits put significant weight on how regularly, where and with who senior politicians meet.
In the picture, alongside Messrs Khoury and Hariri were Mr Joumbatt and his wife Nora, PSP politician Wael Abou Faour and Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Nazih el Nagari.
The picture of the dinner led to a flurry of excitement on Twitter that it signified an imminent government formation. “God willing, white smoke will rise soon and Walid Beik [a nickname for Walid Joumblatt] will accept to give up the minister of industry”, one user replied to the tweet. “Blessings to you…We would like you to form a cabinet”, wrote another.
The next few days will be crucial in determining whether these wishes come true.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
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Name: Yousef Al Bahar
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
