Month: April 2024

On January 30th, 2020, I stood up in the European Parliament. I waved my Union Jack flag, I said goodbye, I caught Eurostar, and today is my first public return to Brussels in four years.

Now, I hadn’t expected to be welcomed exactly with open arms by this community, but what happened today was truly extraordinary.

A conference being held by NatCon, National Conservatism, run by the Edmund Burke Society, based in Washington DC, bringing together conservative voices from America, the UK and the whole of Europe.

Attending the conference, members of European royal families, very senior businessmen and business women, elected representatives from national parliaments from the European Parliament, leaders of political parties who will top the polls in at least nine countries in the European Union in the June elections of this year and tomorrow morning, due to speak, the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban.

But of course, the devil of the whole piece is me, because the others are all skeptical about Brussels. I’m the one that led a campaign for us to leave it.

Indeed, I think the rest of Europe should leave it. So I’m used to being treated badly.

But what happened today to me and everybody else that expresses the view that ever closer political union is not a desirable goal is, I think, truly reminiscent in many ways of the old Soviet Union.

If you don’t toe the line, you’re to be banned. If you don’t toe the line, you are mad, bad, probably mentally ill, and really quite dangerous.

So the conference was planned a couple of months ago. 48 hours ago, the venue that was holding this conference were contacted by the Mayor of Brussels, the Mayor of the whole city of Brussels, a man who was very happy to have the Mayor of Tehran here last year as a guest. They were contacted, and it was suggested they shouldn’t go ahead with the conference. They cancelled.

We then moved on yesterday morning to a place, a Sofitel in Place Jordan. And last night, at about 7:30, the local mayor of that district of Brussels, a Belgium Liberal, a friend of my friend Guy Verhofstadt, said the conference can’t go ahead. At 9:00 last night, the NatCon organisers found a venue in the San Jose district of Brussels run by a Tunisian businessman. It’s effectively a nightclub. He said, look, I don’t care what your opinions are, provided you stick within the law and don’t smash the place up, I’m very happy to have your business.

And yet the local mayor of San Jose, a man who is being kicked out of the Belgian Socialist Party because of his links with extremist Islamist groups in Turkey, applied pressure on a level you can’t believe, directly telephoning the owner of the club. The owner’s wife being threatened online, suppliers who were due to bring in cutlery, crockery, food, drinks for lunch, being told if you deliver to this venue, to this event, you will go out of business.

And I turned up in the middle of all of this and whilst I was on stage, the Belgium Police came into the venue with an instruction from the local mayor to close down the meeting. Now, there were only three of them. There were many, many high hundreds inside the room. There were also TV cameras there from all over the world, and the police kind of bottled out of doing it.

But they closed the venue, didn’t allow anyone else in, including former French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who was denied entry to the building. Later on, the police were there in riot gear, fearing for public order.

Now there was no danger of public order from within the room, but a counter demonstration was planned, which about five or six saddos turned up to say we shouldn’t be there, we’re not entitled to our views. It has been truly the most extraordinary day in Brussels.

Now, for me, this is nothing. In my last years here, I was barred from coffee bars, barred from restaurants, even barred from a pub I’d been using for 20 years. But today they brought that cancel culture, they brought that intolerance onto the world stage.

And now, from British TV stations across America and the whole of Europe, everyone can see the true face of this European Union.

https://www.gbnews.com/opinion/nigel-farage-brussels-natcon-police-soviet-union

Left unchecked, leftists will erase Germany. The last Germans will see their liberties progressively choked off to nothing in the name of the green ideology that has been employed to destroy them. Soon they may be forbidden from driving on weekends to please the climate:

Germany’s transport minister has warned that driving will have to be banned at the weekends unless the country’s net zero laws are changed.

Volker Wissing’s FDP party wants the law amended so the polluting transport sector can miss carbon emissions reduction targets, as long as Germany as a whole reaches them.

But the change is opposed by the Greens, who are part of the three-way coalition with the pro-business FDP and the Social Democrats (SPD), led by Olaf Scholz, the chancellor. …

Greenhouse emissions in Europe’s biggest economy fell to the lowest level in 70 years in 2023, but the transport sector has been consistently failing to meet its climate targets.

The climate cult won’t rest until Germany produces no emissions at all — that is, until it ceases to exist.

Moonbattery German Climate Kookery Threatens Driving on Weekends – Moonbattery

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), which is the “professional body” and trade union which represents member physiotherapists in the UK, has launched its first “definitive position statement on transphobia” with the publication of its “position statement on transphobia.” The publication has sent a chill through the profession, as anonymous whistleblowers express concerns about censorship.

The “transphobia” statement describes the aim of “eradicating [transphobia] from our profession” by instructing members that they “must raise concerns about colleagues” if they think that the colleague’s “personal values, biases and beliefs” have led them to “discriminate” against others, with discrimination including “denying” someone’s “gender identity or refusing to accept it.”

The publication was accompanied by an announcement by the CPS declaring that the “Transphobia statement is a milestone for the profession.”

In unpublished internal memos provided to Reduxx by an anonymous member, the CSP vows to prevent its “channels being used to spread transphobia” and urges members to report colleagues and comments to the Corporate Comms Team. 

The published definitions were created following a consultation process announced by the “LGBTQIA+ voice and network of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Definitions of Transphobia Working Group,” with a “Statement of Intent” in January of 2023.

After a year of deliberations, the CSP announced on X that it had adopted its first “definitive position statement on transphobia.”

Following dialogue involving our LGBTQIA+ Network and Equity, Diversity and Belonging committee, the CSP has adopted our first definitive position statement on transphobia https://t.co/jGqJ8Ry0It

— Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (@thecsp) April 11, 2024

Stephanie Land, chair of the CSP LGBTQIA+ network, thanked staff and members for their “efforts and emotional labour” invested in creating the “pivotal piece of work.”

The position statement attempts to define “transphobia” for the “safety of transgender members and transgender patients” and describes it as “complex” and stating: “There is no definitive list of transphobic behaviours, but it includes, for example, the questioning of a transgender person’s gender identity.”

Citing a definition by “TransActual” the statement goes on to say:

 “The consequence of transphobia is that trans people struggle to live openly and comfortably in society. An ultimate outcome may be the erasure of trans people as a viable class of people. Transphobia includes, but is not limited to:

Attempting to remove trans people’s rights.

Misrepresenting trans people.

Abuse.

Systematically excluding trans people from discussions about issues that directly affect them.

Other forms of discrimination.

(Source: TransActual)”

Sarine Baz, chair of the CSP Equity, Diversity and Belonging committee, stated in the announcement that “transphobia,” as defined by the CPS, is “never acceptable” and that “’expressing negative attitudes or feelings towards transgender individuals, or other transphobic actions, can’t be tolerated.”  

The position statement lists CPS commitments with No.6 in the list describing the commitment for members to “show allyship by challenging transphobia outside the profession.” It also instructs member physiotherapists to take political stances, “including opposing so called “conversion therapy,” which has been under consultation in the UK for proposed new laws to enforce bans on “conversion therapy”  which, according to the BBC, “include practices aimed at transgender people.”

The CSP statement goes on to say that: “But in doing so we note the advice of the Equity, Diversity and Belonging Committee not to hold or take positions on the following issues: trans athletes, single sex services outside healthcare or gender recognition legislation.”

The Equity, Diversity and Belonging committee has members who specialize in sports and sex-specific sporting injuries and members who focus on the specific experiences of black and ethnic minority people.

The Position Statement also declares that it will censor comments from members and the public on forums where members discuss issues, stating “We will not allow transphobic comments to be published on the CSP website, on iCSP, in our e-bulletins or in Frontline.” 

While aiming to encourage “the development of safe spaces for education around transgender issues. Discussing discrimination can be challenging and people should feel safe to discuss how we address all forms of oppression … centred on the experience of those who are oppressed.”

The Position Statement includes reference to the new Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) standards of conduct which come into force in September 2024. The HCPC regulates registered physiotherapists who are members of the CPS. The provisions quoted include that members must “take action to ensure that your personal values, biases and beliefs do not lead you to discriminate against service users, carers or colleagues.” 

Reduxx has obtained unpublished internal CSP documents circulated to members, warning that “[the CSP] are seeking to prevent negative and transphobic voices pre-empting this statement” and that they alerted LGBTQIA+ Network members “via WhatsApp” so that members can “emotionally prepare” for the launch.

The briefing paper states that the CSP is “taking a position on trans rights” because it stands for “human rights and against all forms of discrimination and hatred” and states that “transphobia in the workplace and within healthcare is damaging and destructive for transgender and non-binary people… it is a barrier to the culture of safety needed to progress physiotherapy into an equitable, diverse and inclusive way.”

The paper also notes that there is “no legal or consensus definition of transphobia,” leading the CPS to have to develop one on their own.

Describing what action the CPS will take against the undefined transphobia, it states it will “challenge transphobia outside the profession” and the Equity, Diversity and Belonging Committee “will actively monitor progress.”

In a question on whether “transphobic members” would be penalized, the CSP says it is not the arbiter of professional complaints, and that the HCPC will instead decide on complaints. However, the updated CSP voluntary code will “inform that work” of the HCPC in making their judgement on complaints.

Members are told that the CSP commits to “preventing our channels being used to spread transphobia. We do not monitor posts in real time but will remove or edit comments which do not conform to the position statement as soon as we can. If you have concerns about anything you see on our channels please let the Corporate Comms Team (if you are staff) or [EMAIL] (if you are a member) as soon as possible.”

Members were instructed that following the statement “on 11 April supportive commentary on the statement, wider commentary showing allyship on trans issues, will be acceptable.”

When hypothetically asked how the CSP members should manage social media commentary they are advised that “there is a risk that people outside the profession may choose to get involved online… this may include very challenging behaviour which could be distressing.” They are told “do not get into protracted exchanges with those who don’t agree with us. Instead put our positive messages, without reference to the negatives, in order to counter them.”

After that, they are told to report hateful comments to the website administrators, social media companies and the police. 

CSP’s position statement garnered much attention on social media from those concerned with gender ideology’s impact on women’s rights. Notably, Maya Forstater, who won an Employment Appeal Tribunal that found that her “gender critical beliefs” were protected under UK equality law, highlighted her concerns with the new CSP Policy.

“Have you consulted a lawyer before producing this? Ask them about Meade v WCC & Social Work England,” Forstater asked, pointing to a recent case judgment in 2024 which found that a social worker named Rachel Meade was unlawfully harassed and discriminated against in the workplace by her employer on the basis of her “gender critical beliefs.”

The CSP statement on transphobia was published one day after the much-anticipated Cass Review which “demolished” the NHS’s “entire gender treatment model” and highlighted ideological guidelines on the discussion of “transgender” issues having detrimentally impacted health care professional’s behaviors and practices.

https://reduxx.info/exclusive-uk-physiotherapist-leaders-announce-goal-to-eradicate-critics-of-gender-ideology-from-the-profession

Australia is a tinderbox ready to explode after the knife attack in the Sydney Church yesterday.

Is political speech free in the capital of Europe? Incredibly, given the antics of the Brussels mayor and other officials over the past few days, the answer seems to be no. Pay attention: the scandalous events of the last week have massive symbolic weight for the future of Europe. 

Yoram Hazony has been hosting National Conservatism (NatCon) conferences on two continents for the past few years. On Monday, the day before the April 16 kickoff of this week’s event in Brussels, the Israeli-American scholar, who runs the Edmund Burke Foundation which is sponsoring the conference, should have been busy putting the final touches on the gathering. 

This week’s meeting features Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, former French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, senior right-wing British politicians Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage, MEP Ryszard Legutko, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, and other conservative intellectuals (including me) from the UK and Europe. Critics have denounced NatCon as a ‘far right’ gathering. Absurd. If you want to know where the vital conservative center is in Europe today, you will come to NatCon Brussels to see for yourself.

Yet disgracefully, the event nearly didn’t go forward. It was cancelled twice—by two different venues. While no one formally banned NatCon from gathering in Brussels, the city’s Socialist mayor, Philippe Close, simply pressured venues that promised to host the conference to drop the event. 

NatCon had agreed with Concert Noble to return to the venue for its second NatCon Brussels. Last week, only days before the opening session, Edificio, the company that manages the Concert Noble, withdrew from its commitment to host the conference. Edificio said it had faced pressure from the mayor, who himself was instigated to act by the Belgian Anti-Fascist Coordination (Antifa). 

In a statement Friday, the venue owners said, “Edificio has no intention of taking any position other than that of respecting the key European values of democracy which have enabled Belgium and the European Union, of which Brussels is the capital, to enjoy a long period of peace and prosperity since the Second World War.”

This is both cowardly and a lie. Not a single speaker appearing at NatCon is anti-democratic. Not one. The Brussels mayor, on the other hand, abuses the power of his office to silence political speech he doesn’t like, by pressuring a business owner not only to sever a contract, but to release a shameful statement proclaiming its support for ‘democracy’ when it has just taken a flagrantly undemocratic decision. 

Given Antifa’s proven record of using violence to enforce its beliefs, it cannot be ruled out that Edificio also acted to protect its property from vandalism at the hands of the far-left mob. If so, capitulating to the threats of political thugs is an action with precedent in Europe’s 20th century history, but it has nothing to do with democracy. This is “peace and prosperity” purchased at the cost of principle and freedom. 

The NatCon team scrambled to find another venue at the last minute, and secured space at the Sofitel Brussels Europe, in the Etterbeek commune in Brussels. Incredibly, on the eve of the conference, Sofitel pulled out. In fact, lawyers had to go before a Belgian judge on behalf of the organizers to try to enforce the contract by court order.  

The mayor of Etterbeek told The Brussels Times that he “informed the local police authorities, who contacted Sofitel and the management decided to cancel the event.” 

The Etterbeek mayor went on to say that the NatCon organizers were unhappy about this. “The police arrived to explain that the Sofitel wasn’t the one to cancel and that this was the right thing to do,” he said. “They then left peacefully.” This is patently untrue. The police never approached or even spoke to the NatCon organizers.

Think about that: rather than defend the right of European citizens and invited guests to gather peacefully to hear speeches, Brussels’ leaders served the enemies of free speech and democracy. 

According to an open letter (in which they make a slanderous accusation against me), a coalition of Belgian Antifa organizations are planning to “remain vigilant” to shut down NatCon. The Guardian more or less reprinted the Antifa press release. 

Somehow, the organizers found a third venue, the name of which they are keeping under wraps for now, and the event will go on as planned. If Antifa discovers its location, and attacks the gathering, will Belgian police protect us? It is terrifying that any European has to wonder.

Yet the conference must go on. The far Left and its sleazy accomplices in government cannot be allowed to prevail over the fundamental principles of free speech in a liberal democracy. These mayors have disgraced their cities by treating them like an American college campus. They send the signal that the only Europeans allowed to assemble and speak in Brussels are those on the Left, and figures of the feeble European establishment Right, who pose no challenge to the status quo. 

Why is the mayor of Brussels so afraid to allow a contrary opinion to be heard in his city? It is somehow fitting that Mayor Philippe Close has taken this contemptible stand. Typical of the Left’s worst politicians, Close cannot bring himself to face the reality of life in contemporary Europe. 

For example, he governs a city with a large Islamic population, one that is home to one of Europe’s most radical Muslim communities. Last month, Belgian police arrested four young jihadists who were allegedly planning to carry out a terror attack on a Brussels cultural center. The terror watch level in Brussels as NatCon gathers is at level three, with level four being the highest rating. Jews in Brussels report that antisemitism has increased dramatically since the October 7 attacks in Israel. Funnily enough, Jews in Budapest, and in Hungary, are not having these problems. 

And yet, when a newspaper twice asked him about rising Islamism in the Belgian capital, the atheist mayor warned about the threat of “Catholic fundamentalism”—this, in a country where the Catholic Church is in steep decline. 

Mayor Close is an archetypal left-wing politician in that he fights the enemies of democracy he wishes he had, rather than the ones that actually exist. The kind of speakers and attendees who come to NatCon are looking for an alternative to both the European Left, with its lunatic values of wokeness, open borders, multiculturalism, and gender ideology; and the feckless European establishment Right, which has conserved nothing. 

Who knows? By the time you read this, the third venue might have been intimidated into kicking NatCon out on the streets. If it does, then we will stand on the sidewalks of Europe’s capital if we must, and speak the truth. We cannot be intimidated by these bigots and thugs. What they are trying to do to NatCon in Brussels today symbolizes what they will do to everyone on the European Right tomorrow, if given the chance. 

These people have hollowed out democracy and wear it as a skin suit. That much is clear by their attempt to silence an intellectual conference featuring a democratically elected head of an EU member state government, a distinguished Catholic cardinal, and other top conservative figures. A Europe in which government officials, collaborating with left-wing mobs, shut down open debate, in part by pressuring businesses to do the government’s bidding, is neither liberal nor democratic. 

We of the National Conservative coalition refuse to live by the lies these people expect us to. We will not go meekly into the shadows. European voters should watch closely what happens here this week, and let it inform their vote in this June’s European Parliamentary elections. What Antifa and its government collaborators are doing to us this week, they will do to you if you give them the chance.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/we-will-not-go-meekly

The political world has been reacting to the expulsion of Saint-Josse mayor Emir Kir from the French-speaking socialist party PS.

Kir was expelled on Friday following a controversial meeting with a delegation of Turkish mayors (photo), which included two from the right-wing ultra-nationalist MHP party. He was also accused of having paid his respects to an MHP mayor on a recent trip to Turkey.

PS president Paul Magnette was unapologetic about the expulsion. While the decision was made by the disciplinary committee of the Brussels federation of the party, he said he had noted the result. “This sanction is a result of the failure to respect the cordon sanitaire,” he said. “For the PS, respect [of the cordon] applies to all elected representatives of the extreme right, whoever they may be and wherever they may come from.”

Political reactions to expulsion of Kir from socialist party (brusselstimes.com)

Islam teacher from Ar-Rahmah Islamic center in Veenendaal makes tempestuous statement during podcast.

VEENENDAAL Dutch Muslims are obliged to hate non-Muslims, and hostility is necessary toward other believers. So says Islam teacher Musa Ibn Yusuf of the Ar-Rahmah Islamic center in Veenendaal, reports De Telegraaf.

The faith center became discredited earlier.
Musa Ibn Yusuf makes his recommendations in a podcast on YouTube. He responds to an apparently heartwarming message: A church provided parking spots for an adjacent mosque during the month of Ramadan.

On social media, that gesture was praised as an example of togetherness. But Musa Ibn Yusuf ignited in anger when he saw it. “There is no togetherness with Christians,” he said in a podcast on YouTube. “Togetherness is just wrong. There is just hatred toward those who do not believe in the enlightenment of Islam.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmuslim/comments/1c2aq6k/islam_center_veenendaal_dutch_muslims_are_obliged

Police entered a conservative event in Brussels on Tuesday afternoon to serve notice that all those inside should leave within 15 minutes.

A standoff developed as organisers of the National Conservative conference refused to sign the notice document on the grounds that they would launch a legal appeal.

Notice was served as keynote speaker Nigel Farage addressed a gathering of several hundred at Claridge, a nightclub in the Saint-Josse-ten-Noode quarter of the European Union capital. Other scheduled speakers included Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and French hard-right firebrand Eric Zemmour.

Police did not immediately attempt to enforce the evacuation order but positioned themselves outside and informed those leaving that they would not be allowed back in.

Claridge was the third location of the National Conservative event; the previous two were abandoned after left-wing protestors lobbied the owners of the Concert Nobel and Brussels Sofitel, both in the EU quarter, to abandon plans.

The Saint-Josse-ten-Noode mayor, Emir Kir, told local newspaper La Capitale that he would take “all possible measures” to close the event down. There were reports that authorities had threatened to cut power. The car of the building’s owner was reportedly towed away.

“The town hall has absolutely not given its agreement for this  event to take place,” Kir said. “I was taken aback and only knew about this early last night.”

Conference organiser Tony Gilland, of the MCC think-tank, stated: “This sounds like cancel culture!” The mayoral order to vacate the premises cited public safety and suggested there may be “racists” within the building, he said.

Talking outside, Farage said: “I’ve experienced cancel culture personally. Restaurants wouldn’t serve me in Brussels … coffee bars, even the pub I used to use … but what’s happened here is on the stage where there is global media.

“Legally held opinion from people who are going to win national elections are no longer acceptable here in Brussels, the home of globalism,” he added.

Standoff as Brussels police order conservative event to close – Brussels Signal

A Muslim student who took legal action against her London school over its ban on “prayer rituals” has lost a High Court challenge.

The pupil at Michaela Community School claimed the school’s policy on prayer was discriminatory and “uniquely” affects her faith due to its ritualised nature.

According to the school, the rule was first introduced in March last year by its founder and headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh – a former Government social mobility tsar.

Birbalsingh, who has been dubbed Britain’s strictest, hit back at the claims saying her school would “never separate children according to race and religion”.

The student alleged that the school’s stance on prayer – one of the five pillars of Islam – was “the kind of discrimination which makes religious minorities feel alienated from society”.

But in a written ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Linden dismissed the pupil’s arguments against the prayer rituals ban.

Justice Linden said: “It seems to me that this is a case … where the claimant at the very least impliedly accepted, when she enrolled at the school, that she would be subject to restrictions on her ability to manifest her religion.

“She knew that the school is secular and her own evidence is that her mother wished her to go there because it was known to be strict.

“She herself says that, long before the prayer ritual policy was introduced, she and her friends believed that prayer was not permitted at school and she therefore made up for missed prayers when she got home.”

The head of the North West London school previously opened up on the horrific abuse her staff have received since a prayer ban was introduced at the school, telling GB News: “They’re coming to me very frightened.”

The school has been subjected to repeated threats since the action was taken, and even received a “bomb hoax” in December.

The institution in Wembley has previously said allowing prayers risks “undermining inclusion and social cohesion between pupils.”

In legal papers, it claimed that students seeking to carry out prayer rituals in the playground had challenged the school’s “unique ethos, practices and policies.”

Lawyers for the pupil argued that she was making a “modest” request to be allowed to pray for around five minutes at lunch time, on dates when faith rules required it, but not during lessons.

Justice Linden continued in his ruling: “The essential nature of the school regime is one which the claimant and her fellow pupils, or at least their parents, have chosen and, indeed, that they have chosen to remain at the school notwithstanding the prayer ritual policy (PRP).

“Although the claimant says that she is aware of resentment of the PRP amongst some Muslim pupils, there is no evidence that this has affected enrolment or led any of them to choose to leave.

“Nor, indeed, is there evidence of the issue being raised with the school since the PRP was introduced, other than in the context of this claim.

“On the contrary, the evidence is that since the PRP was introduced good relations within the school community have been restored.”

https://www.gbnews.com/news/katharine-birbalsingh-michaela-community-school-prayer-ban-court-ruling

On Monday (15th April), the Indian Ambassador to Ireland gave a befitting reply to The Irish Times, four days after it did a political hit job on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Irish newspaper published an editorial titled,’ The Irish Times view on the Indian election: Modi tightens his grip’ on Thursday (11th April) wherein it alleged that India has somehow fallen prey to ‘intolerant Hindu-first majoritarianism.’

“India’s democratic credentials have been severely tarnished,” The Irish Times claimed while trying to build a case for Arvind Kejriwal, who is an accused in the high-profile Delhi liquor scam.

The newspaper also compared the Indian Prime Minister with Turkish Islamist leader Recep Erdogan and claimed, “Modi’s embrace of Hindu nationalism in this 80 per cent Hindu nation has stoked anti-Muslim tensions and violence and seriously eroded the traditional Nehru-inspired secularism of its politics.”

“An intolerant Hindu-first majoritarianism is the order of the day, sustained by a BJP populist welfarism that has a strong appeal among the country’s poor,” it further brazened out.

On Monday (15th April), the Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra responded to the allegations levelled at PM Modi by The Irish Times in its propaganda-laden editorial.

Ambassador @AkhileshIFS’s rejoinder to @IrishTimes' highly biased & prejudiced editorial [Modi tightens his grip” April 11, 2024)], casting aspersion on Prime Minister of India, Shri @narendramodi, Indian democracy, law enforcement institutions & “Hindu-majority” people of India. pic.twitter.com/Oh5rFly92Z

— India in Ireland (Embassy of India, Dublin) (@IndiainIreland) April 15, 2024

He wrote, “Indian prime minister Narendra Modi enjoys unprecedented popularity and profile not only in India but globally because of his impeccable personal character and integrity and thought-leadership on innovative, inclusive governance and sustainable development.”

“As he does not belong to any elite political family, his personal life inspires millions of ordinary people in India and other developing countries,” the Indian diplomat emphasised, adding how the Modi government has empowered the youth, women and the poor.

Akhilesh Mishra stated that the decision of the Modi government to crack down on the ecosystem of corruption has led to the popularity of the Indian Prime Minister.

“The people of India are excited to witness the vibrancy of democracy in action on the ground…There is huge sense of relief at the grass-root level to witness action being taken and recoveries made from the rich and powerful elites who operated with a sense of entitlement of impunity,” he pointed out.

Akhilesh Mishra slams The Irish Times

While dismissing allegations of political vendetta, the Indian diplomat said, “All cases of corruption are pursued strictly as per the established procedure, with availability of usual judicial remedies to the affected parties.”

Akhilesh Mishra also slammed The Irish Times for its description of India as an intolerant, Hindu majoritarian nation. “A stereotypical description of India as “80 per cent Hindu majority” nation is quite misleading because Hinduism is inherently inclusive and fundamentally pluralistic, since centuries preceding the birth of Buddha or Christ,” he emphasised.

The Indian diplomat continued, “Numerically, Hindus of India outnumber the entire population of European Union and the North America, and obviously do not represent a monolithic vote bank. Hindus of India possess incredible diversity of thought, ways of life and political beliefs, covering the entire spectrum from extreme left to extreme right.”

“They regularly vote to power non-“Hindu nationalists”. Even now Mr Modi’s BJP rules only in 12 out of 28 states of India. This can happen only in “Hindu majority” India,” he concluded.

The Irish Times resorts to anti-Modi propaganda before Lok Sabha elections, Indian diplomat Akhilesh Mishra slams paper (opindia.com)