About: the world this week, 4 August 2024 to 10 August 2024: Britain’s riots; US Elections-running mate; Taylor Swift-not fearless; Bangladesh coup; war fronts; and the Paris Olympics – focus on India.

Everywhere

Britain: Rioting Right

Violent protests erupted in towns and cities across Britain following last week’s knife attack, which killed three children in Southport, north of Liverpool. The protests spread across the country, including Liverpool, Bristol, and Manchester, resulting in dozens of arrests as shops and businesses were vandalised and looted. Several police officers were injured in the line of duty.

The stabbing attack was seized on by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups as misinformation spread that the suspected attacker was an immigrant and a radical Islamist. This stoked further outrage. Police said the suspect was born in Britain and are not treating it as a terrorist incident.

On Sunday, hundreds of anti-immigration protesters gathered by a hotel near Rotherham, northern England, where Britain’s Interior Ministry was housing asylum seekers. The protesters, many wearing masks or balaclavas, threw bricks at police and broke several hotel windows, before setting a large bin close to the hotel on fire.

The new Government, fresh from a superb win at the hustings, scrambled to control the worst disorder in the United Kingdom in more than a decade. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the protests and riots as “far-right thuggery” and said perpetrators would face the full force of the law. The target of the attacks were Muslim communities, mosques, and other minorities. With this crisis running on the streets of Britain, the honeymoon period of the new Government is all but over.

Who is behind the thuggery? Faceless. Plans to engage in violent gatherings have been spread on social media, encouraging attendees to shield their faces or use coded language that stirs up anger at immigration without explicitly calling for violence. Naturally, the Govt is looking at social media as an instigator. Mind that ‘misinformed’ tweet, you could get yourself arrested!

United States Elections: Running Mate

This week US Vice President Kamala Harris decided on her running-mate, choosing Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota. Walz is currently in his second term as Governor and chairs the Democratic Governors Association. He previously served 12 years in Congress. And prior to that, Walz was a high school teacher and football coach and served in the Army National Guard, reaching the rank of Command Sergeant Major, one of the highest ranks an enlisted member can attain. As a first-time campaigner, he opposed a ban on same-sex marriage and supported abortion rights. Walz fell out of favour with the gun lobby over his support for gun safety actions as Governor. Walz supports In Vitro-Fertilization (IVF) having himself ‘become productive’ after struggling to become a parent along with his wife of three decades.

Taylor Swift: Not Fearless

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is in the Vienna, Austria leg of her blockbuster Eras tour scheduled to play three shows in the European city from Thursday to Saturday. But Organisers cancelled the shows over a possible terrorist attack after Austrian authorities said they foiled a terror plan in Vienna. The extraordinary decision-which came at significant cost to Vienna’s businesses-has devastated fans and renewed focus on the vulnerability of huge concerts as soft targets for terror networks and spree killers.

Police in Austria have questioned three teenagers suspected of plotting a suicide attack at the Taylor Swift show, sparking renewed concerns over the indoctrination of young people online. Foreign intelligence agencies helped authorities uncover the plot. That’s the world swiftly singing together on intelligence gathering.

The Bangladesh Drift: the Churning

Bangladesh is at a historic turning-point. Well, it has been in this place many times before, at about the same cross-roads. And they keep coming on the trot.

The student protests of the past weeks over reservations in government jobs, dangerously changed track and galvanised into a force that toppled the Government of Prime Minister (PM) Sheik Hasina, 76. In January this year, she won a landslide mandate for the fourth consecutive time in the General Elections. Her party, The Awami League won 224 seats, out of the 300 under direct elections. That’s about 15 years in continuous power and a total of 20 years as PM. Most Opposition Parties had boycotted the Elections, apparently making the win easier.

The seemingly harmless and peaceful demands by University students to abolish quotas in civil service jobs that began in July transformed beyond recognition. This despite the Supreme Court calling-off the strangulating quota system. However, the creeping death toll reaching over 300, due to the brutal crackdown on the protesters, turned the Government into an authoritarian one to preserve peace. Enough reason for people to spill on to the streets. And with most of the Opposition in various modes of arrest, this seemed the only outlet for anger against the Government. The PM repeatedly cut-off internet access in parts of the country, imposed a nation-wide curfew, and labeled the demonstrators as ‘terrorists seeking to destabilise the nation’. Well, they lived up to the label.

Sheikh Hasina blamed the Pakistan basedJamaat-e-Islami, its Islami Chhatra Shibir student wing, and other associate bodies for inciting the student violence. And in an official circular imposed a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami under an anti-terrorism law.

With protests spiralling out of control, the Army served a 45 minute ultimatum to Sheik Hasina to leave the country. She found a helicopter and flew into the safe-haven of India, landing at a military airfield, Hindon, near New Delhi, and was met by India’s National Security Advisor after which was taken to a safe location.

Meanwhile, protesters reached the PM’s house and raided all that was inside, dusting-up her blouses, bras, and what not? One even paraded her Sari and wore it.

It was awfully painful to see people climb up the statue of the Father of the Nation and try to hammer him down. Almost killing him a second time. Recall, Sheik Mujibur Rahman-the founding father of Bangladesh and the father of Sheik Hasina- was shot in point plank range by the same Army, which entered his home, and killed almost the entire family in a horrific turn of events in 1975. That was the first Army coup of Bangladesh. Hasina herself was in Germany at that time and after years of struggle lived to become PM one day. Her sister too escaped the carnage, at that time.

Bangladesh Army Chief, General Waqar-uz-Zaman quickly took control and announced the formation of an Interim Government. Meanwhile the President of Bangladesh Mohammed Shahabuddin, ordered the immediate release, from House-Arrest, former PM Khaleda Zia who was also Bangladesh’s first Woman PM and leader of the Opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Bangladesh’s unicameral parliament was also dissolved. What is the President’s role in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh has a unique system of transfer of power; at the end of the tenure of the government, power is handed over to members of a civil society for three months, who run the general elections and transfer power to elected representatives. The President as the ceremonial head of the state has limited powers. He can grant pardon to a man sentenced to death penalty or lessen the punishment. In certain instances, he also performs some legislative and judicial functions.

On another front, Hindu and other minority communities were ruthlessly attacked amounting to ethic-cleansing and heading towards genocide, showing another diabolical motive of the unfolding drama in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said that about 200 to 300 Hindu homes and businesses have been vandalised since Hasina resigned. About 15 to 20 temples have been looted.

Towards the end of the week, the Protestors agreed to Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus becoming Leader of an Interim Government. Student Leaders of the so-called ‘Gen Z Revolution’ said they have not met all of their goals, and after Hasina’s resignation, the group wanted to ‘abolish fascist systems forever’. The leaders say they won’t accept a military-led or supported government.

Professor Muhammad Yunus, 84, who was in France over a minor medical procedure, flew in to Bangladesh’s capital Dacca, and was sworn-in on Thursday. Tucked inside his new cabinet are Nahid Islama and Asif Mahmud, students who led the anti-government protests. Yunus kept up to 27 critical portfolios with himself. One man show?

Muhammad Yunus known as the ‘banker to the poor’ aims to bring stability to Bangladesh. He answered the call of student protesters to temporarily lead the restive country following weeks of deadly anti-government demonstrations.

Yunus is a social entrepreneur and banker who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering microfinance work as founder of the Grameen Bank that helped alleviate poverty in Bangladesh and was widely adopted around the world.

He is also a longtime critic of Sheikh Hasina. Over the years, Yunus was embroiled in multiple legal cases said to be unfairly targeted by the authorities. They include a defamation suit, a food safety case, and allegations of tax irregularities. In January, a court in Bangladesh sentenced Yunus to six months in prison for labor law violations. In a separate case, he was indicted in June on embezzlement charges. All of which was denied by Yunus.

India’s Prime Minister, under pressure to protect persecuted Hindus, had this to say, “My best wishes to Professor Muhammad Yunus on the assumption of his new responsibilities. We hope for an early return to normalcy, ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other minority communities. India remains committed to working with Bangladesh to fulfill the shared aspirations of both our peoples for peace, security and development”.

Yunus’ first speech acknowledged the attack on Hindus and minorities and appealed to the protesters to trust him to bring law and order under control. If not, he threatened to step-down as Interim Leader.

Israel and Ukraine: the fight is on

The two steadily ongoing war fronts are that of, Ukraine-Russia in Europe and Israel-Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Middle East.

In the first front, this week, in a surprise turn, Ukraine Forces pushed further into the Kursk region of Russia in a cross-border incursion with the intent of diverting Russian forces and to disrupt and demoralise them. Ukraine intends to hold-on to the territory as long as they possibly can.Will a tit-for-tat work?

In the second front, Iran mulls scrapping plans to take revenge on Israel for killing Hamas’ Political Head on its soil, in exchange for a Gaza ceasefire. In the background US, Qatar and Egypt hit the negotiation acceleration pedal urging Hamas to resume talks, after the killing in Iran.

Paris Olympics 2024: Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together

The Olympic Games is running on the Paris, France, stage from 26 July to 11 August.

In Tennis, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic struck gold in the Men’s Singles Tennis beating Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2), in an enthralling neck-and-neck final.

Novak Djokovic is the only player in tennis history to win every big event in the game of Tennis. This is the first time in his career that he has won an Olympic Gold, adding to his ever-expanding chest of 24 Grand Slam titles. Alcaraz missed out on a gold medal in his maiden Olympics appearance.

In Hockey, India beat Britain in penalty shoot-outs, 4-2 after a 1-1 tie in the regular game. Indian Goal-keeper Sreejesh became an overnight sensation over his heroics of the day-saving many goals on the field and blocking a crucial one in the shoot-out. The Great Wall of India-shouted fans, who then went treasure hunting into this Home Sate of Kerala and dug up stories of what went into building of the wall. India faced Germany in the semi-finals but despite a valiant fight succumbed 2-3. Then, bringing some cheer, India went on to beat Spain 2-1 to clinch the bronze medal. This is Indian’s second consecutive win having won the bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, beating Germany.

India’s gold medal winning hope Neeraj Chopra secured a Javelin final spot with a throw of 89.34m. His best throw was 89.94m at Stockholm in the Diamond League Games, last year. In the finals, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem threw a stunning 92.97m to win the Gold and break the Olympic Record of 90.57 established in Beijing 2008. Neeraj threw 89.45 to get the Silver. The Bronze Medal throw reached 88.45m.

This is a back-to-back Olympic Medal for Neeraj who had won the gold in Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.58m. In that competition Arshad Nadeem had finished fifth with 84.62m. This is Pakistan’s first ever medal in this event at the Olympics.

In Wrestling, India’s Vinesh Phogat defied huge odds to earn herself a sure chance of a medal in the 50kg event. She became the first Indian Woman to reach an Olympic final in Wrestling. Sakshi Malik is the only other wrestler, who had clinched a bronze medal in the Rio 2016 Olympics. In her opening match Phogat stunned reigning Olympic Champion, Japan’s Yui Susaki; then beat former European Champion, Ukraine’s Oksana Livach in the quarters, and Pan American Games Champion, Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman in the semi-finals to reach the finals. She was to take on USA’s Sarah Hildebrant for the Gold. But then, in a sudden twist and a heart-break, on the day of the finals, Phogat was disqualified for being overweight by a beggarly 100 grams in the 50 kg weight category. Competition rules say wrestlers must stay in their weight category on both days of the tournament. After Phogat’s disqualification, only the gold and bronze medals were awarded in the event. India has made a legal appeal and there could be yet another twist.

Now, a flashback. In May 2023, Vinesh Phogat was detained by police in New Delhi while attempting to march to India’s new parliament building, just as it was being inaugurated. This was during a protest against Brij Bhushan Singh, the wrestling federation chief, over allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation. Phogat was later released.

In the run-up to the final, Phogat’s fellow wrestlers hailed her journey as both a personal and collective triumph for India’s wrestling community who have long complained that authorities failed to take their allegations seriously.

At the end of the week, Aman Sehrawat, 21, won the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Freestyle 57 kg bringing some cheer to India. He became the youngest Olympic medalist in Wrestling.

Vaulting to other events, Sweden’s Armand Mondo Duplantis broke the men’s Pole Vault world record for the 9th time with a jump of 6.25 m to cap a gold medal-winning streak. The 24-year-old has won every global men’s Pole Vault title since claiming his first Olympic gold in Tokyo.

In the Medals Tally, USA leads with 33 Gold and overall 111 medals, followed by China, Australia, and Japan. India had a total of 6 medals: 1-Silver and 5-Bronze. In the previous Olympics Tokyo Olympics, India had won 7 medals: 1-Gold, 2-Silver, and 4 Bronze.

More medal stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Run, jump, or swim to glory with World Inthavaaram.