Sweden to map immigrants' values to boost integration
Integration Minister Simona Mohamsson, who was appointed in a cabinet reshuffle a week ago, said Sweden's secular, unpatriarchal society can pose challenges for immigrants from more traditional, conservative countries. "We are an extreme country, in a good way. For people who join our society, it can be a little difficult to navigate," she told Sweden's paper of reference Dagens Nyheter in an interview. Previous surveys conducted by the World Values Survey research group have shown that some newly-arrived immigrants to Sweden have diverging views from native Swedes on issues such as divorce, sex before marriage, abortion and homosexuality.After 10 years in Sweden, their values had evolved and were more in line with those of native Swedes, according to the World Values Survey."Ten years is far too long. That's a whole generation of girls who don't get to choose who they want to love or boys who can't come out of the closet," Mohamsson said.Some 3,000 people will be surveyed this autumn about their "values", half of them of Swedish background and the other half "non-Western", she explained. "The result will guide integration efforts going forward."She said the plan was "not about changing opinions", but rather "about upholding the values we have in Sweden."Those who choose to come to Sweden have a responsibility to try to be a part of society, she insisted."It is not a human right to live in Sweden."The Scandinavian country has taken in large numbers of refugees since the 1990s, many fleeing from countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and the former Yugoslavia.But following a large influx in 2015, successive Swedish governments from both the left- and right-wing have tightened asylum rules.In 2024, around 20 percent of Sweden's inhabitants were born in another country, compared to around 11 percent in 2000, according to Statistics Sweden.
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Hans India
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- Hans India
'They will get relief from there as well': Waris Pathan as SC stays acquittal in Mumbai train blasts case
Mumbai: In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to stay the Bombay High Court verdict that had acquitted all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case, AIMIM leader and former Maharashtra MLA Waris Pathan on Thursday expressed confidence that the apex court would ultimately provide relief to them as well. Speaking to IANS, Pathan said: "The Supreme Court has stayed the appeal filed by the Maharashtra government and has clearly stated there is no need to put the accused back in jail. After 18 years, the High Court examined the entire case and declared all 12 accused innocent. And within just a day or two, the state government rushed to appeal against it." Pathan emphasised the thoroughness of the Bombay High Court's 670-page judgment. "The High Court examined all evidence and witnesses in detail. It even mentioned in the verdict that the confessions were obtained under duress and torture. These are not minor observations. Now that the matter is with the Supreme Court, I am confident that once the apex court reviews the judgment and evidence, these individuals will again get relief," he added. Pathan further raised concerns about selective justice and religious bias in how terror cases are pursued in India. "We are all united against terrorism. Every citizen wants terrorism to be eradicated. But what we cannot allow is selectiveness. Why is it that one community faces immediate action while others are spared for years without even an appeal being filed? Justice must be equal for all," he told IANS. Referring to his legal background, Pathan stated that many cases involving people from non-Muslim communities haven't seen appeals or legal action even after several years. "If the law is equal for everyone, then the Maharashtra government should pursue appeals across the board, not selectively," he said. Pathan further criticised Congress MP and Mumbai unit chief Varsha Gaikwad for calling on the Maharashtra government to appeal against the High Court's acquittal verdict. "This is the height of hypocrisy. These so-called secular parties, which are part of the Maharashtra Mahagathbandhan, have now been exposed. The High Court has acquitted these 12 men after 19 long years, yet they want them to be put back in jail. Muslims voted for them, trusted them, made them win, and gave them power — all in the name of secularism. And today, when justice is finally delivered, they are the first to oppose it," he said. "The public is watching. People can see how Muslims are used for votes and then betrayed. When it's time to stand by them, these leaders are the first to walk away. But the answers will come — and the people will give them." The 2006 Mumbai train bombings were one of the deadliest terror attacks in India, killing over 180 people. The case has remained under legal scrutiny for nearly two decades, and the recent developments have once again placed it in the national spotlight.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
'We respect and will try to learn it': Ajit Pawar's suggestion to non-Marathi speakers in the state; stirs language row
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First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
Air India crash: How to spin-doctor and peddle narratives, the Western way
Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore used to terrorise villainous Western media by suing them in his courts. They learned to toe the line read more There has been a virtual masterclass lately in the creation and dissemination of biased narratives. Not only in the case of the ill-fated Air India 171 (Boeing 787, June 12, 2025) that crashed, but also in some other, unrelated instances. The age-old practices of 'truth by repeated assertion' and 'dubious circular references' as well as 'strategic silence' have all been deployed in full force. The bottom line with the Air India flight: there is reasonable doubt about whether there was mechanical/software failure and/or sabotage or possible pilot error. Any or all of these caused both engines to turn off in flight. But the way the spin-doctors have spun it, it is now 'official' that the commanding pilot was suicidal and turned off the fuel switch. Boeing, the plane maker, and General Electric, the engine maker, are blameless. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This is, alas, not surprising. It is in the interests of Western MNCs to limit reputational damage and monetary loss related to their products. They do massive marketing by unleashing their PR agencies. We also saw how they protect themselves in other instances. A leaked Pfizer contract for their Covid vaccine insisted that if anything happened, it was the user's problem, not Pfizer's: there was no indemnity. Incidentally, a report on July 19 said that the Pfizer Covid vaccine can lead to severe vision problems. Oh, sorry, no indemnity. What is deplorable in the Air India case is that the AAIB, the Indian entity investigating the disaster, chose to release a half-baked preliminary report with enough ambiguity that a case could be (and definitely was) built up against the poor dead pilots. Any marketing person could have read the report and told them that it would be used to blame the pilots and absolve the manufacturers. Besides, the AAIB report was released late night on a Friday, India time, which meant that the Western media had all of one working day to do the spin-doctoring, which they did with remarkable gusto. Meanwhile, the Indian media slept. Whose decision was this? Clearly, Indian babus need a remedial course in public relations if this was mere incompetence. Of course, if it was intentional, that would be even worse. There is a pattern. In earlier air accidents, such as the Jeju Air crash involving a Boeing 737-800 in South Korea in December, the pilots were blamed. In accidents involving Lion Air (Boeing 737 Max 8, 2018), China Airlines (737-200, 1989), Flydubai (737-800, 2016), ditto. I am beginning to believe that a lot of Asian pilots are poorly trained and/or suicidal. Ditto with the F-35 that fell into the ocean off Japan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Truth by repeated assertion is a powerful force for gaslighting the gullible. I wonder what excuses we'll hear about the Delta Airlines Boeing 767 whose engine caught fire in the air after take-off from LAX on July 20. The pilots didn't die, so they will speak up. Besides, they were Westerners. I am eagerly awaiting the spin on this. I also noticed with grim amusement how the BBC, WSJ, Bloomberg, and Reuters, and so on were busy quoting each other to validate their assertions. This is a standard tactic that India's 'distorians' (see Utpal Kumar's powerful book Eminent Distorians) have perfected: B will quote third-hand hearsay from A, then C will quote B, D will quote C, and before you know it, the hearsay has become the truth. But if you wind it back from D to C to B to A it becomes, 'I hear someone told someone that xyz happened.' Out of thin air, then. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD There is also the lovely tactic of strategic silence. It has been used to un-person people who ask inconvenient questions. It has also been used to defenestrate inconvenient news. Just days ago, under the Deep State-installed new regime in Syria, hundreds of minority Druze were brutally massacred. There was video on X of armed men in uniform forcing Druze men to jump off tall buildings, and desecrating their shrines. Similarly, there is a brutal reign of terror, rape, murder, and thuggery against Hindus, Buddhists, and others under the Deep State-blessed regime of Mohammed Yunus in Bangladesh: a clear genocide. Neither Syria nor Bangladesh gets any headlines. There are no loud human-rights protests as in the case of Gaza. This is not news. It is un-news. 'Manufacturing Consent' all the way. India is particularly vulnerable to this gaslighting because Indians consume a lot of English-language 'news.' Scholars have long noted how the US public has been maintained in a state of ignorance so they could be easily manipulated. The same is true of the Indian middle class. So, there is yet another reason to do less in English. Fooling, say, the Chinese or Japanese public is a lot more difficult. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The fact is that even though Indians may be literate in English, they do not understand the context and the subtext of what is fed to them by the likes of The Economist, NPR, The Financial Times, The New York Times, etc. The best way I can explain this is the 100+5 analogy in the Mahabharata: they may fight with each other on domestic matters, but Anglosphere and Deep State are in cahoots when it comes to international matters. Things are both getting better and getting worse. On the one hand, social media and its imprint on generative AI mean that it is ever easier to propagate fake news (in addition to deepfake audio and video, of course). On the other hand, despite the problem of charlatans and paid agents provocateurs getting lots of eyeballs, the large number of Indians on social media may push back against the worst kinds of blood libel against India and Indians, of which there's plenty these days, often created by bots from 'friendly' countries. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This is a serious matter indeed. One solution is to do a version of the Great Chinese Firewall and ban wholesale the worst offenders. Indeed, a few of the vilest handles have been ejected from X. However, the pusillanimity with which notorious Pakistani handles were unbanned, then re-banned after outrage, shows there's something rotten in the Information Ministry. Almost exactly the same as the unbanning of Pakistani cricketers, then rebanning after outrage. Is there anybody in charge? Information warfare is insidious. Going back to the Air India case, I think the families of the maligned pilots should sue for gigantic sums for libel and defamation. The sad state of the Indian judiciary may mean that, unfortunately, this will not go far. However, there is precedent: Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore used to terrorise villainous Western media by suing them in his courts. They learned to toe the line. If this tactic does not work, India should eject the hostile media. The Indian market is increasingly important to Western media (not vice versa) because soon there will be more English-reading consumers in India than in the Five Eyes Anglosphere. I should say that in quotes because as I said above, most Indians are blissfully unaware of the hidden agendas, and naively believe them. But 'Judeo-Christian' culture is very different from dharmic. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD I keep getting emails from The New York Times with tempting offers to subscribe to them for something really cheap like Rs. 25 a month. They need Indian readers. I have been shouting from the rooftops for years that one of these charlatan media houses needs to be kicked out, harshly, with 24 hours' notice to wind up and leave. As in the Asian proverb, 'Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.' The monkeys will notice, and behave. Otherwise, the information warfare is just going to get worse. The writer has been a conservative columnist for over 25 years. His academic interest is innovation. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
