Dalai Lama turns 90 and vows to keep defying China for years
The Nobel laureate is regarded as one of the world's most influential religious leaders, with a following that extends well beyond Buddhism, but not by Beijing which calls him a separatist and has sought to bring the faith under its control.
Fleeing his native Tibet in 1959 in the wake of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, the 14th Dalai Lama along with hundreds of thousands of Tibetans took shelter in India and has since advocated for a peaceful "Middle Way" to seek autonomy and religious freedom for Tibetan people.
Thousands of followers from around the world, celebrities, and officials from the United States and India, will attend his birthday celebrations in Dharamshala, the small Indian town in the foothills of the Himalayas where the Dalai Lama lives.
During the celebrations, which will include cultural performances and remarks by long-time follower and Hollywood star Richard Gere as well as federal Indian ministers, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to deliver a speech.
The preceding week of celebrations was particularly important for Tibetan Buddhists as the Dalai Lama had previously mentioned that he would speak about his succession at his 90th birthday.
On Wednesday, he allayed their concerns about the future of the institution of the Dalai Lama by saying that he would reincarnate as the leader of the faith upon his death and that his non-profit institution, the Gaden Phodrang Trust, had the sole authority to recognise his successor.
China has said that the succession will have to be approved by its leaders.
The United States, which is seeking to counter the rise of China, has called on Beijing to cease what it describes as interference in the succession of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist lamas.
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The Independent
10 hours ago
- The Independent
Fears new ID rules could deny millions right to vote in key Indian election
India 's top election body is facing mounting criticism over its sweeping revision of voter registration ahead of an important state election in Bihar, with activists and opposition groups raising alarms over the potential for large-scale disenfranchisement in one of the country's poorest states. The drive to verify the identity of all of the state's 78 million voters, launched on 24 June ahead of elections later this year, has strict documentation requirements, triggering concerns it would lead to exclusion of vulnerable groups, especially those unable to produce the extensive paperwork required to prove their citizenship. The Election Commission of India has said that some 49.6 million voters whose names were included in a similar exercise in 2003 need not submit any further documents. This leaves almost 30 million voters potentially vulnerable. While the Election Commission insists the process, known as a Special Intensive Revision (SIR), is a routine update to ensure the accuracy of electoral rolls, opposition leaders, civil society groups and petitioners in the Supreme Court warn it echoes the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, which left nearly two million people at risk of statelessness. Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar defended the move, stating that the Commission had engaged extensively with political parties. 'The ECI has invited all recognised political parties for interaction. No one was satisfied with the current status of electoral rolls for one reason or the other,' he said, noting that more than 5,000 meetings have been held over the past four months with 28,000 party representatives. The electoral rolls are being revised for the first time since 2003 in Bihar. Under the new process, an estimated 29.3 million voters whose names are not listed in the 2003 rolls must now submit at least one of 11 specified documents to establish their eligibility. The deadline to submit these documents is 25 July. Under the new process, those not listed in the 2003 rolls must now submit at least one of 11 specified documents to establish their eligibility. The deadline to submit these documents is 25 July. The draft rolls will be published on 1 August, and a further period from 1 August to 1 September will allow electors to raise claims or objections before the final list of voters is released on 30 September. In a statement to The Independent, Congress spokesperson Saral Patel calls for greater transparency from the poll body, and insisted that while his party was not opposed to voter roll revision in principle, the current process risks repeating the 'tragic precedent' of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) – an exercise that left nearly two million people excluded from citizenship lists and mired in legal limbo in 2019. 'The Congress party's stand and demand is very simple: we insist that every eligible voter must be protected,' Patel says. 'The INDIA bloc's meeting with the ECI was based on good faith, not on an objection to due process – we are not against revision per se, but it must be done with great care, and certainly not on the eve of a general election,' he says, referring to an opposition alliance comprising several parties. Social activist Harsh Mander drew a sharp parallel with the deeply divisive NRC in Assam, warning that the exercise risks repeating a painful chapter in Indian history. Speaking to The Independent, Mander, a former civil servant and noted human rights advocate, says the Bihar voter roll overhaul shares the same underlying flaw as the NRC – shifting the burden of proof onto ordinary citizens in a country with patchy documentation systems and deep socio-economic inequalities. 'The whole idea of NRC was one that shifts the burden of proof to ordinary citizens,' he says. 'In India, relying on these documents would be a challenge, more so because in a country like ours, we didn't have the system of record keeping.' But this demand for historical documentation, Mander says, was unrealistic in a country where official record-keeping has long been inconsistent and inaccessible to the poor. 'We have people who don't go to school or didn't have a registered marriage. I didn't have a registered marriage,' he added. 'So in a country that has not relied on these documents, [requiring them] is a huge challenge.' Opposition leaders, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Member of Parliament Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, activist Yogendra Yadav and civil society organisations like the Association for Democratic Reforms and the People's Union for Civil Liberties, have moved the Supreme Court to challenge the revision. They argue the SIR could result in the deletion of lakhs of voter names and would particularly harm women and socio-economically disadvantaged groups. The court has agreed to hear the matter on Thursday but has not stayed the exercise. The EC has said the SIR is necessary due to a range of issues: increased migration, urbanisation, young voters coming of age, unreported deaths, and the inclusion of ineligible names, including suspected illegal immigrants. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are conducting door-to-door verification and collecting documentation. The commission maintains that every effort is being made to ensure the exercise does not inconvenience the elderly, the disabled, or economically disadvantaged voters. Nonetheless, doubts persist about how easily voters – particularly from marginalised backgrounds – can furnish the required paperwork. Bihar has historically had low levels of official documentation. The 11 documents deemed acceptable include passports, matriculation certificates, birth certificates, government-issued identity cards, and land allotment documents. But data reveals these are beyond the reach of many in the state. For instance, only around 1.57 per cent of Bihar's population was employed in government jobs as per the 2022 Bihar Caste Survey – one of the criteria under the EC's guidelines. Similarly, only two per cent of residents held valid passports as of 2023, and just 14.71 per cent had passed their Class 10 school exams, limiting access to matriculation certificates, reported the Indian Express. Birth registration has historically been poor in Bihar. In 2007, only 713,000 births were registered in a state that saw an estimated 2.8 million births that year, reported the outlet. Certificates like permanent residence documents and caste certificates often require applicants to first furnish other documents, such as Aadhaar (digital identification system) cards and voter IDs, which many lack. Land-related documents are also scarce, with more than 65 per cent of rural households reported to own no land, according to the Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011. Patel accuses the EC of failing to account for the socio-economic realities on the ground. 'We call on the Election Commission to be transparent: clarify timelines, ease document requirements, and robustly assist the poor, migrants, and marginalised so that no one is unjustly removed from the voter rolls,' he says. 'The right to vote is not a privilege handed out with a certificate – it is a constitutional guarantee.' Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), who are typically sub-divisional magistrates, are responsible for evaluating the applications and verifying documents. As per the Representation of the People Act, 1950, names can only be deleted or added after proper scrutiny. The commission's 24 June directive mandates that no name be struck off without inquiry and providing the concerned voter with an opportunity to respond. However, a particular section of the EC's instructions has drawn concern. It allows officials to refer 'cases of suspected foreign nationals' to the relevant authority under the Citizenship Act, raising fears of further targeting of minorities. Tejashwi Yadav, leader of the opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, called the revision exercise a 'conspiracy'. 'The last time the routine process of revision of voter list was done was in 2003... it took about two years to complete,' he said. 'Now elections are to be held in November. Two months are left before the notification process begins. That means the Election Commission has to make a new list... of [80 million] people... in just 25 days. And that too when 73 per cent of the state is affected by floods!' Prime minister Narendra Modi 's Bharatiya Janata Party, which is part of the ruling coalition in Bihar, defended the process. State minister Nitin Nabin accused the Congress of trying to obstruct the removal of bogus names. 'If genuine voters are being verified and fake voters are being removed, is Congress sitting here to commit fraud?' he asked. 'Are you trying to gain power through fake votes?' Meanwhile, sources in the EC said similar exercises are being planned for West Bengal and New Delhi starting August, reported the New Indian Express. The last verification of voter rolls in West Bengal and Delhi took place in 2002 and 2008 respectively. In Delhi, individuals added to the electoral rolls after 16 March 2008 will be asked to prove their citizenship to remain on the list.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- The Independent
Dozens feared dead as flash floods and landslides rip through Himalayas in northern India
Dozens of people in India's Himachal Pradesh state are feared dead after the Himalayan region was hit with flash floods, cloudbursts, and landslides. A search operation with drones was underway to trace about 30 people who went missing following the cloudbursts and subsequent landslides that wreaked havoc in Kangra, Chamba, Shimla and Mandi districts, local officials said. Hundreds of houses, shops, roads and bridges in Himachal Pradesh were washed away after 23 flash floods and 16 landslides, triggered by the torrential weather, lashed the region since last week. Authorities said about 19 cloudbursts since last week have killed dozens of people. At least 80 people have died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh since 20 June, the state disaster management authority said on Tuesday. The India Meteorological Department has forecast continued heavy rainfall in multiple districts of the state, raising concerns about further flooding and landslides. A yellow warning of heavy rain at isolated places has been issued for the state till 10 July. One of the worst-hit districts was Mandi, which saw massive destruction and about 14 deaths on a single day last week following 10 incidents of cloudbursts. The town's MP, actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, triggered outrage over the weekend after claiming she did not 'not have any funds for disaster relief or hold any cabinet post'. "MPs have work that is limited to parliament. We are very small in the scheme of things," she said while inspecting flood-affected area in her constituency. About 250 personnel from the national and state disaster response force, the Indian Army and home guards have been pressed in the rescue operation to find the 30 missing people, according to reports. More than 240 roads were shut in the state, with 170 of those being in Mandi district. "The administration is working around the clock to normalise public life. We request the public to remain calm and cooperate. Relief will reach every affected person, and all essential services will be restored at the earliest," Apoorv Devgan, the deputy commissioner of Mandi, told the Indian Express newspaper. Flash floods and cloudbursts are common in India's mountain states such as Himachal Pradesh during the monsoon season. Deforestation to make way for infrastructure development and expansion of hydel power projects has often led to calls by critics for environmental accountability and disaster preparedness in such states. Heavy rainfall and flooding last month l ed to dozens of deaths in India's northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram. The devastation comes just days after rainwaters inundated Mumbai and other parts of western India with the early onset of the monsoon season. Studies show the monsoon in South Asia is getting worse due to the climate crisis, with a rise in the number of "extreme rain days", which means more rainfall falling over shorter periods, overwhelming the infrastructure.
Reuters
15 hours ago
- Reuters
India ready for trade deals but not to meet deadlines, minister says
NEW DELHI, July 4 (Reuters) - India is ready to make trade deals in the national interest, but not just to meet deadlines, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday when asked whether a deal could be reached with the U.S. in time for a July 9 deadline set by Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 26% tariff on all imported Indian goods, among the tariffs due to take effect next week on countries around the world who fail to reach agreements before a deadline he set in April. "Free trade agreements are possible only when there is two-way benefit, it should be a win-win agreement," Goyal told reporters. "National interest will always be supreme. Keeping that in mind, if a good deal can be made, then India is always ready to make a deal with developed countries," he said. "India never does any trade deal on the basis of deadline or time frame…we will accept it only when it is completely finalised and in the national interest." Indian officials returned from Washington this week after an extended visit to iron out lingering concerns on both sides. Trade talks between India and the U.S. have hit roadblocks over disagreements on import duties for auto components, steel, and farm goods. India is resisting opening up its agriculture and dairy sectors while asking for a favourable tariff for its goods entering the U.S. compared to countries like Vietnam and China. Separately, India proposed retaliatory duties against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization, saying Washington's 25% tariff on automobiles and some auto parts would affect $2.89 billion of India's exports, according to an official notification. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump had earlier agreed to sign a bilateral trade agreement to expand trade to $500 billion by 2030, up from $191 billion in 2024.
