Modi

T he public events speak to Narendra Modi’s popularity among supporters - the adoring crowds waving banners, the car convoys and privately chartered “ModiAirways” flights for those who will travel thousands of kilometres to hear him speak. But for the same man, posters have sprung up around Sydney – before being torn down – offering $10,000 for the citizen’s arrest of the “Hindu Terrorist Modi” and graffiti has been daubed on a Hindu temple in western Sydney reading: “Declare Modi Terrorist”. Read more The Sydney broadcaster Manbir Singh Kohli, who hosts the weekly Kehte Sunte (Speaking & Listening) radio program, says: “In India, the schisms between communities are getting sharper. “And unfortunately we are seeing that in Australia too, a polarisation of our communities is worse than it has ever been – the trolling, the division. Earlier, the Indian diaspora used to be proud together but now we are divided.” India is now the most populous country on Earth and demographics, properly harnessed, are on its side: its economy will surpass those of Germany and Japan in the next half-decade to become the third largest in the world, behind the US and China. • Modi’s government claims its policies – addressing food security, banking, pensions – have lifted millions of India’s poorest from poverty. Banners critical of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi were posted around Sydney before being torn down by councils. But its leader, dominant as he approaches the end of his second term...