'Let my building burn, justice needs to be served', owner of Indian eatery backs Minneapolis protest
Washington: Unfazed by the fire that burnt down his Indian restaurant amid raging protests over the cold-blooded murder of George Floyd, the owner of a popular Minneapolis eatery backs protestors, saying: "let my building burn, justice needs to be served".
Floyd, a 46-year-old African American restaurant worker, died in Minneapolis on Monday after a white police officer pinned him to the ground. Video footage showed the officer kneeling on Floyd's neck as he gasped for breath, sparking widespread protests across the US.
The officer has been fired, and on Friday was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, the authorities said.
Gandhi Mahal Restaurant was severely damaged by fire as it was just doors away from the Third Precinct headquarters of the Minneapolis Police Department, which was set ablaze by protesters on Thursday night.
Unperturbed by the loss, Ruhel Islam, a 42-year-old Bangladeshi owner of the Indian restaurant, voiced his support for the protests that closed his family's "main source of income".
"Sadly, Gandhi Mahal has caught fire and has been damaged. We won't lose hope though, I am so grateful for our neighbours who did their best to stand guard and protect Gandhi Mahal. Your efforts won't go unrecognised. Don't worry about us, we will rebuild and we will recover," wrote Hafsa Islam, the 18-year-old daughter of Ruhel, in a Facebook post that has gone viral.
"As I am sitting next to my dad watching the news, I hear him say on the phone 'let my building burn, Justice needs to be served, put those officers in jail'. Gandhi Mahal may have felt the flames, but our firey drive to help protect and stand with our community will never die!" she said in the post that is winning hearts online.
Gandhi Mahal opened in 2008, during the Great Recession. Although Islam believes in nonviolent protest he named his restaurant in honour of Mahatma Gandhi he empathises with the frustration of many Minneapolis residents.
"I am going to continuously promote peaceful ways and nonviolent movement, but our younger generation is angry, and there's reason to be angry," Ruhel told The New York Times.
His family is respected in the locality for their community service. The restaurant has been a hub for interfaith efforts against climate change, and supports farmers and budding artists.
"We were just trying to do what we could to help our community. Sure, we had our business. Sure, we were trying to keep our kitchen open. But more than anything, we were concerned for our people," said Hafsa.
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India never offers any duty concessions in dairy sector under FTAs: Goyal
New Delhi (PTI): India has not offered any duty concessions in the dairy sector under any of its free trade agreements so far, including those with the European Union, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday.
He said India's dairy sector is driven by very small and marginal farmers with limited landholdings who own only a few cattle.
These farmers has a "very" low production and needs to be protected against large farms that Europe, America, Australia, or New Zealand have.
"India has had a very consistent stand in all our FTAs across the world, whether it is European Union, Switzerland... UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand. Never has India opened the dairy sector. Everybody in this room knows it. Everybody in the world knows it," he told reporters here after signing a trade pact with New Zealand.
This is a known position, and there is nothing new in this, he said.
However, he added that as per India's foreign trade policy, the government allows foreign firms to bring raw materials or ingredients into India, process them to make high-quality products and then re-export 100 per cent of those goods.
That product is not allowed to be sold in the country, he said.
"So it doesn't hurt the Indian market, doesn't hurt the Indian farmers, but adds to our foreign exchange income, adds jobs to our youth, provides opportunities for our farmers also to possibly supplement for further re-export. So it's a win-win for both countries," Goyal said.
The India-New Zealand trade pact has an investment arrangement under which firms from the Oceania country can bring raw materials or ingredients from the dairy sector into India, process them to make high-quality products and then re-export 100 per cent of those goods.
These dedicated fast-track arrangements will be used exclusively for the manufacture of products destined solely for export, thereby safeguarding the interests of the domestic industry.
New Zealand is one of the world's largest dairy exporters. Its dairy exports to India in FY25 totalled just USD 1.07 million, consisting of milk and cream (USD 0.40 million), natural honey (USD 0.32 million), mozzarella cheese (USD 0.18 million), butter (USD 0.09 million) and skimmed milk (USD 0.08 million).
Under the FTA, India would grant quota-based duty concessions on Albumins (a milk protein product) and bulk infant formula from New Zealand with Minimum Import Price and other safeguards.
Tariffs on bulk infant formula and other dairy-based preparations, and peptones (a dairy-based product) would be phased out by India in over seven years, according to New Zealand's Foreign Affairs and Trade ministry statement.
