Indian-origin Canadian leader reveals he was sexually abused as child
Toronto: Canada's Indian-origin opposition leader Jagmeet Singh has revealed that he was sexually abused by his taekwondo teacher when he was 10 years old and said it is one of his regrets in life that he kept quiet about the assault.
The 40-year-old Sikh leader of New Democratic Party in his memoir said the abuse took place in 1980s while he was growing up in Windsor, Ontario, the Global News reported.
Singh created political history in Canada last month when he made his debut in the House of Commons, the lower of house of Parliament, as the first non-white leader of a major opposition party in the country.
In his book, 'Love and Courage: My Story of Family, Resilience and Overcoming the Unexpected', he said the instructor - who he only refers to as Mr N - offered him personal classes at his home dojo. He said his instructor has since died.
As a kid, I was so embarrassed and ashamed of what happened, I didn't talk to anyone about it, Singh told the channel.
And it wasn't until almost a decade later that I spoke to another human being about it. The first time I heard the words that it wasn't my fault was something that just cracked open my heart. Singh said he doesn't think the coach was ever charged.
One of my regrets in my life is I didn't come forward when he was alive. Maybe I would have been able to give some closure to other folks and maybe prevent something from happening in the future, he added.
Singh said he hopes his book will help others who have been abused to speak up and realise it's not their fault.
A part of writing this book is a way for me to make up for something that I regret that I didn't come forward (about) and maybe help other people have the courage to come forward if that's right for them, but most importantly, to have people heal, for them to know it's not their fault, he said.
In his memoir, the Sikh leader also wrote about racism and bullying he faced during his childhood.
Singh, who lived in South Windsor from the age of seven to 23, recounted how one boy during recess asked if he was brown because he didn't shower, and how another boy whispered: Dirty. Then he was attacked from behind, he said.
Suddenly I felt my topknot being pulled and then a hard shove knocking me to the ground almost simultaneously, he writes.
Singh said that his family was torn apart by his father's alcoholism. After hitting rock bottom, and after unsuccessful stints at some of the best rehab centres in the world, his father's life was saved at Windsor's Brentwood Recovery Home.
He was elected in federal by-elections held on February 25.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
