HALLE, Belgium: For a long time, few people in the small Belgian town of Halle paid much attention to the monuments. They were just fixtures in a local park, tributes to great men of the past.
But these are very different times, and yesterday’s heroes can be today’s racist villains.
And so it was that three weeks ago, a bust of Leopold II, the Belgian king who has been held responsible for the deaths of millions of Congolese, was spattered in red paint, labeled “Murderer,” and later knocked off its pedestal.
Nearby, a pale sandstone statue formally known as the “Monument to the Colonial Pioneers” has stood for 93 years. It depicts a naked Congolese boy offering a bowl of fruit in gratitude to Lt. Gen. Baron Alphonse Jacques de Dixmude, a Belgian soldier accused of atrocities in Africa.
These monuments, and others across Europe, are coming under scrutiny as never before, no longer a collective blind spot on the moral conscience of the public. Protests sweeping the world that followed the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed last month by Minneapolis police, are focusing attention on Europe’s colonial past and racism of the present.
Eric Baranyanka, a 60-year-old musician who came to Halle as a refugee from Belgium’s African colony of Burundi when was 3, said he has always found the statue of Jacques “humiliating.”
“I had this pride being who I was. It was in complete contradiction with that statue,” he said.
But Halle Mayor Marc Snoeck appears to be more representative of his citizenry. He said he “never really noticed” the monuments until an anti-colonial group raised awareness of them a dozen years ago in the town of 40,000 people about 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of Brussels.
“I’m part of an older generation and I heard precious little during my studies about colonialism, the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo,” said the 66-year-old Snoeck, noting he was taught about how Europeans brought civilization, not exploitation and death, to the heart of Africa.
Statues of Leopold, who reigned from 1865 to 1909, have been defaced in a half-dozen cities, including Antwerp, where one was burned and had to be removed for repairs. It’s unclear if it will ever come back.
But Leopold is hardly the only focus. Snoeck found it remarkable that protesters have not targeted the statue of Jacques, which he called “possibly even worse.”
The mayor said the statue is known locally as “The White Negro,” because of the hue of the sandstone depicting the Congolese youth offering the fruit to the colonial-era Belgian who condoned or was responsible for murders, rapes and maiming workers in the Congo Free State.
Baranyanka was lovingly raised by a white foster family in Halle and said he never experienced prejudice until after he had been in Belgium for about a decade.
His 98-year-old foster mother Emma Monsaert recalls others in town asking her if she was really going to take in a Black youth in the 1960s: “I said, ‘Why not, it is a child after all.’”
But at school, Baranyanka found out how others felt about race.
One teacher poured salt on his head, he recalled, saying it would make it whiter. When he wanted a part in a school play of the 17th century fairy tale “Puss in Boots,” he was denied a role, with a teacher telling him: “Mr. Baranyanka, in those days there were no Blacks in Europe.”
He counts himself lucky to have had a close circle of friends that survives to this day. As a teenager, he often talked to them about the monuments, his African roots and Leopold’s legacy.
“They understood, and they were grateful I explained it,” he said.
On Tuesday, Congo celebrates 60 years of independence from Belgium. The city of Ghent will remove a statue of Leopold to mark the anniversary and perhaps take a healing step forward.
Eunice Yahuma, a local leader of a group called Belgian Youth Against Racism and the youth division of the Christian Democrats, knows about Belgium’s troubled history.
“Many people don’t know the story, because it is not being told. Somehow they know, ‘Let’s not discuss this, because it is grim history,’” said Yahuma, who has Congolese roots. “It is only now that we have this debate that people start looking into this.”
The spirit of the times is different, she said.
“Black people used to be less vocal. They felt the pain, but they didn’t discuss it. Now, youth is very outspoken and we give our opinion,” Yahuma added.
History teachers like 24-year-old Andries Devogel are trying to infuse their lessons with the context of colonialism.
“Within the next decade, they will be expecting us to stress the impact of colonialism on current-day society, that colonialism and racism are inextricably linked,” Devogel said. “Is contemporary racism not the consequence of a colonial vision? How can you exploit a people if you are not convinced of their second-class status?”
The colonial era brought riches to Belgium, and the city of Halle benefited, building a rail yard that brought jobs. Native son Franz Colruyt started a business that grew into the supermarket giant Colruyt Group with 30,000 employees — one of them Baranyanka’s foster father.
Halle has escaped the violence seen in other cities from the protests, and officials would rather focus attention on its Gothic church, the Basilica of St. Martin, as well as its famous fields of bluebells and Geuze beer.
Baranyanka, who will soon stage a musical show of his life called “De Zwette,” — ”The Black One,” returned recently to the park and the monuments.
Despite the hostility and humiliation he felt as a youngster, he didn’t consider their destruction as the way to go.
“Vandalism produces nothing, perhaps only the opposite effect. And you see that suddenly such racism surges again,” he said. “It breeds polarization again. This thing of ‘us against them.’”
Devogel, the teacher, says it is the task of education “to let kids get in touch with history.”
“Otherwise, it will remain a copper bust without meaning,” he said of the Leopold II monument. “And you will never realize why, for all these people, it is so deeply insulting.”
In Belgian town, monuments expose a troubled colonial legacy
In Belgian town, monuments expose a troubled colonial legacy

- Protests sweeping the world that followed the death of George Floyd are focusing attention on Europe’s colonial past and racism of the present
UK watchdog announces probe into Prince Harry charity

- The watchdog added that it would be examining whether the charity’s current and former trustees had “fulfilled their duties and responsibilities under charity law“
- The row at Sentebale escalated on Sunday after its chairperson Sophie Chandauka accused the prince of “bullying“
LONDON: The UK’s charity watchdog on Thursday opened a probe into Sentebale, the African organization co-founded by Prince Harry, after a bitter boardroom row led King Charles III’s younger son to step down as patron.
“After a period of assessing the initial concerns raised with the Commission, the regulator informed the charity on 2 April 2025 it has opened a regulatory compliance case,” the Charity Commission said in a statement.
The watchdog added that it would be examining whether the charity’s current and former trustees had “fulfilled their duties and responsibilities under charity law.”
The row at Sentebale escalated on Sunday after its chairperson Sophie Chandauka accused the prince of “bullying” and being involved in a “cover up.”
Earlier, Harry and Sentebale’s co-founder, Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso, announced their departure from the charity they established in 2006, following a “devastating” dispute between trustees and Chandauka.
Relations with Chandauka, who was appointed in 2023, “broke down beyond repair,” they said in a joint statement last week, prompting trustees to leave and demand that Chandauka resign.
Harry founded the charity in honor of his mother, Princess Diana, with Seeiso to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and later Botswana.
The latest accusations are a fresh blow for the prince, who kept up only a handful of his private patronages including with Sentebale after a dramatic split with the British royals in 2020.
While Harry was integral to the founding vision of the charity, to which he once said he was “committed for the rest of my life,” Chandauka has said “Sentebale has a future” beyond the prince.
Harry chose the name Sentebale as a tribute to Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997 when the prince was just 12. It means “forget me not” in the Sesotho language and is also used to say goodbye.
Thousands of innovators gather in New Delhi for India’s largest startup event

- With 160,000 startups, India is world’s third-largest startup ecosystem after US, China
- Startup Mahakumbh 2025 focuses on AI, cybersecurity, health, energy, gaming, space tech
NEW DELHI: India’s largest startup event began in New Delhi on Thursday, bringing together thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders from across the country and abroad.
Dubbed Startup Mahakumbh, the expo is organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, and the Indian government’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
Around 3,000 startups are participating in the three-day event at Bharat Mandapam — the venue of the 2023 G20 summit — where they are presenting their innovations across sectors including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, health, biotechnology, energy, gaming, finance, mobility, defense, agri tech and space tech.
Jitin Prasada, the minister of state for commerce, industry, electronics and IT, opened the expo, saying that India had strong policies in place to support the development of the startup ecosystem.
“India is ready for the challenge. We have the talent, we have the skills. We have an agile government,” he told the participants.
“We’re going to showcase to the world what India is about. Together with the government, the stakeholders, and you above all in front of me, together we will collaborate, work for a better, stronger, creative, and more vibrant India.”
The number of companies participating in Startup Mahakumbh has doubled from its inaugural edition last year. It will also feature exhibitors and delegates from 50 countries, compared with about a dozen in 2024.
Sanjiv Singh, joint secretary at the DPIIT, told reporters: “At one end we will have a flying taxi made in India on display; at the other we have countries like Korea setting up a pavilion of 11 startups, and Nepal putting up the largest pavilion with one of its startups showcasing a two-stage rocket powered by sustainable hybrid propulsion rocket engines.
“The event will be a great opportunity to connect and collaborate.”
India has about 160,000 registered startups, according to DPIIT data. Among these, more than 100 have achieved unicorn status, which means they are valued at $1 billion or more.
With the rapid growth in the sector over the past few years — from 500 DPIIT-recognized startups in 2016 and fewer than 10 unicorns — India has emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, after the US and China.
Rajesh Nambiar, president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, said: “We also witnessed tech startup IPOs triple in 2024 compared to 2023, so that’s a lot of momentum. It’s not just about the rising momentum. It is compounding year on year, which gives us the confidence that this is going to be something which will be a huge differentiator for us as a nation.
“Last year we added the second highest number of unicorns globally, which is a huge testimony for India as a country. Also in 2024, the tech sector contributed a staggering $283 billion in terms of the broader contribution, and this accounts roughly for about 7.3 percent of GDP.”
The development of tech-based startups, Nambiar told the Startup Mahakumbh audience, will drive India’s technological sovereignty.
“For India to be truly emerging as a developed nation, we must achieve this tech sovereignty; a future where we are not just users of technology, but we are actually creators and builders of technology or transformative technology as we move forward,” he said.
“This also means that we are leading in patents, not just platforms; we would be shaping standards, not just following them. We are going to be owning IP (intellectual property) that drives global progress, and the deep tech ecosystem will be the fulcrum of this transformation.”
Tesla sales fall again in Germany amid Musk backlash

- Tesla’s sales have been slowing worldwide as Musk faces anger over his role overseeing cuts to the federal workforce
- Musk has faced particular hostility in Germany after he vocally backed the far-right Alternative for Germany
FRANKFURT: Tesla sales plunged again in Germany last month even as the broader electric car market rebounded, data showed Thursday, the latest sign of a growing backlash against billionaire owner Elon Musk.
Just 2,229 of Tesla’s electric vehicles (EVs) were registered in March, about 43 percent fewer compared with the same period last year, the KBA federal transport authority said.
Overall electric vehicle registrations rose 35.5 percent in Germany year-on-year as sales continue to rebound from very low levels seen in early 2024.
Like elsewhere in Europe, EV sales slowed in Germany last year against a weak economic backdrop, with the situation worsened in the region’s biggest auto market by the withdrawal of government subsidies.
Tesla’s sales have been slowing worldwide as Musk faces anger over his role overseeing cuts to the federal workforce in US President Donald Trump’s administration, and due to factory upgrades.
But he has faced particular hostility in Germany after he vocally backed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) — which is shunned by mainstream parties — ahead of February elections.
Some German Tesla drivers have put “I bought this before Elon Went crazy” stickers on their vehicles, Teslas have been targeted in suspected arson attacks in Berlin and Dresden, and protesters have staged demonstrations against the carmaker.
Over the first three months of the year Tesla registrations fell a whopping 62.2 percent compared to the same period in 2024, the KBA said.
Overall in March, the number of new vehicle registrations in Germany fell to 253,497, down 3.9 percent from a year earlier, the latest sign of weakness in the market.
German auto manufacturers are now facing another headache after Trump slapped 25-percent tariffs on car imports into the United States.
Eid break brings Indonesian capital respite from notoriously polluted air

- Millions of people traveled to their hometowns for Eid, leaving streets of the capital empty
- Jakarta regularly records above 100 air quality index and ‘unhealthy’ levels of PM 2.5
JAKARTA: The long Eid Al-Fitr break in commercial activities has cleared the skies over Indonesia’s notoriously polluted capital, offering a respite for residents who throughout the year are regularly exposed to some of the world’s most toxic air.
The Jakarta metropolitan area — home to about 31 million people — recorded “good” and “moderate” air on Thursday afternoon, with an air quality index reading between 22 and 76, according to data released by the Ministry of Environment.
The numbers showed a marked improvement for a city that regularly records above 100 AQI and “unhealthy” levels of PM 2.5, a measurement of particulate matter — solid and liquid particles suspended in the air that can be inhaled and cause respiratory diseases.
“These ‘good’ and ‘moderate’ levels of air quality are possibly due to a drop in public activities during Eid holidays, as there has been a marked decrease in transportation and industrial activities in the city,” Edward Nixon Pakpahan, air quality protection and management director at the ministry, told Arab News.
“We are working to keep the air quality index for Jakarta metropolitan area below 100.”
Jakarta residents have long complained about the health risks posed by persistent air pollution from heavy traffic, industrial emissions and coal-fired power plants, which have consistently placed Jakarta among the 10 most polluted cities globally.
The streets of Jakarta and its satellite cities have been mostly empty since last weekend, after millions of people traveled back to their hometowns for Eid holidays.
Across the city, those who did not travel for Eid have been making the most of the rare good weather and clear skies.
“I love it. The sky is blue and the weather isn’t miserable or scorching hot,” Jodi Baskoro, a 40-year-old office worker based in Jakarta, told Arab News.
“It’s such great weather for those who are making their way around Jakarta to visit their families for Eid.”
Amnesty International urges Belgium to end violations of asylum-seekers’ rights

- ‘Belgium is actively manufacturing a homelessness crisis. Without urgent intervention, this crisis will deepen’
- Organization interviewed people, including Palestinians, navigating country’s asylum system
LONDON: Amnesty International on Thursday condemned Belgium for denying asylum applications from thousands of people, “forcing them into homelessness.”
Amnesty accused the EU member of “discrimination against racialized single men,” which has “impacted the lives, dignity and human rights of people seeking asylum.”
It added: “To date, national and international courts have ordered the authorities in Belgium to provide reception more than 12,000 times.
“Belgium has consistently refused to fully comply with the judgments, despite these being final and legally binding.”
Amnesty interviewed people who have experienced homelessness while navigating Belgium’s asylum system since 2021. Many said as well as being denied accommodation, access to healthcare is a major problem.
Sayed, who traveled from Afghanistan, spent time in a squat in Brussels with other homeless migrants from October 2022 to 2023.
“In the beginning it was good enough, there were toilets and showers, and some people brought food in the afternoon,” he told Amnesty.
“But slowly it was turned completely into a graveyard. Showers and toilets were broken, with the passage of time … Pee was coming up to the place where you were sleeping.”
He said ordinary Belgians and local charities had been welcoming, but the state had not been. “People were feeling our pain, but not the authorities,” he added.
Palestinian refugees Ahmet and Baraa, who fled the war Gaza last year, were also forced to live in a squat.
“It was cold … You can be starving, and no one will know about it. No one will help you,” Ahmet said. “I lost a lot of relatives and friends (in Gaza). My mother is severely wounded, my brothers and sister as well. I was thinking in their shoes: I just need to survive.”
Baraa said he just wants a “simple life, basic rights, a job, food in (my) stomach and just to live like a normal person. We had a life back in Gaza, but we just lacked the security and the safety there and that is why we left. That is why we came here: to find a safe place.”
Amnesty said it fears that Belgium will continue to exacerbate the problem after its new government pledged to adopt “the strictest migration policy possible.”
Amnesty urged the government “to immediately provide sufficient reception places and ensure that all people seeking asylum are given adequate housing.
“They must ensure people have access to adequate healthcare services, including specialized psychological support, regardless of their housing situation.”
It also called on the EU to “ensure that Belgium restores compliance” with its legal obligations to asylum-seekers, “including by launching infringement procedures if necessary.”
Eva Davidova, spokeswoman for Amnesty International Belgium, said the country’s “failure to provide reception is not due to a lack of resources but a lack of political will.”
She added: “The previous government had ample time to resolve the homelessness situation and failed to do so.
“The current government is more concerned with reducing the number of people who receive asylum rather than addressing the very real harm inflicted on people seeking asylum currently in the country.
“The scale and duration of Belgium’s persistent disregard for court orders raises questions as to how rights holders can have any hope of holding the Belgian government accountable, especially marginalized and racialized persons like those affected by this situation.”
Davidova continued: “Belgium is actively manufacturing a homelessness crisis which is bound to have a lasting adverse impact on people’s lives and dignity, while civil society is left to pick up the pieces.
“Without urgent intervention, this crisis will deepen, further violating asylum-seekers’ rights and eroding both the country’s and the EU’s commitment to human rights.”