If the challenge of the government is to regain the confidence of the minorities, it has to first overpower its own unruly gangs and their heroic masters, says Sunil Varghese.
'The way discrimination against Muslims has become almost normalised is very upsetting.'
The 18-year-old actress of the upcoming movie also sought top court's direction to prohibit states from initiating any criminal proceedings against her.
Kalicharan Maharaj also used an abusive word against Mahatma Gandhi while delivering a speech at Dharma Sansad organised by an organisation at Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur, drawing flak from the leaders of the ruling Congress.
People may belong to any caste and religion, they are not safe, the Congress leader alleged.
'We will talk to Muslim, Christian organisations and form a broad alliance so that every temple, church and mosque will have freedom to manage their affairs and not to be intervened upon.'
'If Islamic State were to get entrenched in Bangladesh and Myanmar it will have disastrous implications for India as both countries border India's northeast, a restive and volatile region,' says Rajeev Sharma.
The concept of 'fairness by rulers' is deeply ingrained in Indians and any weakening of this dents the legitimacy of the ruler, warns military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Former president Pervez Musharraf has admitted that Pakistan supported and trained groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba in 1990s to carry out militancy in Kashmir.
Some important simple truths about the issue may be more helpful than high sounding debates, asserts Mohammad Sajjad.
'Political meetings will be a mere side show; the main show is economic investment and the business partnership. The success of Modi's US visit will be judged on the basis of India's ability to attract American investment and setting up of manufacturing in India to give jobs to millions,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A mob attacked the temple at Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district of the province, some 590 km from Lahore, in protest against the release of an eight-year-old Hindu boy, who was arrested for allegedly urinating in a local seminary.
Two former senior United States diplomats, with more than 60 years experience in South Asia between them, have exhorted Washington to establish communication with Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi sooner than later.
The marchers -- many wrapped in the red, yellow and blue flag of Tibet and dressed in traditional robes -- chanted and played drums, holding a minute of silence for their "martrys" before starting a "peace march" along Lake Geneva.
Bhagwat further emphasised that no Muslim will face any loss due to the citizenship law.
'Many times when Khalistan slogans are raised, it is from those who feel alienated, not because they want a separate state.'
The Taliban have postponed the formation of a new government in Afghanistan for next week, their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on Saturday, as the insurgent group struggles to give shape to a broad-based and inclusive administration acceptable to the international community.
The conditions are related to Pakistan's support to terrorists and terror outfits.
While acknowledging Shivaji's naval contributions, questions are being raised about the inadequate acknowledgement of Chola sea-power in southern Tamil Nadu, which dates back by a few centuries, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Since 2014, India has left its moorings as a pluralist, modern, secular State because that is how the BJP wants it to be, notes Aakar Patel.
This was also part of the right to privacy of the deity, the lawyer said.
'As CIC, you have the power to comment on policy matters. 'If you have very strong beliefs and you know your rulings will be reported, you will express your beliefs.'
Additional Sessions Judge Anil Antil denied relief to Preet Singh, arrested by the Delhi Police in the case, saying right to assemble and freedom to air one's thoughts are cherished under the Constitution, however, these are not absolute and have to be exercised with inherent reasonable restrictions.
Likening India's progress to that of a vehicle that only has accelerator and no brakes, the RSS chief said those trying to stop it will either step aside or be eliminated.
The Gujarat high court on Thursday put a stay on the operation of some sections related to interfaith marriages of the state's new anti-conversion law.
There are indications that the Modi dispensation was disinclined to bring the VHP into the temple-mosque frame.
The foreign minister said he has other engagements in Bangladesh while the home minister cancelled the visit due to ongoing protests against CAB.
The report mentioned the Central Bureau of Investigation raid on NDTV, exit of Bobby Ghosh as the editor of Hindustan Times and arrest of cartoonist G Bala.
The apex court took suo motu notice of the case after patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council Dr Ramesh Kumar met the Chief Justice on Thursday.
A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde at the outset said that it will only deal with the issues referred to it by a five-judge bench on November 14 in the Sabarimala case, and asked the lawyers to convene a meeting on January 17 to decide on 're-framing' or adding additional issues to be deliberated upon by it.
The President had been moved out of his residence on Friday, in anticipation of Saturday's protests.
After Pakistani Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the "blasphemous caricatures" published in French weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, dozens marched against the publication in Lahore.
State Congress president D K Shivakumar even tore papers on his table, in protest against the introduction of the bill, which his party called 'draconian and anti-constitution'.
Observing that free citizens cannot exist when the news media is chained to adhere to one position, the court said journalistic freedom lies at 'the core' of the fundamental right to free speech and India's freedom will rest safe as long as journalists can speak to power without being 'chilled by a threat of reprisal'.
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday told the Bombay high court that the defamation suit filed against him by Dhyandev Wankhede, father of Narcotics Control Bureau zonal director Sameer Wankhede, was only an attempt to cover-up the 'illegalities' committed by the IRS officer and claimed none of his statements against them was false.
The West has always preferred a timid, half intelligent and a dependent India rather than a decisively independent and self-reliant one. A pliable Indian leadership suits the West best, says Tarun Vijay.
'Who would think of making a bank of poor women? She had vision and boldness.'
"This year, I was honoured to kindle the first-ever diya in the Oval Office -- a lamp that symbolises how darkness will always be overcome by light. It is a tradition that I hope future presidents will continue," Obama said on the White House Facebook page, which became viral on social media.
The court accepted the scheme formulated by the state government to provide "ex gratia assistance" of up to Rs 50,000 to all religious places, including mosques and temples.
Secularism as a principle and practice in India is in "danger", but "forces of hatred" cannot alter the country's secular character, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said during an interview on his new book 'The Battle of Belonging'. In the book, Tharoor makes a stinging critique of the Hindutva doctrine, asserting that it is a political doctrine, not a religious one.
