Savarkar believed Swarajya is more than the mere geographical independence of a stretch of earth called India. There was no point in fighting and sacrificing one's life for a Swarajya (mere territorial independence) at the cost of our Svatva (self-existence) or Hindutva itself! A revealing excerpt from Uday Mahurkar and Chirayu Pandit's Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition.
'On the agenda: A nearly $100 billion Delhi-Mumbai fast track freight corridor, a similar corridor for Delhi and Kolkata, cooperation in counter-terrorism and security matters, and civil nuclear cooperation.'
''Lots of problems have been settled through communication, interaction and talks, as preached by Buddhism."
'Despite living in a free nation for so many years, if atrocities like rapes, public flogging, social boycotts are faced by Dalits, then conversion is the only option.'
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T S Tirumurti, said on Tuesday that India condemns all forms of anti-semitism and all forms of discrimination on religious grounds anywhere in the world.
'We have done majoritarianism through other means.' 'The Citizenship Amendment Act, read together with the National Register of Citizens, will prove what I mean,' notes Aakar Patel.
'It is not a matter of fixing the military problem up there in the Himalayas and the retreat of the two militaries.' 'India has to find a way to correct the racist and very patronising views of India in the Chinese mind.'
Modi, who was wearing a 'Mujib Jacket' as tribute to Bangladesh's Father of the Nation, said that Bangabandhu's leadership and bravery had ensured that no power could enslave Bangladesh.
The Dalai Lama headed Kalachakra Puja in Bodh Gaya has drawn devotees from 92 countries.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
'The Mahabodhi temple is the only example in the world where a religion's most sacred place is controlled by people belonging to another religion.'
Photos: Independence Day Special - We, the people of India
Rediff.com's Reuben N V, who is attending the revered Kalachakra ceremony in Leh, sends us these fascinating photographs.
The key discovery of the oldest 'Buddhist shrine' at Buddha's birthplace in Nepal will throw more light on one of the world's earliest religions, archaeologists have said.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla terms India's relationship with China as "complex".
'The idea of a 'Hindu Rashtra' only emerged in the 1920s and 1930s.' 'The context at that time was the clear British attempt at 'divide and rule' between Hindus and Muslims and within Hindus on caste lines,' argues military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Khan said Islamabad has taken the first step on a new path to peace and progress.
'Modi cannot drag India back into a primitive epoch resembling the religious wars in medieval Europe and at the same time claim to represent the aspirations of modernity among Indians,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Asserting that there should be no politics on the Bodh Gaya blasts, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Sunday's terror strike is a lesson for everybody, and urged the Centre to take firm steps to intensify the security of the Mahabodhi temple, which is a symbol of faith for crores of followers of Buddhism all over the world.
This year, the much-anticipated Jaipur Literature Festival will have a special touch of spirituality, with an underlying theme of Buddha's influence on the literary world. And who better than the Dalai Lama to throw open this discussion?
The Fijian-Indian-origin, a senior Islamic State recruiter and terror plot instigator, had been arrested in an unnamed Middle Eastern country.
Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple, one of Buddhism's holiest shrines, plans to provide a peaceful environment for meditation to 4,000 visiting troops of the Royal British Army, who will start arriving in the second week of January 2013.
Walter Isaacson says Jobs' design sense was greatly influenced by the "simplicities of Zen Buddhism."
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Friday held a special prayer at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's official residence here for world peace and praised the state government for taking interest in Buddhism.
The Dalai Lama was on Thursday named as the winner of the prestigious Templeton Prize 2012 for his exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension.
She lived for two-thirds of her life in India, adopted its national cause and customs, and took an Indian passport. She served a prison sentence in Lahore as part of Gandhi's protests against an Imperial power which happened to be her motherland. Freda Bedi delighted in confounding accepted definitions of identity.
Vowing to take revenge over the killing of Burmese Muslims after they refused to convert to Buddhism, the Tehrik-e-Taliban has warned the Pakistan government to close down the Burmese embassy in Islamabad.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that he did not want lessons on human rights from outside, days after the UN Human Rights Council adopted a US-sponsored resolution censuring Colombo.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday said that his country has a rich and proud record of safeguarding human rights. Addressing a public gathering in the central town of Balangoda, Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka's human rights protection was inspired by the influence of Buddhism over a period of over 2,500 years.
China has warned the Dalai Lama against interfering in the reincarnation process to select a successor after his death, saying this tradition of Tibetan Buddhism cannot be influenced by any group from abroad.
Count among The Light of Asia's many, many admirers over 132 years: Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda, Nehru and Ambedkar, Tolstoy and Kipling, Yeats and Eliot, Alfred Nobel, Dmitri Mendeleev and C V Raman. Jairam Ramesh reveals why he decided to write a book on Edwin Arnold, who wrote The Light of Asia.
India is the birthplace of four major world religions -- Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is home to the world's third largest Muslim population, a diverse community of sects that includes Sufis, Shia, and Bohra. Roughly three per cent of India's citizens are Christian, and notably, Christians are the religious majority in three of India's 29 states, she said.
A hands-on mother and devoted wife, she craves an ordinary life.
'The numbers of troops on both sides are enormous.' 'They are about 50,000-60,000 soldiers facing each other in that sector -- that's about the total number of troops that both sides had in the 1962 War in all sectors.'
The plea filed by an advocate has also sought issuance of guidelines for creation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to tackle such incidents and filling up of vacancies in forest forces across the country.
English champions Leicester City will have few problems against the giants of European soccer when they contest the Champions League next season, says the Thai monk who has been regularly blessing the newest sensations of world sport. Buddhist Phra Prommangkalachan says the team, with their clear minds, will continue to thrive on the international stage. "I believe the power of Buddhism... given through the Buddhist monk and executives (of the club's Thai owners King Power) has created teamwork and unity in the team," Phra said at the Traimitr temple.
'Absolute non-violence is not only sinful, but immoral.' 'This doctrine of non-violence benumbed the revolutionary fervor, softened the limbs and hearts of the Hindus, and stiffened the bones of enemies.' A revealing excerpt from Vikram Sampath's Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966.
Karmapa Ugyen Thinley Dorje, head of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, on Monday rubbished allegations that he was a Chinese spy and expressed readiness to make clarification to any government official in this regard.
China is acutely conscious of the need for the next Dalai Lama to be under its control. It was for this reason that China recently stressed their claim on Arunachal Pradesh. There were rumours that the next Dalai Lama may be found in Tawang. If that happens, India-China relations will become tense and there may be demands for the child to be handed over to the Chinese, points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
As politicians fast to score brownie points, they should know that not every fast has a desirable ending, says Arundhuti Dasgupta.