Sikhs have more in the way of domestic clout and electoral representation in Canada than they do in India. No politician in Ottawa can ignore the concerns of a community with this level of representation, notes Devangshu Datta.
Around 200 people belonging to the Sikh community staged a demonstration in front of the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Kolkata on Wednesday, expressing solidarity with an Indian Police Service officer who had alleged that West Bengal party leader Suvendu Adhikari labeled him as a 'Khalistani'.
Almost all will say no. Then ask them why they don't push back at those who rise the slogan of Khalistan. Somebody would confront you with a counter-question: If people can talk of a Hindu Rashtra, why get so upset if others talk of a Sikh Nation, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced reservation for Muslims in supplying goods and services up to a value of Rs 1 crore to various government departments, corporations and institutions in the state budget for 2025-26. The budget also increased the value limit of government contracts in which Muslims can avail reservation to Rs 2 crore. The reservation to Muslims under 2B category is in addition to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Castes coming under Category-1, Category-2A. The budget also included various welfare schemes for minorities, including Rs 50,000 to support simple marriages and Rs 1,000 crore under the Chief Minister's Minority Colony Development Programme.
Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the US has called on both countries "not to escalate" the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to speak with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India as early as today or tomorrow. The US State Department said Washington is reaching out to both India and Pakistan "regarding the Kashmir situation" and telling them "not to escalate the situation."
A US military aircraft carrying 112 Indian deportees landed at the Amritsar airport late on Sunday night, marking the third such flight in recent weeks. The deportees, who hail from various states across India, will be allowed to return home after completing necessary immigration procedures. The deportations are part of a crackdown by the Donald Trump administration against illegal immigrants.
Following calls for the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's grave, authorities in Maharashtra, India, have increased security at the site. Visitors are now required to show identification before entering. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has staged protests and submitted memorandums demanding the grave's removal, citing Aurangzeb's history of conflict with the Marathas and his persecution of other religious groups. The caretaker of the grave has maintained that the situation is peaceful and that visitor numbers have declined since the controversy arose.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday condemned the violence in West Bengal's Murshidabad district following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, accusing the opposition of instigating the violence. He also criticized the opposition for their alleged silence over the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh and emphasized the BJP's commitment to protecting Hindus.
Canada's Liberal Party has revoked Indian-origin MP Chandra Arya's bid to run for the party leadership and his nomination in his own Ottawa Nepean constituency over alleged ties to the Indian government. Citing a source with top-secret clearance, the Globe and Mail daily reported that Arya, who visited India last August and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had not informed the government of that trip even though bilateral relations are in a deep freeze. The Liberals have never revealed why they barred the three-term Liberal MP from the party's recent leadership race or from running again in Nepean constituency. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service had briefed the government about Arya's "alleged close ties to the government of India, including its High Commission in Ottawa". Arya has rejected the allegations and believes he was removed because of his stance against the Sikh Khalistani movement in Canada.
'Pakistan cannot sustain a war with India for more than four days. They are in such dire straits. At best they can sustain war for one week.'
A Delhi court sentenced former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment for his role in the murder of two Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The court cited Kumar's age and illness as mitigating factors in its decision to impose a lesser sentence than the death penalty. Kumar was convicted for being part of a mob that set fire to the victims' home and killed them. This is the second life imprisonment sentence for Kumar in connection with the 1984 riots. He is also facing other charges related to the riots.
Dr Manmohan Singh's ashes were immersed in the Yamuna river near the Majnu ka Tila gurdwara by members of his family following Sikh rituals.
It took Udham Singh 21 years to avenge the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh. And 34 years for his remains to return to India after execution in a British prison.
The four-day CIFF was packed with so many other new projects, like Radhika Apte's first directorial effort Koyta, with Vikramaditya Motwane as the producer, Venkatesh Maha's Ko Ko Ko, Jeo Baby's Punishment and Shonali Bose's Black Mountain Monpa.
Terrorists opened fire at a popular tourist spot near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly holidayers from other states, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
A Canada commission report has said that 'no definitive link' with a 'foreign state' in the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was 'proven', smashing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations that accused the involvement of Indian agents in the killing.
A Canadian court has sentenced a 24-year-old man to life after he pleaded guilty to the killing of a Sikh businessman, a suspect in the 1985 Air India bombing who was later acquitted, according to local media reports.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider listing for urgent hearing the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
The Supreme Court of India will likely hear a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 on April 15. The Act, which came into force on April 8, has been met with widespread criticism from various stakeholders, including politicians, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind. They argue that the law is discriminatory and violates the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution. The petitions allege that the amendments give the government more control over the administration of Waqf, effectively sidelining the Muslim minority from managing their own religious endowments.
The minority front of the Uttar Pradesh BJP will distribute 'Saugat-e-Modi' kit to 32 lakh poor Muslims on the occasion of Eid this year.
The BJP is considering having two deputy chief ministers in the new Delhi government to represent the city as a "mini" India, party leaders said. The move is aimed at accommodating MLAs from different castes, communities, and regional backgrounds. The proposal is under consideration by the national leadership, which will also decide on the chief minister and other ministers. The process of government formation is expected to gain momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his foreign visit over the weekend.
A three-judge Supreme Court bench will hear petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, on April 16. The petitions, including those by politicians and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, were filed in the top court challenging the validity of the newly-enacted law. The Centre has filed a caveat in the apex court, seeking a hearing before any order is passed.
A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, claiming it was a "blatant intrusion" into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion. The plea, filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, argues that the amendments would distort the religious character of Waqfs and irreversibly damage the democratic process in their administration. Several other petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the validity of the bill, including those by Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, speaking at the University of Oxford, stressed the importance of inclusive development and stated that division in society is counterproductive. She emphasized that her governance model prioritizes the welfare of all sections of society and does not allow discrimination, highlighting the state's diverse population and the need for a human-centric approach.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is 'sociologically and politically' an 'idiot' who has never truly understood that the vast majority of Sikhs are quite secular in their outlook and want nothing to do with Khalistan, according to a former Canadian minister.
In an apparent case of hate crime, a 17-year-old Sikh high school student was assaulted at a bus stop after an altercation with another teenager in Canada's British Columbia province, according to a media report on Thursday.
After Vijay Deverakonda, Nimrat Kaur visits the Maha Kumbh Mela and takes a dip in the Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj.
Jasmer Singh was attacked by 30-year-old Gilbert Augustin after their vehicles collided in Queens in New York last Thursday.
It seems that the West is sending a signal to India that it can return to old hostilities unless India toes their line on Russia. It is no surprise that India is being compared with Putin's Russia in terms of targeting 'dissidents' as the West calls these Khalistani terrorists, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The BJP has vehemently criticized the Karnataka government's decision to provide four per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts, labeling it an "unconstitutional misadventure." The party has pledged to challenge the move in court and has vowed to oppose it at all levels. Meanwhile, the ruling Congress party has defended the reservation, arguing that it aligns with constitutional provisions. The issue has led to heated exchanges in the Karnataka Assembly, with both parties accusing each other of engaging in appeasement politics.
Leader of Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) Jagmeet Singh has announced that he is withdrawing support to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
The ashes of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were immersed in the Yamuna river near the Majnu ka Tila Gurdwara in New Delhi. The immersion ceremony was conducted by Singh's family members following Sikh rituals. The ashes were collected from the Nigambodh Ghat on Sunday morning and taken to the 'Asth Ghat' on the Yamuna river bank near the gurdwara. Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur, their three daughters -- Upinder Singh, Daman Singh and Amrit Singh -- along with other relatives were present at the immersion site.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court will decide whether Jain individuals can seek relief under the Hindu Marriage Act, including divorce by mutual consent. This decision stems from a family court's refusal to accept a divorce petition from a Jain software engineer, citing the community's minority status. The high court appointed an amicus curiae to assist in the case, and the next hearing is scheduled for March 18.
As a consequence of prominence given to the brutality during those few days, a very important aspect of that episode got almost glossed over. This was the intervention by a very significant section of people who restored faith in humanity, and conveyed the message that only a small section of Indians, that too politically backed, were consumed by anti-Sikh majoritarianism. The overlooked facet of the events of 1984 was the story of significant sections of the city's populace, public figures and nondescript ones, stepping out hand-in-hand, to first stand with little but bravery in hands, in the way of attackers, and thereafter to provide immediate relief to those who lives were uprooted and who lost family members in the violence, recalls Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Days after he escaped assassination, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal appeared before the Akal Takht seeking forgiveness -- kshama yachna -- after completing the 10-day tankha (penance for violating the Sikh religious code) at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Friday, December 13, 2024.
Punjab Police have arrested two key operatives of the banned organization Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) who had direct links to Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda and US-based gangster Happy Passian. The accused, Jagdish Singh alias Jagga and Shubhdeep Singh Aulakh alias Shubh, were instructed to carry out targeted killings in Punjab as part of a larger coordinated terror operation. Jagdish is a key shooter involved in a murder case in Maharashtra two weeks ago. Both accused were arrested from Mohali and a case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Arms Act at SSOC police station, Mohali.
The Congress party on Monday defended its decision not to accompany the family of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the immersion of his ashes in the Yamuna, stating it was to ensure their privacy. Congress leader Pawan Khera said senior leaders did not accompany the family to gather and immerse the ashes of Dr Singh "out of our deference to the privacy of the family."
With the Bharatiya Janata Party a clear winner in the Delhi assembly elections, meet the BJP aspirants for the chief minister's post.
The statements the separatists make, the abominable tableaux at their parades, the slogans, posters, and selfies with assault rifles are not India's problem. If they are a nuisance, it should bother their host countries, because they are armed and have their own underworld with deadly gang rivalries. Significantly, none of this happens in the US -- only in snowflaky Canada, points out Shekhar Gupta.
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