The much-awaited Ram temple consecration will be held in Ayodhya on Monday in a grand ceremony with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the rituals, following which the shrine will be opened for the public a day later.
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet will hold its meeting on Thursday in Ayodhya as the city gears up for the opening of the Ram temple in January.
Nothing would please our adversaries if the court verdict sees triumphalism on the part of the majority and sullen anger of the minority, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The government has to specify what it intends to do with caste census data. It will be closely tracked if the government would simultaneously move towards removing the present 50% bar on reservations using means which are permitted in law. If this is not done, the entire exercise will become meaningless and could boomerang on the BJP, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
In a historic verdict in November on the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of construction of a temple. It also ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque within Ayodhya.
A cabinet meeting outside Lucknow -- a rare event -- was held for the first time in Prayagraj in January of 2019.
RSS to interact with Muslim professionals ahead of Ayodhya verdict.
Shahi Imam of the Delhi Jama Masjid, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, on Thursday lost his cool when a journalist questioned him regarding the Ayodhya verdict during a press conference, following which he was thrashed by supporters of the cleric.
The new idol of Lord Ram was placed in the sanctum sanctorum of Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi temple on Thursday afternoon, ahead of the January 22 consecration ceremony.
Four youth were arrested from Ochira in Kollam district on Thursday for allegedly sending provocative SMS messages to friends relating to the Ayodhya issue.
The decision will be taken by the trust in consultation with Shankaracharya Vijayendra Saraswati and other seers, trust functionaries said.
The Supreme Court's 2023 order refusing to stay a scientific survey at the Gyanvapi Mosque complex has sparked claims over several other disputed places of worship across India. This has led to several court cases, including one in Mathura where a survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex was ordered, and another in Ajmer where a claim was made that a Shiva temple existed within the dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti. The article also highlights a dispute over the Bhojshala in Madhya Pradesh, which Hindus consider a temple and Muslims consider a mosque. The Supreme Court's order has reignited debates about the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits the change of character of religious places as they existed on August 15, 1947.
Invitees to the 'pran pratishtha' consecration ceremony at the Ram temple started arriving Sunday in Ayodhya -- once a sleepy town now resplendent with new infrastructure and gripped by heightened religious fervour on the eve of a seminal event in India's political and religious history.
A senior Congressman from Uttar Pradesh explained that there was a clear attempt by the BJP to underplay the Hindutva sentiment so that they could appeal to the Indian youth, who doesn't want riots and seek to move on.
'Divine experience and a proud moment' is how the 15 couples who were the 'mukhya yajman' for the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya described the grand event and said that the day will be forever etched in their memories.
The urgency to understand and decode the possible impact of the Ayodhya verdict is so high that the Bharatiya Janata Party and many Muslim organisations are not even participating in public debates, reports Sheela Bhatt. They want to play it safe by not inciting the public before the verdict and they want to ensure that all options are kept open after the highly anticipated judgment.
A new landmark of India -- both structural and spiritual -- rises on Ayodhya's horizon on Monday as a new-age architectural marvel of elegant sandstones, diligently carved by craftspeople with dedication and devotion to Lord Ram.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday recalled how the government, political parties and the civil society prevented attempts to create fissures when the 2010 Allahabad high court ruling on the disputed land in Ayodhya was to be delivered.
Passions ran high as Indian users reinvented social activism by discussing the Ayodhya verdict on social networks like Facebook through status updates and over tweets on Twitter.
Dhavan took to Facebook to disclose that he has been removed from further participation in the Ayodhya case on the 'nonsensical' ground that he is unwell.
The CBI court had on September 30, 2020 acquitted the accused including former deputy prime minister L K Advani in the case after which two Ayodhya residents -- Haji Mahboob and Syed Akhlaq -- moved a revision petition before the Allahabad high court.
The Sunni Central Waqf Board and Mohammad Hashim Ansari, litigants in the Ayodhya title suits, will request the Supreme Court for verdict by October1, even as other litigant Nirmohi Akhara will pray for a three months' time to resolve the issue through negotiations.
Amid contentions from some sections that the Ayodhya verdict was based on faith and not evidence, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani opn Sunday said the report of the Archeological Survey of India has been the 'clincher' in the judgement of the Allahabad high court bench.
Arun Jaitley, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was restrained in his reaction to the Ayodhya verdict delivered by the Allahabad high court's Lucknow bench; but his joy was hardly hidden.
'While suppression of information is acceptable for the government, the Opposition's efforts at pinning the government and its leaders is labeled anti-national,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Bharatiya Janata Party vs ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam battle over live telecast of the Ayodhya Ram temple consecration in Tamil Nadu shrines reached the Supreme Court on Monday, with the apex court asking the authorities to act in accordance with the law and not based on any oral instructions.
Thousands of Shiv Sainiks are expected to accompany Eknath Shinde on his visit to Ayodhya on Sunday, his first such visit after being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in June last year.
With barely a day left for the verdict on the Ayodhya title suits to be pronounced by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, security has been stepped up further at important installations across the state.
Former Union Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid is facing legal issues with the release of his book, Sunrise over Ayodhya -- Nationhood in our times. Two Delhi lawyers have filed complaints with Delhi Police against Khurshid, for allegedly defaming and comparing Hinduism with terrorism in his book.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court may have rejected Ramesh Chandra Tripathi's plea for postponing the Ayodhya verdict and to explore possibilities of an out-of-court amicable settlement, but the 73-year-old man has still not lost hope and he is air-dashing to New Delhi, renewing his appeal before the highest court of the land.
Kamal Farooqui, member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and former chairperson of the State Minority Commission, believe the Ayodhya verdict gives all warring sides a golden opportunity to come to a settlement and end the vexed issue which has caused untold violence and harm to the Muslims. In a candid interview with Vrinda Gopinath, he many of the perplexing issues and outlines a strategy for a final settlement.
According to the order, there will be a ban on the use of drone and no shop will sell them without prior information.
The petitioners seeking reconsideration by a larger bench, the observations made by it in a 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to Islam.
With just 10 days left for the court verdict on Ayodhya title suits, political leader Kalyan Singh said he would visit the disputed site on September 16 to have "darshans" of Lord Ram and discuss with saints and VHP leaders the issue of building a temple there.
Soon after the CCS meeting, Dr Singh is likely to make an appeal for peace and harmony. There are also plans to have a national broadcast by the prime minister if the situation so warranted.
"We have full confidence in the judicial system of the country. We appeal to the people to respect the verdict of the court and maintain peace and communal harmony in the country," the seminary's deputy vice-chancellor Maulana Abdul Khalique Madrasi said
The apex court said when a particular structure is chosen all of a sudden for demolition and the rest of similarly situated structures in the same vicinity are not even being touched, "mala fide may loom large".
With barely a day left for the verdict on the Ayodhya title suits to be pronounced by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, security has been stepped up further at important installations across the state.
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