Das served as the head priest since he was 20 years old, including during the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
Renowned documentary film maker Anand Patwardhan said the video sharing website is "catering to Hindutva goons who want to kill all secular content."
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have announced that they will mark the day as Shaurya Diwas and Vijay Diwas (day of victory) and have asked the people to light earthen lamps as on Diwali.
While charges against top Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders including Lal Krishna Advani, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar were already dropped by the high court, the most prominent among those who were on the firing line was former Faizabad district magistrate R N Srivastava and mafia don turned BJP member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Saran Singh
Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had no knowledge of the plan to demolish Babri Masjid and he believed in the assurance given by top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders concerning the march to Ayodhya in 1992 by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and security at the disputed site, Rao's former media adviser PVRK Prasad said on Sunday.
The Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) demanded the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Centre to move applications in the Allahabad High Court for daily hearing to expedite trial and judgement in the mosque demolition case.
Five members of a school management near Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district have been booked.
While beefing up security in all communally sensitive towns, the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday sounded a 'red alert' across the state in the wake of the 17th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya.
The police had allegedly opened fire on a "mob" coming out of Hari Masjid in Central Mumbai on January 10, 1993, to maintain law and order in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition.
"I don't call it a debate. I call it an introspection," said Gurudas Dasgupta, Member of Parliament of the Communist party of India from West Bengal while kick starting the rarest of the rare debate in Lok Sabha on Monday -- on perhaps the most politically sensitive issue of independent India.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday sought to corner the government over the controversial statement by Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik equating the Babri Masjid demolition with Mumbai terror attacks, as it demanded to know in Rajya Sabha as to why India did not respond strongly.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the PMO and Congress party of "keeping the country in dark" over Sir Creek issue and slammed UPA for "lacking the guts" to take on "authoritative" Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik for his remarks.
Unlike in the past, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is not celebrating any "Shaurya Diwas" (Bravery Day) on Tuesday and there are no plans by the Muslim community to observe a "Black Day".
Security has been tightened in the hill shrine of Sabarimala in view of the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition. Contingents of police, CRPF, National Disaster Response Force and armed commandos had been deployed in vital spots at the uphill 'Sannidhanam', where the temple complex is located, and downhill Pampa, senior police officials said.
The agency officials said they are studying the judgment and an appeal would soon be filed in the Supreme Court.
Special Judge (CBI) Rais Ahmed posted the hearing of the case to April 18 when the investigating agency is likely to produce two witnesses on the December 6, 1992 demolition.
"Kalyan Singh is making a very late beginning and if he was so apologetic he should have done it exactly 14 years ago," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters.
'It (Centre's submission) proves the political intention of the UPA government, which wants to keep the issue alive by resorting to falsehood,' says BJP.
The central government said, "It was an act of national shame, what was demolished was not merely an ancient structure but the faith of the minorities in the sense of justice and fair play of the majority.
The Opposition's stand on the Ayodhya consecration is puzzling. Their only objection seems to be that the BJP has hijacked a religious event for political benefit. In saying this, the Opposition is either being naive or hypocritical, argues Jyoti Punwani.
'He told senior journalists a few days after the Babri Masjid demolition, 'Jo hua theek hua. Maine isliye hone diya ki BJP ki rajniti hamesha ke liye khatam ho jaye.'
Police in Ahmedabad are on high alert and have taken extensive security measures following intelligence reports stating that terrorist may target the city on December 6, which marks the 17th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition.
The government on Tuesday said it has accepted all the recommendations made by the Liberhan Commission in the backdrop of the Babri Masjid demolition and 'positive action' would be taken on them.
The Liberhan Commission that probed the Babri Masjid demolition on Tuesday came down heavily on mixing politics and religion and has recommended a law providing for exemplary punishment for such misuse to acquire political power.
Bhartiya Janata Party leader Vinay Katiyar has "threatened to expose Justice Liberhan's intent" behind party leaders Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani for their alleged involvement in the Babri Masjid demolition. "Just wait for a while and see what I reveal about Justice Liberhan as soon as his report is tabled in the parliament", Katlyar told rediff.com on Monday.
The Union Cabinet has been summoned for an unscheduled meeting Tuesday morning before the start of Parliament's day's sitting, strengthening speculation that the government may be pushed to tabling the Liberhan Commission report on Babri Masjid demolition.
Police escorted the rally all the way, at one point standing in a row to prevent the rallyists from entering a side road where stood a huge mosque. Across the road, an old Muslim woman asked her Hindu neighbour what the rally was all about. The latter shrugged her ignorance, looking on in bewilderment at the young men with their saffron flags, all of them wearing Bajrang Dal T-shirts.
A ready reckoner on the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid issue.
Justice N Santosh Hegde, a representative of the civil society in the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill, on Saturday said that there is nothing wrong in the presence of Sangh Parivar leader Sadhvi Ritambhara on the dais where Baba Ramdev is on a hunger strike against black money. When informed that Ramdev had assured Anna Hazare on Friday that no communal element will be allowed to join his satyagraha, Hegde said, "Suppose the Muslim League comes out on Sunday?"
'Gandhi had given the call 'Do or Die'. And with all the leaders arrested, you had to be your own leader.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership is not 'unduly perturbed' by the submission of the report of the Justice M S Liberhan commission, which probed the Babri Masjid demolition.
Proceedings in the Upper House have been derailed almost every day for the last 10 days on various issues ranging from the Babri Masjid demolition to the controversy generated over the prime minister's remarks on minorities.
Angry BJP and other opposition members stormed the well disrupting proceedings for the 17th working day to press for a JPC to go into allocation of radio-waves -- a demand consistently rejected by government.
A sessions court in Hyderabad acquitted 21 youth on Wednesday, who were booked on charges of waging war against the state and viewing jihadi material.
The very mention of the Justice Jagannatha Shetty Commission report can tauten the air in Karnataka's Bhatkal town.
The govt said seeking information about the legal position of any case was its 'legitimate right'.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has taken a strong exception to the clean chit given to then prime minister P V Narsimha Rao in the Liberhan Commission Report on Babri Masjid demolition and questioned the 'unfortunate' observations made in the document on Muslim organisations. "The report states that the Board and Muslim organisations did not put forth their stand on the Babri mosque and did little for the rehabilitation of the riot victims," said a member.
During the meeting, Home Minister P Chidambaram would bring in the Action Taken Report for approval before it is laid on the table of the House along with the Liberhan commission report. Pranab Mukherjee will chair the Cabinet meet in Dr Singh's absence.
Nazir Ahmed Wani, the main accused in the 1993 Deoband bomb blasts, has been arrested in Srinagar after evading capture for 31 years. Wani, wanted for his involvement in the bomb attacks, was arrested by a joint operation of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and local police. The blasts occurred during communal violence in Deoband following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
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