Meena said political parties should be responsible enough to decide to what extent they should use the Sabarimala issue during the campaign.
Strident Hindutva has not been the Shivraj Singh Chouhan's hallmark in his long tenure as chief minister. What has changed?
'The verdict must be seen as something more; as a historical balm, a moral restitution and the deliverance of justice to a people wronged,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
One of the most important cases which have political implications is the Ayodhya land dispute case.
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
'He too can become a good BJP worker like Rajmata and those from his family before him.'
'But for Rajiv's bloopers, the Hindutva campaign would not have got off the ground,' Amulya Ganguli points out.
'The Ayodhya anniversary, every year brings back the tragic memories. Politicians should let people's wounds heal and not reopen them to suit their agenda'
'They (BJP) think that they can do anything in this country. The Constitution is being subverted'
'This is India, bhai. This kind of country does not exist anywhere in the world.'
'Now that the Ram mandir is done, we need to move on. And grapple with COVID-19, a sputtering economy, a belligerent China...' 'The temple may win a few more elections for the BJP, but by itself it won't solve the nation's growing problems of economic and social distress,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
The new bench comprises Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.
'Ayodhya will once again become Ram's city.'
'This Sunday holds special significance for us, as we woke up to a new and transformed Sunday, with a feeling of relief that the lingering issue of Ayodhya dispute has been resolved once and for all'
The apex court said the parties in the matter should be ready to start the hearing on the appeals which are before it.
The bench directed that the mediation will be held at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and the process should start within a week from Friday.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite Indian films of 2021.
The prime minister says he will bring real change to Bengal. Perhaps he will. The interesting thing is that his party has never defined what this change is, observes Aakar Patel.
Other than providing Narendra Modi a sweetner ahead of the BJP's national executive meet in Goa, there are no major trends to glean from the recent by-election results, says Seema Mustafa.
The bench took serious note of the submission of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for one of the parties, that the appeals be heard in July 2019 after completion of the next Lok Sabha polls as the atmosphere at present was not conducive.
'Is Rahul turning the Congress' covert soft-Hindutva support into overt support now?' 'And if so, following in the BJP's footsteps, is the Congress going to abandon Indian Muslims and Muslim causes altogether?' asks Dr Najid Hussain whose father-in-law former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the Gujarat riots.
'It is not with feelings of devotion or piety that these people are gathering.' 'It is mostly with emotions of hatred.' 'Listen to their slogans and their rhetoric and this becomes immediately clear,' says Aakar Patel.
'Do the Muslims of India think that they are receiving justice from their nation and particularly from the Supreme Court?'
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that even if one per cent chance of mediation exists in the politically sensitive land dispute matter, it should be done.
On Thursday, November 3, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will launch his Samajwadi Rath Yatra. The official launch of the party's election campaign, but also a way of assessing how much traction he has among the people.
'I was fortunate to have served as India's ambassador to Indonesia and witnessed on several occasions, the incredible performances of the Ramayana and episodes from the Mahabharata in Jogjakarta and in Bali,' recalls former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'This is millions of Indians standing up for values rather than an individual gain.' 'This is why this protest is unique and this is why this protest has for the first time made this government uncertain and doubtful of what to do next,' says Aakar Patel.
'The Hindu quest for political power in terms of a Hindu identity can pose a problem for tolerance, as the alignment of religion with power often does.'
'Not afraid to look Muslim, not shy of flaunting her nationalism.' 'With a willingness to fight carrying the Constitution, the Flag, the Anthem, Ambedkar, Gandhi and the chant of 'Hindustan Zindabad',' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'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.
'The judicial procedure was influenced which led to no convictions in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984'
In any institution that has a passionate ideology, the moderate is always vulnerable to the person who is more extreme, because that is what the supporters want.
Rahul Gandhi's press conference showed how cocooned he may be, that he does not brainstorm with a large enough group of party colleagues and senior leaders. But it also showed how difficult it is going to be to reform an entrenched organisation like the Congress from within, says Neerja Chowdhury.
Hindu bodies except Nirmohi Akhara have opposed the suggestion of the apex court to refer the issue for mediation, while Muslim bodies have supported it.
The test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be to convince not just friends in the media with crisp sound bytes but the very people most affected by the politics of hate through concerted action, says Shehzad Poonawala.
'Will the BJP now replace a Muslim name for a street or a railway junction with Naipaul's name?' 'It is the least the party can do for its sole Nobel Prize-winning admirer,' says Amulya Ganguli.
A new report says Indian jihadis, including the Indian Mujahideen, are significantly more lethal as a result of external support, primarily from Pakistan. Aziz Haniffa reports.
'We have finished that fear.'
Mulayam laid bare his anger for the first time after the SP's defeat in the UP assembly election fought under the leadership of Akhilesh.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf walks the streets of Mahim, where Yakub Memon grew up and lived till the day before the serial blasts in 1993, on the day Yakub was hanged and discovers an undercurrent of unease and restrained anger.
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