Sharma told PTI that dozens of members from right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, participated in the demonstration, chanting the Hanuman Chalisa.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has stated that only Hindus should be allowed to participate in 'garba' events during Navratri and advised organizers to check Aadhaar cards for identification. This has sparked debate, with some supporting the right of organizers to set entry conditions and others criticizing the VHP for promoting division.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has voiced his opposition to the demand for demolition of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's grave in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, saying its removal will not serve any purpose. Athawale said that since Aurangzeb was buried there, his tomb should remain undisturbed. The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar administration has barred Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote from entering the district from March 16 to April 5 amid calls from some outfits to remove Aurangzeb's grave. Security has been heightened around the site and visitors are being checked thoroughly.
A Bangladeshi national, Azizul Nizanul Rahman, was arrested in Mumbai for staying illegally in India. Police are investigating if he was involved in the March 17 violence in Nagpur. Rahman, a daily wage labourer, admitted to obtaining an Aadhaar card using forged documents. Police are analyzing his mobile phone location and have shared information with Nagpur authorities.
The Kerala BJP has contradicted the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's justification of the arrest of two Keralite Catholic nuns, stating they were not involved in human trafficking or forced conversion attempts and promising to help them.
The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
Kanhaiya Lal's gruesome murder leads to protests in many towns and cities.
According to police, the alleged stone pelters came on two bikes and sped off. Following the incident, heavy police deployment has been put in place.
'Mob fury has become very common these days. And these attacks are all planned very well.' 'In all these attacks, you see that they have a very clear cut plan to make the victims as the oppressors and the guilty.' 'The attackers escape and they face no consequences as they have the backing of some political leaders.'
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.
Couples -- young and old -- celebrated Valentine's Day on Tuesday with flowers and gifts even as a few right-wing outfits played spoilsport in some parts of the country.
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
"Raj Kumar alias Bittu Bajrangi, who is said to be a Bajrang Dal worker, has never had any relation with Bajrang Dal. The Vishva Hindu Parishad also does not consider the content of the video allegedly released by him to be appropriate," the right-wing outfit said in a statement.
The Shiv Sena, a ruling party in Maharashtra, has demanded the removal of the protected monument status from Aurangzeb's tomb in Khultabad. This demand comes after protests and calls for the tomb's demolition from organizations like the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protects the tomb as a monument of national importance. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stated that the state government will protect the tomb but will not allow the glorification of Aurangzeb.
A special investigation team will be formed to probe all cases of violence. If there was any conspiracy, it will also be investigated and the guilty will not be spared. The role of Bajrang Dal's Monu Manesar is also being investigated, Agrawal said.
Despite his apology, the Bajrang Dal sought his arrest, while Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said action would be taken against him as per law.
The Hindu-right group carried out its demonstration despite the imposition of CrPC Section 144 in the city.
Two Union Ministers visited the family of a 23-year-old woman in Kothamangalam who allegedly took her own life due to harassment by her lover. The family is demanding an NIA probe into the incident, alleging forced religious conversion.
Director General of School Education Jharna Kamthan has also asked the chief education officer of Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand to investigate the matter.
More than 100 people were booked on charges of stone-pelting and rioting on Thursday night while a man belonging to a right-wing outfit was detained for questioning in connection with the vandalism outside the station.
Bajrang Dal activists are suspected to be behind the crime, sources said.
Curfew was lifted from the remaining four areas of Nagpur in Maharashtra on Sunday, six days after violence rocked the city. The violence erupted on March 17 after rumors spread about a chadar with holy inscriptions being burnt during a protest led by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. The rumors were later found to be baseless.
'There is no substantive basis for Bangladesh-Pakistan relations. The only real link they can have is mischief, with Pakistan's intelligence agency using Bangladesh to create trouble along our eastern borders.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called the violence in Nagpur a premeditated conspiracy and said the mob had targeted specific houses and establishments. The violence erupted on Monday after a protest against Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb, resulting in several houses and vehicles being vandalised. At least 12 police personnel, including three deputy commissioners of police, were injured in the violence, which erupted in central Nagpur. Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, said those who attacked police personnel will not be spared.
The family members of the deceased had named five men linked to the Bajrang Dal in their complaint to the police.
A United States-based interfaith couple of Indian origin was forced to cancel their wedding reception in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh following 'threats of protests' by rightwing organisations, officials said on Monday.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said imprisonment and fine would be ensured against those who violate the law and action taken considering such crimes as cognisable and non-bailable.
Minority Democratic Party (MDP) leader Fahim Khan has been arrested in connection with the violence that erupted in Nagpur on Monday after Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers staged an agitation for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb. Khan's name is mentioned in one of six FIRs registered so far, along with 50 others. Police are investigating whether Khan played any role in instigating the riots. Khan, along with eight others, had allegedly gathered outside a police station and submitted a memorandum against the VHP's protest. Subsequently, he went to another area where a large group of people from a minority community had gathered. Police are searching for those named in the FIRs and are investigating whether the accused had any role in planning the violence. The violence erupted amid rumors that a 'chadar' with holy inscriptions was burnt during the VHP's protest.
The incident happened on Friday at Lajpat Bhavan in Swaroop Nagar when private guards and volunteer staff were checking the visitors' identities to prevent any non-Hindus from entering the venue, they said.
Before the violence and rioting that erupted in Nagpur on Monday, March 17, over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb came provocative statements from various political leaders.
Members of Hindu right-wing outfits allegedly created ruckus at a mausoleum in Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh, demanding permission to offer prayers and claiming a temple had previously existed at the site. The incident has led to heightened security and political reactions.
Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao on Tuesday said that the state government constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) will temporarily stall its probe into the alleged 'adulteration' of Tirupati laddus with animal fats case as the matter is sub judice in the Supreme Court.
The VHP on Sunday dismissed as 'fake and baseless' the reports that its activists and those of the Bajrang Dal will participate in an event to be organised by the MNS to play 'Hanuman Chalisa' on loudspeakers outside the mosques in Maharashtra on May 3.
Hindu outfits Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad are staging protests across the national capital against the Haryana violence.
Ahead of Valentine's Day, some right-wing organisations in Mangaluru have come out against the celebrations which they say are not in tune with India's culture and traditions.
BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated that the arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh was due to a 'misunderstanding' and that they will be released on bail soon. He met with Archbishop of Trichur Andrews Thazhath to brief him that the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister have assured the nuns would be released on bail.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma announced plans for a new anti-conversion law following the arrest of two nuns from Kerala on charges related to religious conversion and human trafficking. The announcement comes amid political tensions and accusations of wrongful arrest.
Chandrakant Patil also took a swipe at Uddhav for accusing Eknath Shinde of stealing the legacy of Bal Thackeray.
Half a dozen people have been detained for interrogation in connection with the death of two Muslim men whose bodies were found in a car in Haryana after they were allegedly abducted by cow vigilantes, according to police.
Three men have been arrested in Mussoorie after a video went viral showing them assaulting two Kashmiri shawl vendors. The incident sparked outrage and led to the return of 16 Kashmiri shawl vendors to the Kashmir valley.
