Alarmed over fresh violence ahead of the festival season, the Orissa government on Monday asked the Centre to allow it to retain Central para-military forces dispatched in the wake of Kandhamal riots till October end, official sources said. Orissa has already received 40 companies (one company comprises 90 personnel) of Central para-military forces after communal violence erupted following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmananda Saraswati.
The BJP president hit out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, alleging that the maximum killings of BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers have taken place in the latter's home district.
The situation in the trouble-torn areas of Faizabad, that witnessed communal violence two days back, remained peaceful but tense, even as curfew remained enforced in the affected areas for the second day.
Muslim and secular organisations in the United States have hailed a congressional resolution by Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison (Democrat) 'recognising the tenth anniversary of the tragic communal violence in Gujarat'.
Lashing out at both the opposition and ruling fronts led by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said that neither dukandar nor chowkidar opens their mouths when Muslims are oppressed.
Former vice president Hamid Ansari and four US lawmakers have expressed concern over the current human rights situation in India. They were speaking at a virtual panel discussion organised by the Indian American Muslim Council on Wednesday.
Jahangir, chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, is preparing a report for the United Nations on violence relating to religion for which she is meeting various persons.
Sonal Shah, the first Indian-American to be inducted in United States President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, has formally renounced her affiliation with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which has been accused of fomenting violence against Muslims and Christians in India.Shah, former member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has said if she could have anticipated the outfit's role in the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat, she would have never associated with its US branch.
The Nanavati Commission, which was appointed in 2002, after five years observed that police at some places were ineffective in controlling the mob and said the post-Godhra riots that spread out in the state were "not a pre-planned conspiracy or orchestrated violence.
Against the backdrop of riots in Muzzafarnagar, Minorities Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan on Wednesday said the Centre would try to build consensus among political parties to get the Anti-riot Bill passed in Parliament.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday suggested that if Lalu Prasad Yadav takes initiative, he does not mind joining hands with Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh.
The relief camp at Tiangia under 'G' Udayagiri block housing 500 people, was the last one to be closed on Friday, Kandhamal District Magistrate Krishna Kumar told PTI over the phone. Altogether 25,000 people were housed in over 15 relief camps during the violence in the aftermath of the killing of senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxamananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008, Kumar said.
The revised statement issued by the police also did not name the VHP and the Bajrang Dal.
Negi's decapitated and charred body was found in Brahmpuri on February 26. On February 24 afternoon, Negi had gone for a nap to a nearby building that served as a storage space for the sweet shop. Around 3 pm, a mob gathered near the shop and started throwing stones. The building was set on fire around 11.30 pm.
Protesters torched 24 houses in Kandhamal on Saturday as the death toll in the week-long communal violence rose to 14, with the recovery of two more bodies in the Orissa district.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was headed for the curfew-bound district to review the situation in the affected areas and the Ashram at Jalespeta, where Vishwa Hindu Parishad Laxamanada Saraswati was gunned down along with three others on August 23, leading to the violence.
"In the last 60 hours, no incident has taken place. We have made arrangements as there are Friday prayers today. Through the extensive outreach programme done by us and the interaction with the people, we get to know that everybody wants peace. We are moving fast towards normalcy. In the Aman Committee meetings everybody has said that they will work for maintaining peace," the special commissioner said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the arrest of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists including Rajdeep Sardesai in connection with first information reports lodged against them for their alleged 'misleading' tweets on the violence during the farmers' tractor rally on the Republic Day.
Election Commissioners Navin Chawla and Qureshi have threatened to postpone the Gujarat election process and bring President's Rule in the state if the Bharatiya Janata Party fans communal violence in Gujarat through its new CD, which is to be released in the birth place of Sardar Patel.
The National Investigation Agency has charge sheeted Dilawar Iqbal -- a right-hand man of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar Alvi -- and Kupwara-resident Mohammed Ubaid Malik for allegedly conspiring to disturb the peace and communal harmony of Jammu and Kashmir by attacking security forces, officials said on Wednesday.
They occurred only four days prior to the verdict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case due on Tuesday.
Officials said security personnel, including those from paramilitary forces, have been deployed to keep a strict vigil. Security at inter-state and inter-district borders has also been tightened, they said.
Almost no legislative business was transacted making it the worst session of Parliament ever. Devika Malik lists the options out of the current impasse
After imposing ban on calling bandh in the state by various organisations with immediate effect, Assam government has imposed ban on holding all kinds of procession, rallies etc in the State for one month in view of the sensitive situation prevailing in the state in the wake of communal violence in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council and adjoining areas.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana ordered status quo in the present situation, and said the petition would be listed before an appropriate bench.
Over 1,700 inmates have taken shelter in relief camps in trouble-torn Kokrajhar and Chirang districts of Assam since on Thursday following tension in the wake of a Bodo member of Legislative Assembly's arrest.
An initial probe into the exodus by northeast residents from Bengaluru and other cities, fearing communal violence, reveals that the problem is multipronged in nature. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday over communal violence in Kishtwar that claimed three lives.
The ITLF alleged that thousands of weapons looted from state armouries in capital Imphal are being used in the "ethnic cleansing campaign".
'Those who win indulge in shooting, looting, throwing bombs and burning houses.'
In the absence of a conducive environment, India should not show any "hurry" to hold talks with Pakistan when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits New York later this month, BJP president Rajnath Singh said.
The curfew was imposed on Sunday after riots left four people dead. However, the situation in the north Maharashtra town is well under control.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday attacked the United Progressive Alliance government for "reducing states to glorified municipal corporations" by turning a deaf ear to their reasonable demands and described central proposals like the Communal Violence bill as "fascist".
The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team has said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi took all possible steps to control the 2002 post-Godhra riots and questioned the motive behind filing a complaint against him by a riot victim four years after the communal violence.
With 32 people being killed in Assam, the Centre on Sunday said it is determined to curb attacks on minorities as the violence there was aimed at starting a "full-fledged communal conflagration".
Questioning the team's authority headed by a former Patna high court judge, Banerjee pointed out that Ram Navami processions organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party had carried arms and driven tractors and deliberately taken routes where 'Namaz' was being offered.
The Indian diplomat was told that these remarks are totally unacceptable and have not only deeply hurt the sentiments of the people of Pakistan but of Muslims across the world, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.
As Islamic scholar and reformist, Asghar Ali Engineer passed away on Tuesday morning.
The watchdog said human rights violations continued to surge in different parts of India, including Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern states.
Terming it 'simply unacceptable', a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed the Centre and the state government to take immediate steps and apprise the apex court on what action has been taken.
The monsoon session of Parliament opening on Wednesday promises to kick up a lot of heat and dust as opposition parties are planning to raise issues like communal violence in Assam, rising prices, economy and drought.
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