'uslim elder leaders fought against the Britishers during the freedom struggle. After achieving independence, some of the Muslims left the country and settled in Pakistan. But, we wanted to continue in our country as Indians and we love our motherland'
Abu Bakar, Saiyad Qureshi, Mohammad Shoeb Qureshi alias Shoeb Bawa and Mohammad Yusuf Ismail alias Yusuf Bhatka, all residents of Mumbai, were on the run for 29 years.
Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava recalls how he ejected from his failing aircraft in Pakistan during the 1971 War.
Dreaded Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is trying to expand its influence in Pakistan, with pamphlets being distributed in Peshawar and border provinces of Afghanistan, seeking support for jihad.
'Ladakh is a tiny salami-slice issue.' 'The big one for China is Arunachal Pradesh, more than 83,000 sq km.' 'Do they imagine they can grab any of this by force?' 'In the 21st century, nursing those thoughts only means you need to get your heads examined.' 'It isn't going to happen,' declares Shekhar Gupta.
Addressing a rally in Lucknow in support of the CAA, Shah threw the challenge for the debate to Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. He also declared that the construction of a Ram temple 'touching the skies' in Ayodhya will begin within three months.
Unless controlled and contained, given the untested belief that the north Indian labour support and follow the Hindutva kind of political ideology, there is a potential in terms of ideological clashes with their Dravidian brethren in the local neighbourhoods, and it all escalating into violence, especially during election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
But why should India be talking to the Taliban in the first place? There is no love lost there. India will never forget or forgive the humiliation to which the Taliban subjected it in the IC-814 hijack, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'Our men had suffered so much pain for the independence of other people in a foreign land.'
Naga splinter groups impatient with stalled talks as well as rebel Manipuri groups who have a stake in disrupting upcoming elections to the state assembly, are believed to be regrouping in the borderlands of China's Yunnan province and Myanmar, taking advantage of the turmoil in the latter by using it as a transit corridor.
India has the ability in all respects to be a great power and address our security challenges in the best national interests, says Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Walee Bukhatir and Mazhar Khan, the men who drive cricket in the UAE, tell Harish Kotian/Rediff.com what the game is missing by India and Pakistan not playing at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
'Both India and Pakistan are now, for the first time in history, very closely allied and connected with the US -- economically and politically.'
Three pistols, two kilograms of heroin and Rs one lakh cash were recovered from them along with the two cars in which they were travelling, he said.
'The unfolding events indicate a dangerous internal security situation in Manipur and the region. It can have external ramifications also.'
The chargesheet, filed by the State Investigation Agency, has highlighted several instances where parents were taken across the border using valid travel documents but were later compelled to pay extra money for their wards' admission to universities and colleges there.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Islamabad on Monday on his first visit to Pakistan where he is expected to sign a deal for an economic corridor worth $46 billion and other agreement.
'Both Russia and the USA seek New Delhi's friendship, because for both -- Russia and the USA -- India is a certain counterbalance to China.'
'The surgical strikes were not meant to deter or stop infiltration.' 'It was meant to create a kind of uncertainty in the minds of Pakistani military commanders.' 'By using hard power we've created an option which was not there earlier.'
The 13th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team cites a UN Member State as saying that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Deobandi group ideologically closer to the Taliban "maintains eight training camps in Nangarhar, three of which are directly under Taliban control."
'Narasimha Rao asked me why China was doing so well in attracting foreign investments and I gave my frank opinion.' 'I told him that giving thrust to exports had to be a national effort.' 'But in India, the system was very centralised in the Government of India and the state governments had no role to play.'
Asked if the relationship has achieved its full potential, the President replied, "Absolutely not."
Besides lining up Bali, Nairobi and Toronto flights, the airline is also planning flights from Mumbai to Hong Kong. The network expansion will help the national carrier grow its market share and capitalise on the capacity vaccum created by the collapse of Jet Airways.
'Beyond the 'sir' and the 'salute', there was a man who cared about his soldiers and that's what made him a great leader.' Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's grandson Jehan remembers the man who was the soldier's soldier.
China will host the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbours in Tunxi, central China's Anhui province, on March 30-31, the spokesperson said.
The South Korean foreign minister on Tuesday 'regretted the offence' caused to the people and government of India by the social media post on the so-called Kashmir solidarity day by the Hyundai Pakistan, a day after New Delhi summoned the RoK envoy to express 'strong displeasure' over the 'unacceptable' post.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Eknath Shinde and 40 other traitors have become slaves of Delhi (Centre) to finish off the Shiv Sena'
'India has to understand that the permanent state of war that exists between India and Pakistan has to be expected,,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd). 'The only way to ensure peace or absence of war is to maintain a militarily-dominant position over Pakistan.'
Can Islamic Republic of Pakistan be a secular state?
Brushing aside India's concerns, China on Monday cemented its "all-weather ties" with Pakistan by agreeing to build a strategic $46 billion (Rs 2.9 lakh crore) economic corridor through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as part of 51 deals signed, expanding the communist giant's influence in the region.
'General J S Aurora, the commander of the Indian forces in the East, asked General Sagat Singh to withdraw his troops who were on the move to Dacca -- but he refused.' 'He said, "Jaggi, over my dead body".' 'Therefore, I say the creator of Bangladesh was General Sagat Singh.'
'...through the will of the people and commitment of leaders.' 'It may not happen today or tomorrow, but it will happen.'
Bilawal Bhutto's political inheritance is his biggest asset as well as the biggest liability as he tries to make his mark in Pakistan politics. Challenging the Taliban militants is part of that strategy, though it matches with his political ideology. Shahzad Raza profiles the son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.
'After the 4th of May we can expect thunderstorms, dust storms and some rain over a large area of north India.'
A total of 3,30,27,661 people had applied to be included in the NRC. Of them, 3,11,21,004 have been included in the document and 19,06,657 excluded.
Small Chinese-made drones, carrying narcotics in 95 per cent cases, are flying over from across the border into Punjab and Jammu regions and these flights are a "cause of concern" for which technology solutions are being scouted actively, BSF director general (DG) Pankaj Kumar Singh said on Tuesday.
General Rawat also sent a tough message to Pakistan, saying if Islamabad continues to support cross-border terrorism, then the Indian Army can resort to "other actions" too.
India's politicians need to do a better job of managing the economy: Inflation control, productivity improvement, etc, asserts T N Ninan.
It is time the current leaders who swear by 'cultural nationalism', that is religion neutral, assert that Bharatiyata is at the core of our nationalism and India was never a 'Hindu Rashtra', argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
