'The real leader is not the one who builds flyovers and bridges. The real leader gets into the space of the human hearts which are at war and brings them together.' 'Gandhi did that. There cannot be a nation which is vibrant and strong where there is hatred which is tearing you apart,' filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
'If a politician asks the policeman to do something which is not correct, then why blame the politician?' 'If you do it, then you are equally liable.'
The realities at the nerve centre of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement are glaring with lack of development, rampant unemployment and 12-hour long power cuts making life miserable. And most of the people are hopeful that Narendra Modi will change the situation in Ayodhya. Syed Firdaus Ashraf speaks to some Ayodhya residents to get a hang of their real issues.
Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam are blind and beautiful in Kaabil.
'He is not acting solo.' 'The plot may have people within the Congress and outside.'
'Today, we being the majority pass a law and if the Opposition parties do not like it, they throw files at the Chair, and beat up women marshals.'
'When she left on June 8 after some kind of fight or break-up she did not think Sushant would die.' 'She did not think his family after his death would level such horrible accusations against her.' 'She did not think three agencies would be tasked to prove her to a bad woman.'
Vishwaroop 2 gives one's nationalistic adrenaline a high, feels Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The Dhadak trailer makes you believe that the film will redefine love in Bollywood, feels Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The realities at the nerve centre of the Ram Janambhoomi movement are lack of development, rampant unemployment and 12 hour-long power cuts. Most residents hope Narendra Modi will change the situation in Ayodhya.
...It was original, feels Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'We are only amplifying the voice of scientists and experts. We are gathering information by talking to experts and are sharing it. If the government chooses to ignore that, what can we do?'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf is unimpressed by the Uri trailer.
'India has demonstrated that if tomorrow, any enemy country that has a lot of satellites threatens it, India can (bring them down).'
Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf traces the journey of PM-CARES from its founding to finally admitting it is not a government fund.
'If Modi-Shah had not changed the leadership, one section would have parted ways with the BJP for sure.'
'This election was the first opportunity where Kashmiris told the world they do not agree with the Centre's policies and are unhappy about their disempowerment.'
'Let Modi not be in the news, I will stop making cartoons on him.'
'If timely action was taken by the CBI, the other three murders could have been prevented.'
Hamid Nihal Ansari, a software engineer from Mumbai, returned to India in December 2018 after spending six years in a Pakistani jail for illegally entering the neighbouring country from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online. He was arrested in 2012 and lodged at Peshawar jail after Pakistan had slapped espionage charges against him. The decision to release him was on account of relentless pressure from New Delhi and Sushma Swaraj, who was the external affairs minister and was personally monitoring the case. Speaking to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com, Ansari recalls the time he spent with her and says that if it wasn't for her efforts, he would still be rotting away in a Pakistani cell.
A look at the fun pictures of the visit.
'Second-class citizenship would have been meaningless to a Hindu in the Mughal empire.'
'BJP leaders are trying to save their lives in Punjab.'
'PM Modi is not taking Kashmir's stance as far as the Naga issue is concerned.'
One gets the feeling that Golmaal Returns will be a blockbuster unless Rohit Shetty, the writer, comes out with a weak story, feels Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Mamata's numbers will reduce this time compared to 2016.'
'They did not spare the girls or teachers; they beat all of them.' 'We kept calling the police, but no one came.'
Pranutan talks about her debut film, Salman sir, her dad and her illustrious grandmother.
'This is against the Constitution and we will oppose it tooth and nail.'
What do *you* think of the Tiger Zinda Hai trailer?
'Our country does not need an NRC. We need to improve our economy which is in a bad condition.'
Onkar Singh, a valuable member of the Rediff.com team over the years, breathed his last on January 13. Syed Firdaus Ashraf, who knew him intimately, remembers the ultimate newsman.
'We know how to kill a terrorist, but we do not know how to stop an innocent boy getting radicalised.'
'I don't believe that it beholds democracies like us who claim to be the largest democracy in the world, to have such a thin skin about the possibility of foreign commentary.'
'In China there is capital punishment for heritage theft. That is how they treat criminals, unlike us.' 'Here we treat them like it's a house-breaking theft.'
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
'There are 17 million Hindus in Bangladesh and we, in the north east, see this Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as a route for them to enter India on the plea that they are facing persecution in Bangladesh.'
The new government order to review the service record of employees who have completed 30 years in the job to identify inefficient or corrupt staff and retire them prematurely has invited the ire of labour unions, who believe that this is a step towards privatisation.
'Gogoi will be remembered as someone who recovered Assam as a state, as a people and society from the fear of insurgency that had struck the state from the 1980s till 2000.'
'He was full of Hindustan, its tehzeeb and its culture.'
