From the voter-level, traditionally anti-BJP, anti-Hindutva minorities and other secular voters would have an option, especially in the face of the mounting anti-incumbency against the ruling party -- as it happened in the 2001 assembly polls, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
In his post, the suspect wrote he wished to give up his Indian citizenship and become a spokesperson for the ISIS -- the terror group which currently controls a large part of Iraq and Syria.
'Depicting the genocide of 3 lakh #KashmiriHindus cannot be called vulgar.'
Reddy was arrested following a marathon questioning after he appeared before the CCB, ending his elusive run for three days.
Amid attacks on Indian-origin people in the United States, an anti-immigration website has caused alarm among the community after featuring a video showing a man secretly filming Indian families at an Ohio park and commenting that the "Indian crowd" has "ravished the Mid-west".
The modern world will not accommodate bigotry of the sort India is showing the world today, argues Aakar Patel.
The State Department in its report listed more than a dozen significant human rights issues for India. Prominent among them are unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings perpetrated by police; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by some police and prison officials; arbitrary arrest and detention by government authorities; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; political and prisoners or detainees in certain states.
Rhea wants a stay on the Bihar police probe.
On Tuesday, 49 people, including award-winning filmmakers Aparna Sen and Mani Ratnam, and historian Ramachandra Guha, wrote to PM Modi, urging him to intervene in cases of hate crimes and atrocities against minority communities.
Personnel of Kerala police and the forest department's Crime Investigation Team, probing the incident which triggered widespread outrage especially on social media, visited the spot and collected evidence, he said, assuring that all concerns raised will not go in vain and justice will prevail and the culprits brought to book.
'I'm 79 + now, and I've been doing all this since my late 20s.' 'Sometimes the ideological war extends to the home as well.' 'Many nights I couldn't sleep when someone close to me uttered the smallest insult.' 'It would cause me a lot of pain. But one has to be honest to oneself.'
Rediff.com does a quick checklist on what the two manifestos have to say on hot-button issues of the day.
The judge asked the concerned deputy commissioner of police (DCP) to monitor the probe to ensure fair investigation as police have failed to point out what investigation has been carried out so far regarding the involvement of the rival faction.
Altaf Hussain has been arrested in relation to the hate speech of 2016 in which he had urged his followers to take the law into their own hands, it said.
The apex court lashed out at the law enforcing agencies for allowing the 'instigators of violence' to get away and said they should act as per law without waiting for somebody's nod.
Curfew was relaxed for six hours in Odisha's Bhadrak on Monday even as social media platforms remained blocked in the area and probe stepped up against rumormongers and into alleged abusive remarks on Hindu deities that triggered violence in the town.
'The response to savagery and mass injustice is never a persistent howl.' 'There will be, among the victims, those who choose to forget the scars, those who go on living, those who challenge the overall environment of sentimentality.' 'And the more effort you put into including these other voices, into assimilating these spoilsports, the more balanced your depiction of the tragedy in question will be,' observes Sreehari Nair.
Though it is a little too neat and a little too light, Rubaru Roshni is important because it is telling us stories of people who have experienced an 'Inner Migration' in their lives, notes Sreehari Nair.
'The prime minister has merely paid lip service condemning these crimes instead of launching a massive crackdown against such brutalities,' argues Professor Mohammad Sajjad.
Steps taken to prevent misuse of the platform have to be balanced with data privacy and security concerns, say experts.
The United States has said it is "horrified" at reports of sexual violence and murders in India and it also applauded the role of individuals, government officials and civil society groups working to protect the survivors.
'How can one bring jihad into a relationship? How can one be restricted on the grounds of religion in marital things?'
The article also says that madrasas and the Muslim leadership in the country teach Muslims to disregard and hate Indian culture.
Before the Supreme Court struck down Sec 66A of the IT Act, it was used with devastating effect against anyone posting critical comments online.
Zahid Rasool Bhat, 19, a truck assistant had received 74 per cent burn injuries with another person on October 9 when a Kashmir-bound truck was attacked by a mob protesting against the beef party hosted by an independent MLA in the summer capital of Srinagar.
'Around 10 pm, a senior police officer from Hazratganj police station came and started abusing me with the choicest words...' 'He said he will ensure that I rot in jail all my life.' 'This police officer then told a lady constable to slap me.' 'She did that, but he was not happy with the force of the slap.' 'He got up, pulled me by my hair and hit me in my stomach and knees.' 'He was abusing me as a bastard non-stop.'
Experts warned that amendments, which would allow traceability of "unlawful content", invade personal privacy and free speech.
'I know of at least one techie who quit his job to join the AAP in Delhi. Many others traveled to India to volunteer during the election. If you ask these volunteers why they were doing it when they can't even vote in India, they say, "We want a corruption-free India".' Ritu Jha looks back on the year that was; it was party time, she says, for news junkies like her.
"Actually it (sedition law) requires reconsideration. We do not know what is the problem, what are the difficulties. We will hear all the stakeholders, consult criminal lawyers," the former Supreme Court judge told PTI.
'The sadhus and sanyasis of UP are not for any economics.' 'They only know the religious agenda and the RSS will support them.' 'Modi does not have full control of the party at the ground level like Indira Gandhi had.'
Why are the 'secular' parties silent about the lynchings on our streets? Are they so busy forging political alliances that they ignore the numerous distortions of Constitutional values?
"The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions," he said.
The court also directed that police officers, who were earlier appointed as nodal officers to deal with incidents of mob lynching, would be now responsible to deal with cases of alleged assault on Kashmiris.
The SC said that it was the duty of the state governments to ensue law and order in society.
'If the BJP wants to build a minimally inclusive and secure society, in which vulnerable groups and religious minorities don't feel persecuted, then the Sangh Parivar, the party and its government must change their ways. Or else, they risk dividing India further -- violently and irreparably -- for narrow political ends,' argues Praful Bidwai.
A substantial part of a catholic church in northeast Delhi's Tahirpur area was gutted when a fire broke out at its premises on Monday morning with the Christian community suspecting foul play in the incident.
Vibhor Sen tells Divya Nair/Rediff.com about the struggles he faced before he finally accepted his sexuality.
India's majoritarian regime is now making a dangerously fast-paced move towards theocracy, like its western counterpart did a few decades ago, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
'Mumbai's killings in January 1993 came at the tail end of two outbursts of vicious communal violence, whereas today, it's peacetime in a 'new India'.' 'At that time, the perpetrators warned onlookers to keep their mouths shut.' 'Today, the perpetrators take videos of their attacks, such is their confidence.' 'The mobs have succeeded in terrorising an entire community and indeed, all those dealing in the transport of cattle, whatever their religion,' says Jyoti Punwani.
