Scholars and students have cautioned that the proposed divisive and discriminatory changes would harm the country.
The Padma Bhushan was conferred on 17 personalities including N Chandrasekharan, chairman of Tata Sons, Krishna and Suchita Ella of Bharat Biotech, Cyrus Poonawalla, Satya Nadella, chairman of Microsoft, Sunder Pichai, chairman of Google.
'One one hand, the BJP puts Uniform Civil Code as a goal in its manifesto, and on the other, it pushes massive discrimination against Hindus.' 'This is not sabka saath, sabka vikas. Rather it is "Haj ka saath, church ka vikas",' argues Sankrant Sanu.
The BJP continuing to look at the Dravidian polity through the religious prism has not worked in Tamil Nadu whereas it has yielded political and electoral results across much of the rest of the country, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Now that the Ram mandir is done, we need to move on. And grapple with COVID-19, a sputtering economy, a belligerent China...' 'The temple may win a few more elections for the BJP, but by itself it won't solve the nation's growing problems of economic and social distress,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
Internal strife and tribalism is endemic to Afghanistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Assam assembly on Friday passed a bill to regulate the slaughter, consumption and transportation of cattle, notwithstanding the walkout staged by the opposition parties in protest against the government's refusal to forward the legislation to a select committee.
Archbishop Anil Couto's instructions, though politically charged, are not unusual or unprecedented.
'Whom do I want to marry and what decisions I make for marrying the person I love are totally personal decisions, in which neither the State nor the courts have any right to interfere.'
'Anyone can come and anyone can go.' 'There is no ideology or vision that differentiates one party from another.'
'Many times when Khalistan slogans are raised, it is from those who feel alienated, not because they want a separate state.'
Former Aligarh Muslim University student Sharjeel Usmani, accused of hurting religious sentiments with his comments at last week's Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune, will be arrested from whichever state he is in, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday.
'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
This divisiveness is upsetting social cohesion and can throw the bright young people thronging to Bengaluru with billion dollar ideas in their creative minds off balance, warns Shekhar Gupta.
Is it a divine, sacrosanct university, a holy cow, prohibiting human intervention?
The Shankaracharya said the sadhus will begin their march to Ayodhya from Allahabad after Basant Panchami, which falls on February 10.
"Bhagwat has done national service by speaking the truth on what missionaries do," the Sena said.
'Ram Sene or Bajrang Dal were supposed to be fringe elements, but with the BJP in power, they have become mainstream elements.' 'The government is either keeping quiet or indirectly supporting them.'
'He was always opposed to a form of nationalism that was narrow, selfish and arrogant.' 'He will always remain a beacon of inspiration for freedom-loving people across the world and for movements of resistance against oppressive State power.'
A cartoon of Lord Ganesha depicting the tussle between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket South Africa has outraged South Africa's Hindu community, which termed it a denigration of their faith.
Indians supposedly have the right to freedom, and the right to equality, which cuts across gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc, observes Devangshu Datta.
'It was more than ego.' 'It carried with it a sincere belief that he was the quintessence of the country, that the country's destiny was irrevocably intertwined with his destiny.' An excerpt from T J S George's The Dismantling of India: In 35 Portraits.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said that meaning of Sanskrit 'shlokas' is a universal truth and merely because it is written in Sanskrit, it does not make it communal.
The state doesn't only have religious and spiritual significance, but also electoral significance as it is the last Yoga Day celebrations before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, reports Archis Mohan.
The citizens urged the central government to look into the ongoing protests with all seriousness and safeguard the democratic institutions of the country, and take stern action against those people behind them.
It is astonishing, even for many of us who may have wide exposure to music, to see how such world-class performers are so little known in their own land, notes Aakar Patel.
'Hinduism is not a religion, but a way of life, a philosophy.'
The Constitution is a terrific document, but it is also one that has suppressed the Hindu majoritarian sentiment. We are living through times when this suppression is being popularly rejected, notes Aakar Patel.
'We will talk to Muslim, Christian organisations and form a broad alliance so that every temple, church and mosque will have freedom to manage their affairs and not to be intervened upon.'
Meanwhile, noted artists, including Padma Shree awardee Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Nilima Sheikh and Surendra Nair have criticised the police action.
The VHP leadership notes that 'ghar wapsi' wasn't something started after the Modi govt took over. Archis Mohan reports
Joseph Cooper was carrying out religious propaganda in violation of Indian laws, it said.
'Look at the aggressive way in which a campaign against Friday namaz is going on in North Indian cities.' 'Even the Union home minister is part of this vicious campaign.'
Recent attacks on religious places led to a verbal clash in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Yechury recounted the non-violent traditions of the country citing the Maurya Empire's acceptance of the Buddhist philosophy.
A church in the Cantonment area in Agra was allegedly vandalised by unknown miscreants in the wee hours of Thursday, triggering outrage among the members of the local Christian community.
'The objective is not to make India into a one religion place, but to ensure that there is harmonious and peaceful co-existence of all faiths with each of them having their cultural personality.'
Given the fiercely competitive political environment, observers naturally associated an element of appeasement with the Shinde government's move, Shyam G Menon points out.
'For Muslims it is time to understand what sense of fears are in the minds of Hindus.' 'I think the conversation somewhere is not taking place.'
'What is at stake is not one mosque or temple, it is the question of the principle of secularism which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution as declared even by the Supreme Court of India.'
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