'I am a Muslim and if my Hindu brothers were to march to my house and if that were to give birth to any controversy, then this government will use it to exploit another issue.' 'I don't want to give BJP leaders a chance to play their communal politics.'
Terrorists on Monday night killed seven Amarnath pilgrims, including six women, and injured 19 others as they struck at a bus in Kashmir's Anantnag district, in the worst attack on the annual pilgrimage since the year 2001. Five of those killed were from Gujarat and two from Maharashtra. Here are the latest updates:
Mahesh Vijapurkar pays tribute to Aroon Tikekar, journalist, historian, author and an important intellectual voice of Mumbai, who passed into the ages on Tuesday.
'It was the Supreme Court's order (recommending changes in the SC/ST Act).' 'Isn't it wrong not to accept even the court's order?' 'Are you bigger than every institution?'
'Competence, experience, matter, did you say?' 'No music was sweeter than the mash of xenophobia, jingoism, racism, misogyny.' 'And the master busker to play the tune was round the corner to capture an eager audience just in the nick of time.' Shreekant Sambrani on the Trump Triumph a week after his upset victory.
'There is nothing like the Sangh agenda or the BJP agenda... we believe only in the Nation's Agenda,' says newly appointed BJP Vice-President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.
Before the Supreme Court struck down Sec 66A of the IT Act, it was used with devastating effect against anyone posting critical comments online.
'The BJP has lost 5 states and Lok Sabha elections are due in less than 90 days.' 'The reservation bill is a jhunjhuna (lollipop) for the upper castes.'
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
The court granted bail to Advani, Joshi and Bharti after they appeared before it.
Those who feel the irresistible need to express strong sentiment for our nation and its contents must consider being pro-Indian, whether this Indian be jawan, cobbler, Kashmiri, lesbian, Dalit, protester, pujari, businessman or child.
'The Congress has collapsed and is fighting for survival. Other parties carry no weight in comparison to the BJP. This situation does not augur well for democracy,'
Reason must triumph over blind faith, says Praful Bidwai in this tribute to murdered rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
'Narendra Modi is one person who came up fighting many injustices. So, he is a fighter all the time, and that makes all the difference.'
The government is following a path where it will not be irresponsible or profligate with public money but will intervene in the interest of the poor
Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced his decision to take on Narendra Modi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in this temple city while appealing for support to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate.
Eminent Punjabi writer and Padma Shri winner Dalip Kaur Tiwana decided to return her award protesting "recurrent atrocities" on Muslims in the country, as another Kannada writer joined authors giving up their Sahitya Akademi Awards against "growing intolerance".
'It would be a folly on our part to believe that the KKK or its Indian version exists only as some dedicated organisation. Rather, the Indian KKK, much like the American counterpart, exists as a fragmented and amorphous collection of independent groups and individuals,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
Banning beef (and not cow) slaughter, not renewing education quota for Muslims. What next from the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra, a ban on azaan, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'We were at war with the BJP in the 1990s. We were burning down each other's offices then. I don't want that to happen again.'
Any city that imposes a ban on food of any kind to appease the sensibility of a particular religion has lost any right to be called cosmopolitan and progressive, feels Tanmaya Nanada
'It is imperative that all parties make a commitment that they shall abide by the final decision of the Supreme Court.' 'This will be the best way to bring a closure.' 'It is time India moves on to face several other challenges.'
Namo, Namo as India's prime minister? Not yet, says Pakistan-based journalist Amir Mateen.
'People are angry.' 'First notebandi, then GST, now losses on the farm have ruined us.'
Manmohan Singh, reveals the former President, was keen that either P Chidambaram or Montek Singh Ahluwalia be the finance minister.
'We were supposed to be a united nation based on unity and diversity.' 'Now what we are doing is there will be a class called Marathas, Dangars, etc.' 'The 100 per cent of our nation's population will be in classes and you will be allocating the nation's education and service resources in terms of classes.' 'How does it work out in terms of equality? Where is your equal nation?'
Yes, Aurangzeb was a tyrant who ill-treated his subjects. But was he the only Mughal emperor guilty of this, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
With the Maharashtra government doling out pieces of the lush green Aarey forest to various utilities, the tribals living in it for generations are feeling increasingly insecure. Hepzi Anthony reports.
Maharashtra has a rich wealth of forts, more than any other state in the country. 'If nothing is done, some of the small forts may simply disappear in the next 50 years.'
Meet the richest and poorest candidates contesting the election to the richest civic body in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on range of issues -- from Rafale deal to Ram temple and triple talaq.
Journalist-turned-activist Teesta Setalvad in her new book 'Foot Soldier of the Constitution: A Memoir' has spoken of the rise of communalism and the aftermath of the '02 Godhra riots. In this interview with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf, she discusses her book, the cases against her and the state of secularism in the country.
If you are more than your rhetoric about a strong and united country, give us our due -- treat us as countrymen, says an ordinary Muslim in this open letter.
The least the leaders who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have done was to highlight the plight of the Muslim riot victims, but they happily chose to ignore it, so privileged they must have felt to be in the presence of the prime minister, the most powerful man in the country, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
"This wasn't an attack over meat. He has been killed in the name of religion. This is a pre-planned, cold-blooded killing. It cannot be an accident," said Owaisi.
'There is no remorse over the Dadri lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq or of Pehlu Khan by cow vigilante groups.' 'But should you not have remorse for those who came to kill them?' 'They were Hindus. Do you accept that?' 'That to kill one Pehlu, 20 Hindus have become murderers.' Rajdeep Sardesai in conversation with Ravish Kumar.
'There is nothing wrong in accepting Rama as a God.' 'You will not get to read a story as deep as Valmiki's Ramayana in which he talks about complex relations, strong emotions, pain, desertion and unconditional love. Whether you depict Rama as a human being or a divine person, the Ramayana is an epic with a great human story.' 'It is not religious intolerance at all; this is part of political power and polarisation. A religious person will never act intolerant towards another religion.'
By speaking out against Manmohan Singh, by constantly bashing the UPA/Congress, Modi by 2014 will be like a television show in replay mode. In winning the intra-BJP battle, he runs losing the war with the UPA, feels Amberish K Diwanji.
'The educated, employed, and self-sufficient Dalit is being attracted towards the BJP. The middle-class that has rapidly emerged among Dalits in the last two decades has deviated from its path. It has become a traitor to its own class. It cannot distinguish between a friend and an enemy.'
'The cadres who die for the party are from the backward and scheduled caste communities while the leaders and those who enjoy power are from the forward community.' 'When this is the reality, who will stay with them?'
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