'Hindu middle class doesn't like anti-Muslim rhetoric'
The Allahabad high court on Tuesday heard both the Hindu and Muslim sides on the Gyanvapi mosque committee's appeal challenging the Varanasi district court order allowing Hindu prayers in a cellar of the mosque.
Reviving the memories of the glorious traditions of communal harmony in Jammu and Kashmir, Muslim neighbours in this town helped perform the last rites of a Kashmiri Pandit who died last evening.
The way the Bahraich riot has played out should worry the BJP. The party has emboldened Hindu youngsters to such an extent that its MLAs feel the need to go to the police against their party members. Is this what the BJP wants, asks Jyoti Punwani.
Survivors of a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Baisaran recount a horrific massacre in which 26 tourists were killed. The attackers, clad in brown clothes and wearing GoPro cameras, demanded to know who was Hindu or Muslim before firing indiscriminately. Families of the victims demand accountability and justice, calling for increased security at tourist spots.
What should be made out of the Madras high court order involving non-Hindus' entry into Hindu temples, when many non-Hindus are among the hundreds of thousands that have been worshipping at these temples for generations, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Anti-Hindu Hate in Schools', by the counter-terrorism think-tank Henry Jackson Society, found that 51 per cent of Hindu parents surveyed reported that their child has suffered anti-Hindu hate at school.
India has summoned a senior official of the Pakistan high commission and issued a strong demarche over the incident, official sources said.
'The government is saying 88 Hindus have been killed, but it could be much more.' 'Their properties are being looted, their businesses have been ransacked. I am getting distress calls from there.' 'Muslims who believe in the philosophy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are also under attack. Most of those who have fled Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina's fall are Muslims.'
If Rahul's yatra makes a political statement from the other side of the aisle and Shah Rukh's success underlines a more relaxed popular mood, Mr Modi and Mr Bhagwat's cues to their followers are coming from another place, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The government has to specify what it intends to do with caste census data. It will be closely tracked if the government would simultaneously move towards removing the present 50% bar on reservations using means which are permitted in law. If this is not done, the entire exercise will become meaningless and could boomerang on the BJP, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
George stated that a girl should be married off by the time she is 22 or 23 and that such decency should be maintained.
BJP leader Nitesh Rane reportedly made derogatory remarks saying, "EVM means, Every Vote against Mullah."
Temples across Uttar Pradesh were packed with devotees on Sunday for Ram Navami, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading prayers at the Gorakhnath Temple. Heavy crowds were witnessed at temples in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi, where security was heightened. In Gorakhpur, Adityanath performed the traditional kanya pujan ritual, while in Varanasi, a 51-foot statue of Lord Ram has become a major attraction. The festival was celebrated with enthusiastic fervor across the state.
They stated that when a soldier fights for the nation, he does so not as a Hindu, Muslim, or any other religion, but as a patriot.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, speaking at the University of Oxford, stressed the importance of inclusive development and stated that division in society is counterproductive. She emphasized that her governance model prioritizes the welfare of all sections of society and does not allow discrimination, highlighting the state's diverse population and the need for a human-centric approach.
Hindu outfits that took out a march in Kullu demanding the demolition of the mosque were involved in a scuffle with the police on Monday.
'It is important India to stay focussed on its primary national objectives: Combating terrorism; not losing sight of other security and strategic concerns (on the Sino-Indian front for instance); ensuring a strong economy and registering growth which includes improving the lot of common people; and finally making certain that the social fabric remains intact and harmony among people is not jeopardised, at least any further,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Kashmiris across the region condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, with widespread protests and a shutdown in Srinagar and other parts of the valley. The attack was seen as an assault on the foundation of Kashmir's economy, with residents highlighting the importance of tourism to the region's livelihood. Protests were held in various districts, including Srinagar, Kulgam, Handwara, and Ramban, with residents united in their condemnation of the violence and calling for an end to terrorism.
In a mistaken zeal to bolster the BJP's electoral base, the party - or at least its rabid followers - appear to have convinced themselves that the Hindu rashtra is already here. It's grave mistake, warns Amulya Ganguli.
'Is Rahul turning the Congress' covert soft-Hindutva support into overt support now?' 'And if so, following in the BJP's footsteps, is the Congress going to abandon Indian Muslims and Muslim causes altogether?' asks Dr Najid Hussain whose father-in-law former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the Gujarat riots.
'Just today a shopkeeper I went to was saying how bad business is. He must have been a BJP supporter.' 'He finally said, "It's a good thing there's an NDA government, not a BJP government, 'they' had become too big for their boots,".'
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist dubbed it a "cheap poll gimmick" to woo minority votes.
A court in Budaun will decide on December 24 whether to proceed with a hearing in the Jama Masjid Shamsi versus Neelkanth temple case. The dispute arose in 2022 when a Hindu group claimed the temple existed at the mosque site and sought permission to worship. The Supreme Court recently restrained all courts from entertaining and passing any orders on lawsuits seeking surveys of religious places under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Muslim side argues that the lower court should not proceed with the hearing as it cannot pass any orders, while the Hindu side maintains the Supreme Court order does not stop the hearing. The court will now decide whether to continue the proceedings.
If we have already excluded Muslims from political office by default, and if we are already harassing them daily through laws, like Nazi Germany did and like Pakistan did, then why do we need a Hindu Rashtra or a change from the present set of laws? argues Aakar Patel.
In a horrifying incident, Pakistani organised gangs were seen vandalising and terrorising Hindus in the United Kingdom's Leicester City.
Subramanyam's mother, who immigrated through Dulles Airport, watched her son being sworn-in on the Bhagavad Gita.
In an unusual venue for a Muslim wedding, a couple on Monday married at a temple run in Rampur, Shimla, by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
'There has never been a problem between Hindu and Muslims in Kairana.' 'We are a people that smoke from the same hookah.' Once the seat of an influential tradition of Indian classical music, Kairana has become a metaphor for the exodus of Hindus.
The Maari Gudi temple management at Kapu town in Udupi district of coastal Karnataka has decided not to allow 'people from other faith' to do business on its land during the annual temple festival on the request of certain pro-Hindu organisations.
'It could take the form of sporadic LoC violation through heavy artillery and mortar fire, focusing on border villages where the Hindu Dogra population is predominant.'
The Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
Rakhi Singh has accused the Muslim side of destroying Hindu symbols on the Gyanvapi premises and demanded protection of the entire complex in order to ensure that these symbols are not lost.
Authorities in the communally sensitive city of Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, have deployed seven companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) ahead of Holi and the first Friday of Ramzan, which fall on the same day. Peace committee meetings have been held to ensure peaceful celebrations, with Hindus agreeing to play Holi till 2:30 pm and Muslims to offer Jumma namaz after that time.
The Varanasi district court arrived at the decision of allowing 'puja' in a Gyanvapi mosque cellar in "haste", the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said on Friday, asserting it would pursue the matter right up to the Supreme Court.
'The time has come to have a relook at the Constitution as every document has a shelf life.'
Pratinav Anil is able to foresee some agency and assertion on the part of India's Muslims. His hope emanates from the citizenship rights movement of Muslims in 2019-2020, notes Mohammad Sajjad.
Prabowo was accused in the late 1980s of making a number pro-democracy activists mysteriously disappear and for human rights abuses in the provinces of East Timor and Papua and was denied a visa to the US.
'There is one way to defeat the intention behind this directive: To patronise Muslim establishments that have been forced to identify themselves.' 'This is one opportunity for the Congress to show that the 'mohabbat ki dukaan' its leader talks about does exist.' 'Can Akhilesh Yadav, who has asked the court to take note of this directive, order his party members to do this?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
'At such times, we should show humanity transcending religious barriers'
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