The Allahabad high court on Wednesday adjourned to February 12 the hearing on a plea challenging the Varanasi district court order allowing Hindu prayers in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
India has summoned a senior official of the Pakistan high commission and issued a strong demarche over the incident, official sources said.
The plaintiffs submitted that the exact nature of the 'Shivling' can be determined after removing the artificial/modern walls/floors surrounding it and by undertaking a survey of the entire sealed area by excavation and using other scientific methods.
Aligarh BJP MP Satish Gautam has sparked a controversy over the celebration of Holi at Aligarh Muslim University, declaring that "no one can stop anyone from celebrating Holi inside the AMU campus". The controversy erupted after members of right wing Hindu groups accused the AMU administration of denying permission to the Hindu students to organise a 'Holi Milan' function on campus. Gautam has extended his support to Hindu students, saying, "If any Hindu student faces any problem in celebrating Holi inside the campus, then I am there to help him."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress over party president Mallikarjun Kharge's recent remark on Lord Ram and Lord Shiva, and accused the opposition party of trying to divide Hindus for its appeasement politics.
Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot identified the arrested accused as Maulvi Sohel Abubakr Timol (27), who worked at a thread factory as a manager and offered private tuition on Islam to Muslim children.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
A day after he was shot dead by terrorists, Kashmiri Pandit bank guard Sanjay Sharma was cremated in his native village in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday, with his Muslim neighbours lending a helping hand to his grief-stricken family.
'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.
'It was a disaster on his part to give an oral remark which allowed ascertainment of the religious character of places of worship.' 'This disrupted the social harmony of the country.'
Jain told reporters that copies of the survey report consisting of 839 pages were made available to the parties concerned by the court late Thursday evening.
Asserting that religion should not used to get political mileage, Azad said whoever takes refuge in religion in politics is weak.
Yogi said Waqf boards have become a den of selfish interests as well as loot khasot (property grabbing), and have done little for the welfare of Muslims.
China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time, but be prepared in case they decide to collude, points out Shekhar Gupta.
How did Arvind Kejriwal, a one-time votary of secularism, turn into a bargain-basement version of Narendra Modi, wonders Vir Sanghvi.
'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 Muslims side said that they have received the letter and it will be deliberated upon in a meeting.
Meena Meghwar, 14, was abducted from the Nasarpur area and another teenage Hindu girl was kidnapped while returning home from the market in Mirpurkhas town, police said.
Amid demands for allowing Holi celebration on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus, its administration has decided that students can do so "freely" at the Non-Resident Students Centre Hall. The decision came after a controversy erupted when members of a right-wing group accused the university administration of denying permission to Hindu students to organize a 'Holi Milan' function on campus. However, the university administration clarified that the decision to allow Holi celebrations at the NRSC Hall was taken because of an AMU board examination scheduled for March 9. The administration further stated that March 10, 11, and 12 are working days and there will be classes, while March 13 and 14 are holidays, making them suitable for celebrations.
'When I undertook a study of temple desecration in precolonial India, it was not enough simply to document what temples were desecrated, by whom, when, and where.' 'It was also important to explore the total historical context of such incidents, with a view to discovering patterns, which in turn could reveal the reasons why they occurred.'
'Nowhere does the CAA state that Muslims will be deprived of their Indian citizenship.'
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday alleged that over 5,000 social media accounts, mostly operated from Islamic countries, have become active in favour of the Assam Congress.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, offering condolences to families affected by cross-border shelling and encouraging students who lost two classmates to the violence. During an hour-long visit, Gandhi met with students at the convent school that lost the twins, and visited families whose homes were damaged in the shelling.
A leading Catholic Church daily in Kerala has described the Waqf amendment bill as a crucial test of secularism in Parliament, urging MPs to support it. The editorial in Deepika daily comes as the union government prepares to table the bill for parliamentary consideration. The editorial calls the bill a test of secularism and warns MPs that failing to support it would mark them in history as endorsing religious fundamentalism. The paper added that the bill will also put an end to the injustices faced by thousands of Hindu, Christian, and Muslim citizens who have suffered due to the Waqf law. The editorial also recalled the recent statement addressed to Kerala MPs by Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) where the KCBC President Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos urged amending provisions in the Waqf law that validate claims over land which people of Munambam have lawfully possessed. Opposition parties have slammed the bill as "unconstitutional" and against the interest of the Muslim community.
The incident comes on the day Ram Navami processions were being taken out in many parts of Prayagraj.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking to prevent a 'mahapanchayat' called by Hindu outfits in Uttarakhand and registration of an FIR against hate speeches allegedly targeting members of a particular community.
RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has criticized the Karnataka government's decision to provide four per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts, stating that the Constitution does not allow religion-based quotas. He also said that such reservations go against the wishes of B R Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution. He also spoke about the controversy over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's grave in Maharashtra, stating that people who went against the ethos of India were made icons. Hosabale lauded figures like Rajput king Maharana Pratap for resisting Mughal emperor Akbar and said those who resisted invaders were also "freedom fighters". He also spoke about the RSS's idea of 'One Nation, One Culture', stating that it draws inspiration from India's rich cultural heritage and ethos.
This is important because he is to be seen as a sure winner before criss-crossing the state to campaign for candidates of the party or an alliance, highlights N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Indian government defended the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 in the Supreme Court, arguing that waqf, while an Islamic concept, is not an essential part of Islam. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that waqf is essentially charity, which is recognized across religions, and cannot be considered a fundamental tenet of any faith. He also argued that the amended law addresses secular aspects of waqf and activities unrelated to Islam, and that "waqf by user" does not grant ownership of public land. Mehta highlighted the extensive consultations involved in the bill's creation, including feedback from various stakeholders. The hearing will continue on Thursday.
Can ordinary citizens counter this backward march? Can peace activists ensure that the two communities retain their bonds? Do they have a choice, asks Jyoti Punwani.
Protests and a partial bandh were observed in the communally sensitive Bhaderwah town of Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday following an objectionable social media post allegedly put up by a leader of a Hindu group. The post drew resentment from members of both Hindu and Muslim communities, prompting authorities to suspend mobile internet services as a precautionary measure. An FIR has been registered against the accused, Virender Razdan, and raids are underway to nab him.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'A large number of people from Sindh province will now opt to migrate to India as they would be granted citizenship through an easy process.'
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.
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.
'At such times, we should show humanity transcending religious barriers'
'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.
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 world which is full of categories, hatred and ideologies, there was this basic decency.'
Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
