In an embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar, one of its MLAs has been accused of hurting Hindu sentiments by allegedly berating Goddess Lakshmi and Saraswati and Lord Hanuman.
The ministry also submitted that the identification of scheduled castes is centred around a specific social stigma that is limited to the communities identified in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.
So many films have been made with Muslim characters. But how many have actually got them right?
How can a film that has a character declare that secularism is an illness be taken seriously, asks Deepa Gahlot.
'My father died in the liberation struggle. Bangladesh is our Motherland. This is home,' says Monindra Kumar Nath, a Hindu who has lived his 74 years in Dhaka.
Abdullah said if the gap between the communities is to be bridged, the hateful campaigns like The Kashmir Files film and incessant Hindu-Muslim debates on the media have to be stopped.
The educated, respectable and established Muslims voices, that were on the modernising side on the Shah Bano issue, are fighting on the opposite side now, mostly because they worry about Narendra Modi, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'We wouldn't have had to face all this had our national leaders taken care to select a place for Sindhis and sent us there, instead of sending us all over to settle in places where the locals didn't want us.' 'They could have partitioned Sindh and given us a Sindhi state from its two Hindu-majority districts.' 'Wasn't that the logic of Partition?'
'Muslims know they cannot defeat the BJP, why then come in its firing range?' 'And they know, ultimately it is the BJP MLA who is going to get elected and only he or she can do their work.' 'The BJP may do a different kind of politics for Muslims, but when they sit in the chair they work for Muslims too.'
The Muslim Rashtriya Manch, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's Muslim wing, has backed the burqa-clad student who was heckled by youth shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans at a Karnataka college, saying 'purdah' is a part of Indian culture.
It is the Hindu community that has faced the biggest setback as far as the issue of loudspeakers is concerned, the Sena MP added.
She has been asked to respond to the notice within the next 48 hours.
Claiming the mausoleum of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer was once a temple, a Hindu outfit has demanded a survey of the premises by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
A court in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, has directed the court-appointed commissioner to submit a survey report on the Jama Masjid mosque within 10 days. The survey was ordered following claims that a temple stood on the site. The court set the next hearing date for January 8. Tensions have been escalating in Sambhal since November 19 when the survey began, leading to violence on November 24 that resulted in four deaths and injuries.
'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.'
'When honest, wealthy people come forward to serve India, people should feel proud and welcome them.'
In recent weeks, reports have come out from Uttar Pradesh of members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini thrashing couples, shutting down meat shops. Many say that the group formed in 2002 by Yogi Adityanath has been emboldened ever since his elevation to chief minister. Here's a look at the 2-million strong and growing group.
Leaders of Muslim world are suffering from an "acute inferiority complex", which stems from the "legacy of the colonial era", Justice Muhammed Al-Ghazali of Supreme Court of Pakistan said.
In its notice, the panel said it had taken sou-moto cognisance of a video posted online on Twitter which showcased a Clubhouse conversation on the topic 'Muslim gals are more beautiful than Hindu gals'.
Leicestershire police said a 20-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon during clashes in the city.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand also said if the administration stops them from offering prayers, he would inform the Shankaracharya and follow his instructions.
He, however, said that there have been some 'false cases' of lynching at times that have been filed against some people. Addressing a book-release function in Ghaziabad, Bhagwat said the DNA of all Indians are the same.
Supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) clashed with police in West Bengal on Monday during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, leading to several injuries and the torching of multiple police vehicles. The clash occurred after police stopped ISF supporters from attending an anti-Waqf Act rally in Kolkata. The protests escalated when the crowd attempted to break through police barricades. The situation was brought under control after a large police force was deployed. ISF leader Naushad Siddique condemned the Waqf Act and accused the BJP of trying to incite communal tension. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress dismissed the ISF as a "party of no consequence." Communal violence related to the Waqf Act has also occurred in other parts of West Bengal.
Two incidents of violence over firecracker bursting on Diwali were reported from Haryana's Faridabad on Friday.
'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.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera called the order "state-sponsored bigotry".
Palshikar and Yadav, who were chief advisors for the original Political Science books for classes 9 to 12, said, "While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at work here. We find that the text has been mutilated beyond recognition. There are innumerable and irrational cuts and large deletions without any attempts to fill the gaps created.
It is this new Muslim who is not burdened by the Pakistan guilt, who is ready to fight it out for the rights enshrined under the Constitution, and who is not defensive about Muslim identity that the BJP and the Sangh Parivar are out to crush, argues Mohd Asim.
The police in Mathura have arrested a man for allegedly threatening a Muslim dosa seller and vandalising his cart apparently because his business was named after a Hindu deity, officials said.
'We can't sit back clutching our memories of the riots. The country, the future of our children are more important.' Jyoti Punwani reports on an unusual election meeting in Mumbai.
The survey report of the Shahi Jama Masjid at Sambhal expected on Monday, was not presented by the advocate commissioner entrusted with it, after he sought an extension of 15 days citing ill health.
'He won't be able to migrate; he must survive in that environment.' 'He will go back after the election to becoming invisible.'
'I had performed the 'nikah' of Sameer Wankhede and Shabana Qureshi. Her father had approached me to perform the marriage in the Lokhandwala complex area of Mumbai. The groom's name was Sameer Dawood Wankhede who married Shabana Qureshi'
Videos of Tuesday's protest outside Durga Bhawan temple on Spon Lane in Smethwick area of the West Midlands city were circulating on social media overnight, with groups of masked men seen shouting and hurling items. Police officers could be seen holding and pulling some of these masked men trying to scale the temple fence.
Asserting that there is no threat to Hinduism in India or anywhere else, Indian American supermodel and author Padma Lakshmi on Wednesday said people of all faiths should be able to live peacefully in 'this ancient, vast land'.
'A Muslim is lynched somewhere, and you forward the video of the lynching through WhatsApp.' 'So, you participate in that lynching without actually doing it. You endorse it without being a party to it.'
'The time has come to have a relook at the Constitution as every document has a shelf life.'
'Kalesaab could have easily earned Rs 1 lakh per month as rent from this place but he gave it to Muslims for free. Secularism in India is alive only because of people like him.'
It took Udham Singh 21 years to avenge the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh. And 34 years for his remains to return to India after execution in a British prison.
