'We say we are proud to be Indian. Can we be proud of such an India where its people are hungry and on the streets?'
Shah held a meeting with office-bearers, state chiefs and key organisational leaders to finalise agenda items, including resolutions, which the national executive is expected to discuss on September 25, the birth anniversary of Hindutva icon Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
"In India, we derive our strength from tolerance, and respect our pluralism. We celebrate our diversity," he said.
The Congress leader is one of the most powerful functionaries in the party, having the reputation of being a trouble-shooter and strategist.
'Though we will raise our voices repeatedly, though we will not keep silent, this is a clear threat to us. What happened to Gauri Lankesh could happen to any of us,' says friend, and fellow journalist and activist Shashidhar Hemmady.
He said those who were insulting India's tradition and culture in the name of secularism and appeasement are feeling threatened after he took office.
Mihir S Sharma gives us a rundown of what could happen, depending on the number.
'For the last 10 years the Congress made the RSS an idea of intolerance, anti-minority, especially anti-Muslim, and an idea of fascism.' 'That has been demolished now by Pranab Mukherjee.'
Ambedkar told Rediff.com that he intended making an application that private witnesses not be cross-examined by the Bhima Koregaon Commission of Inquiry.
The economic muscle in the Mangalore region is generally sympathetic to the BJP, says Aditi Phadnis.
'How better can we depict the Mughal heritage?'
The bandh call was given after two youths were stabbed, one fatally, near Mangaluru.
Raj Bhanot, co-founder of the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple, reportedly confronted Mudgal saying that he would not tolerate her anti-Modi and anti-Hindu stand. Ritu Jha reports.
Close on the heels of the arrest of a man allegedly having links with right-wing outfit Sanatan Sansthan in connection with the murder of Communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare, a 32-year-old woman has been picked up by police for questioning from Kanjurmarg in Mumbai suburb.
'Today, if the international community is seeking space, if not place, here, then the message is not unclear in any which way. 'It does not reflect well on the nation's standing in the international arena, where human rights issues go a long way in building bilateral relations and benefiting from international cooperation, more than any aspect of politics and diplomacy,' N Sathiya Moorthy.
Eyewitnesses alleged the attackers entered the premises when a meeting was being held by JNU Teachers' Association on the issue of violence on campus and assaulted students and professors.
"I am being targeted for a decade-old case, there is an attempt to suppress my voice. Rajasthan Police team came to arrest me. Someone told me plan was being made to kill me in an encounter," the VHP president claimed.
'That's the stunning achievement of two-and-a-half years of this government -- a political bait-and-switch, selling a promise of economic development, and delivering a triumphalist machine that sacralises country, nationalism, majoritarianism and tradition, to achieve Hindutva goals,' says Mitali Saran.
MUST READ: The speech Nayantara Sahgal was not allowed to give.
The need of the hour is not a divisive, slanging match of accusations and counter-accusations, but a call for sanity,' says Vivek Gumaste.
'In 2019, in Modi we have a leader who has not shied away from showcasing a robust and aggressive response to the Pulwama and Uri attacks,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Celebrations erupted across Assam with opponents of the bill bursting crackers, distributing sweets and breaking into frenzied dancing on the streets.
Uneasy calm prevailed in Ayodhya, which on Saturday looked like a fortress, with deployment of more than 10,000 cops on the 22nd anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
Mayawati has accused 'Ravan' of being a BJP agent who is dividing the scheduled castes.
'The ceremony on May 30 is all about Modi and there is the great risk that Imran Khan who is a rockstar among Indians might end up stealing the show,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'One can understand this prejudice in the minds of policemen against Muslims, without accepting it. But what tilts the balance disproportionately is the police's blind eye to offences committed in the name of the majority.' says Jyoti Punwani.
'All-India alliances are not the priority today.' 'Therefore, the CPI-M's political line dovetails with the emergent political reality in the country,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
A day after Congress leaders in Kerala warned Shashi Tharoor to stop praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi or face disciplinary action, the party organ attacked the former minister on Tuesday, throwing doubts on his loyalty to the organisation.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a major blow in the politically-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, its MP Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday blamed the Samajwadi Party government for not allowing him to campaign for the by-polls in 11 assembly seats.
'Some semi-literate lunkhead tweeting at Rs 2 per tweet from a dingy basement in Chennai or San Diego accomplishes nothing, but give hundreds of thousands of them a time, date, and talking points, and they can create a wall of sound -- a nonsensical wall, perhaps, but one that is heard, and that can occasionally prevail just because it's there,' says Mitali Saran.
The threat posed by Shiv Sena is growing into a 'monster' that may prove very hard to control, a leading Pakistani daily said on Tuesday and asked the Indian government to take action against the party to safeguard the country's image.
In embarking on building the world's tallest statue, Modi is hoping his stature will also rise - if not across India then at least in Gujarat, says Bharat Bhushan.
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
'The BJP will never do anything substantial to empower Dalits.'
Rajinikanth's personal trait can become a political issue if he enters politics and could get translated as sympathy if not support for the BJP, which can cut both ways, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Extravagant new promises can buy him time, but far from solving the problem, they compound the risk.' 'His main alternative is to stress not aspirations, but resentments.' 'He has already de-emphasised aspirational appeals: Nothing has been heard for over two years of the coming of achhe din,' points out James Manor.
'Congress gave Muslim conservatism support and here the BJP saw a window of opportunity'
'We know each other for quite some time.' 'He could provide stability to the country for five years.' 'But he could not provide confidence to the countrymen that he is our leader.'
'The BJP is taking a risk in Assam, but it may face a tough time in coming times,' says Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty.
'Teaching lessons is the objective behind every school.' 'For the moment, a state seems intent to teach a lesson -- that students of Classes 4, 5 and 6 can wage war against the mighty Indian nation,' says Krishna Prasad.
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