On Friday, the Bombay high court reversing the ban imposed on women entering the inner sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai said, "The ban is contrary to articles 14, 15, 19 and 25 of the Constitution of India. Women should be permitted to enter the dargah on par with men." The news brought much cheer and joy to petitioner Zakia Soman who is also the founder of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan. Zakia spoke to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf on what made this verdict historic and how it will bring about a change in the future.
Nasreen, who served as the director of the Indian Cultural Centre at the high commission of India in Male, Republic of Maldives, from 2019 to 2023, shared insights into the growing influence of China and Pakistan in countering India's soft power.
The Indian diplomat was told that these remarks are totally unacceptable and have not only deeply hurt the sentiments of the people of Pakistan but of Muslims across the world, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.
Terror group Al Qaeda is "shaping" its regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent to spread its operations into Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to a UN report.
This is Ravichandran Ashwin's sixth stint at the top of the rankings. He first became number one in December 2015.
A special NIA court in Kerala on Wednesday convicted six persons, who are allegedly members of the now banned radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), in the sensational hand chopping case of a college professor in Kerala in 2010.
'Sweden removed the inheritance tax because many of the rich were fleeing. For example, the owner of IKEA had migrated out of Sweden'
We may not be a super military power like the US, but we are the superpower in compassion, love and human values as taught to us by the Bhagavad Gita and the Guru Granth Sahib, says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
A record five Indian-American lawmakers from the ruling Democrat Party, including Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal and Ami Bera have been elected to the US House of Representatives, while several others were elected in state legislatures, in one of the most polarised midterm elections in the country.
Shah said stringent actions would be taken against any individual who jeopardises the nation's security.
As per a report, out of the 23 Indians who are in the Islamic State, 17 are from southern states.
The rulers of the day need to be sensitive and involved in managing the identities of sacred spaces and the ongoing dialogues about the past in diverse societies, suggests Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd).
The assault allegedly took place over playing Hanuman chalisa, a Hindu devotional hymn in praise of lord Hanuman, at a shop in central Bengaluru area.
Asked about the BJP's claim that its performance in southern states will be exemplary, Tharoor said, "The claim of an 'exemplary' performance is yet another product of the BJP's propaganda mill."
In a landmark ruling, a Malaysian court on Thursday quashed the 2009 conversion of three Hindu children to Islam without their mother's consent.
An advisory issued by the American Embassy warned its citizens of an increased threat in places frequented by Westerners in the country.
The Sena workers a cut seven kilogram cake and also played music on the occasion. The Hindu Sena called Trump the 'saviour of humanity' and the 'messiah against Islamic terror'. They also observed a minute's silence for Orlando victims.
India's voting pattern in the United Nations with regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict is lately marked by a calibrated distancing from Israel, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The diktat was circulated through pamphlets which was widely distributed on Tuesday among public across Hojai and Nagaon districts in central Assam.
The Shiv Sena also demanded that those who allowed the concert to take place should be booked for anti-national activities.
'We are facing a brutal war here and everything is being destroyed and bombarded in a matter of seconds'
India has pulled out of the World Cadet Chess Championship scheduled to be held in Egypt from October 14 to 23 in view of the situation in Gaza
'America should ask its ally, the Saudis, where the petro-dollars are going,' Dr Deepak Chopra said, adding that some of the dollars are going to the militants in Pakistan. 'Because of oil, America has been turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia.'
Muslim-majority Malaysia will soon introduce a regulation that will require its nationals to inform their family before converting to Islam. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said such a declaration would prevent families from contesting conversion by any member.
'We will teach them about our idol Mohammad Sahab and all the great men of other religions as well -- about Shri Ram, Krishna, Yeshu, Bhagwan Mahavir.' 'We want children from the madrasas to become doctors, engineers, scientists, soldiers and walk in the footsteps of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.' 'That is why we have named the modern madrasas after Dr Kalam.'
In India elections are never fought in a straight line. It's fought on many issues, at many levels, with multiple emotions and with a bit of good luck, too. Sheela Bhatt reports from Rajasthan.
Rodrigues in a statement on Tuesday said, "Zakir Naik is a wanted man under the Indian law. He is charged with money laundering crimes and hate speeches."
The NIA had then said that Ramalingam was killed as he had "opposed the Dawah work of leaders of Popular Front of India who were converting Hindus into Islam."
'Their role model is Iran: high control of the citizens by the State.' In Iran it is Islamic control; in India, it will be Hindutva control.'
Struggling to gain political traction on issues of corruption, the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party is shifting its focus to emotive topics such as the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in a bid to achieve its target of securing 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state.
The government on Tuesday remained non-committal on taking action against a controversial Indian Islamic preacher, who was followed by one of the five Bangladeshi militants, who killed 22 people at a restaurant in Dhaka.
Islamic India, a Euro 20 million fund launched in Germany in January this year, is set to make its debut in the Indian equity market in a couple of weeks and expects a five-fold growth in its corpus within a year
The BJP enters challenging times where it has been given a task to hold onto the values of Ram in running the country as defined by Narendra Modi in Ayodhya, notes Sheela Bhatt.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide ranging discussions with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran and their discussion focused on the long term framework for India's involvement with the strategically vital Chabahar port and the North-South connectivity project.
The Election Commission of India has announced that elections for 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Goa, Gujarat, and West Bengal will be held on July 24.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the controversial film The Kerala Story to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence", a senior official said in Kolkata.
'Naik is an outcome of an image-centric Islam, which is linked to the technological changes introduced by new media.' 'English educated upper middle class Muslims embraced Naik's image-centric Islam in the 1990s.' 'Television converted him into a religious object.'
If Saudi Arabia, with just two Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, can create a huge tourism-based ecosystem beyond oil, Ayodhya is sure to become the world's hottest religious tourism site in less than a decade, predicts R Jagannathan.
A persistent back injury dashed the opener's hopes of playing in the World Cup.
The accused, Mohammed Hanif, was brought to the city and produced before a court which sent him to police custody till August 20, a senior police official said.
