The Maharashtra government has asked Mumbai police to conduct a probe into controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's speeches amid reports that his sermons inspired one of the terrorists involved in the attack on a restaurant in Dhaka.
'We know how to kill a terrorist, but we do not know how to stop an innocent boy getting radicalised.'
The tragedy is that, at least on social media, the narrative that was being lapped up by many Indian Muslims was that Yakub Memon was being victimised. The purveyors of this poisonous line of thinking of course want this sentiment to grow since communal polarisation is the primary pillar of their political strategy, says Sushant Sareen.
'The advocate tells me not to worry as truth will prevail one day.' 'I don't know... I am losing all hope...'
The anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protest was secular but the charge sheet in the Delhi riots conspiracy case was communal and the police fabricated a story to suit its narrative, former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Umar Khalid told a court in New Delhi on Tuesday calling it a 'naked form of false implication.'
'If the BJP wants to build a minimally inclusive and secure society, in which vulnerable groups and religious minorities don't feel persecuted, then the Sangh Parivar, the party and its government must change their ways. Or else, they risk dividing India further -- violently and irreparably -- for narrow political ends,' argues Praful Bidwai.
Further, 110 people have been arrested in connection with the incident at Pulakeshi Nagar in Bengaluru. Scores of persons, including around 50 policemen, were injured in the violence that erupted on Tuesday night and continued till the wee hours of Wednesday, apparently prompted by the 'communally sensitive' online post.
'These naval sailors should have been given due respect as freedom fighters.' 'February 18, 1946 should be as important as January 26 because that date changed everything.'
The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Monday passed a bill that penalises religious conversion through marriage or any other fraudulent means and provides for a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
'The burden of the BJP's song is not development and delivery.' 'It is communalism,' argues Aakar Patel.
Terrorism has to be fought at its root of origination. Today we are just removing cobwebs but not killing the spider, asserts counter-insurgency expert Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Strident Hindutva has not been the Shivraj Singh Chouhan's hallmark in his long tenure as chief minister. What has changed?
Ultimately, whether the UP ordinance is struck down by the courts or not, it will be the courage of young Hindu and Muslim women and men that will act as a foil to the UP police-cum-mobs who will be out to get them.
Trump described the agreement as the "worst" and "one-sided transactions" that America has ever entered into.
'It was a reaffirmation of his party's unrelenting defiance of its erstwhile ally, the BJP; an attempt to forge a new relationship with the community the Shiv Sena had always targeted; and a pointer towards the political imperative of taking everyone along if the fight against the ruling party had to succeed,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
Opposition parties in Lakshadweep and Kerala are up in arms against various measures initiated by the Administrator of the group of islands, terming them as 'anti-people' and have sought his recall.
''This body is mine. And bearing its burden has become quite a task,' Dilip Kumar once told Subhash K Jha.'
'After he had exposed the Narcotics Bureau's wrongdoings, he threatened to expose the Enforcement Directorate as well.' 'So they are trying to rake up an old legal deal, distorting information and using the PMLA which did not even exist at that time.'
A grieving Pakistan's policy shift towards the Taliban has comes at a great cost, says Shahzad Raza.
'No one talks about the Mumbai riots anymore, though like Delhi 1984, the guilty have not been punished. In Gujarat, many powerful leaders of the state's ruling party are in jail for their role in the riots... In Mumbai, only one politician of the Shiv Sena, a former MP, was convicted of hate speech, along with two other Shiv Sainiks, one of whom was a corporator and the other a junior functionary... So why the apathy? Could it be because despite these statistics and the widely-publicised findings of the Srikrishna Commission, what remained in public consciousness was the violence by the Muslims, thanks to a highly efficient Sena propaganda machine? There's no demand for it, but would an SIT probe into the closed cases of the Mumbai riots help today?' The fadeout of Mumbai's riots from public debate can be called a triumph of the communal State, argues Jyoti Punwani.
What has not changed in a decade is the character of Rizwan Khan. He is complex, multi-dimensional and lovable. In fact, his character continues to grow on you, notes Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
The alleged filmmaker of the controversial video that sparked protests across the Muslim world has been arrested in Los Angeles, reported BBC.
The activists told police that the two were allegedly found in an objectionable position.
Two government school teachers, including a woman, were shot dead by terrorists in Eidgah area of Srinagar amid increasing attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
Pakistanis on Saturday grappled with the fallout of the violence that engulfed the country during protests against an anti-Islam film, resulting in the death of at least 23 people and destruction of property worth billions of rupees in what is being described by the media as the day of "killer rage".
The Western powers appear to regard Delhi as the most logical destination in the region in these extraordinary times -- as a counterpoint to the ascendance of political Islam and a rising red star over Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'... That they should emerge as role-models to be emulated by the fellow countrymen; and that the middle classes should not stick only to hate-filled and scornful criticism and condemnation against the state of affairs,' remembers Mohammad Sajjad.
Prasanna D Zore looks forward to Secret Superstar.
We celebrate January 26 as Republic Day because that's the day on which we adopted the Constitution in 1950. Yet, in the days preceding and following Republic Day 2021, three different courts violated the Constitutional rights of citizens, observes Jyoti Punwani.
"The mood of the nation is sober. If we can take the Ayodhya judgment in our stride, we can very well pass through the Godhra judgment peacefully. I am very confident." says Kamal Farooqui, member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Having failed to wear down the protesters, the government has now resorted to a bare-knuckle campaign to discredit them by portraying them as pawns in a wider plot bankrolled by shadowy 'anti-national' and 'Islamist' forces, notes Hasan Suroor.
Indulging in religious conversion with inducement or under pressure is an "unpardonable offence", the state home minister Araga Jnanendra said adding, it may also lead to disturbance of peace in the society.
The ceasefire, which followed mounting pressure from the United States, Egypt and other international brokers to halt the violence, came into effect on Friday.
The Hindu right-wing body in its mouthpiece taunts "liberals" protesting the Dadri lynching incident, asking what exactly is their idea of India.
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Zakir Naik, a gentle, rockstar televangelist, is dangerous as young Muslims may be swayed by his fundamentalist interpretations of Islam and justify victimhood and extremism, says Shekhar Gupta.
'The Pakistani military has encouraged and supported terrorist organisations, especially in Kashmir, as a means of waging proxy war against the Indian military and the country's superior economic resources.' 'The evidence is irrefutable with the recent killing of 46 paramilitary troops being just the latest example.'
Expressing concern over the situation in Afghanistan, a group of eminent persons, including former ministers K Natwar Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Mani Shankar Aiyar, on Wednesday urged the government to continue engaging with the Taliban and not allow any political party to use the developments in that country to communally polarise Indian society for electoral gains.
This theory of 'Hindus vs the rest' sees the two communities as two separate blocs. Isn't that the two-nation theory? What of the deep bonds that the communities have on the ground? asks Jyoti Punwani.
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