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.
At least 200 religious scholars in Pakistan have issued a fatwa terming suicide attacks as "un-Islamic" and said the Islamic governments are bound to crush rebel groups like the Taliban, ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
'If Pakistan has fired one bullet at us then we have to respond by firing 10 bullets at them. It is our right to do so.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's message is loud and clear that anyone acting against the unity, sovereignty, and integrity of the nation will not be spared and face the full wrath of the law.
Pakistani-American businessman Sajid Tarar said like India, Pakistan also needs strong leadership to handle political instability and economic issues.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has come under fire for his controversial remarks against the Chief Justice of India and now, he has targeted former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, calling him a "Muslim commissioner". Dubey's comments come after Quraishi criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Act as a "sinister and evil plan of the government to grab Muslim lands". Dubey's remarks have been met with widespread condemnation, with many calling them inflammatory and divisive.
A Pakistani court has dismissed a plea to rename a chowk in Lahore after Bhagat Singh, citing a retired military officer's claim that the freedom fighter was not a revolutionary but a "criminal". The Lahore High Court upheld the decision of the local corporation, which had scrapped the plan to rename Shadman Chowk and place a statue of Singh there.
Nineteen years later, remembering how terror struck Mumbai's lifeline on July 11, 2006.
India has strongly condemned Pakistan's remarks on Jammu and Kashmir at the UN Human Rights Council, calling it a "failed state" that spreads falsehoods and relies on international handouts. India's delegate, Kshitij Tyagi, highlighted the progress made in Jammu and Kashmir and said Pakistan is in no position to lecture anyone on human rights, given its own record of abuses and support for terrorism.
'If Pakistan's army wants to escalate violence in Kashmir, they have an unlimited supply of jihadis they can train and send. That's not an issue for them.'
The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (SAD), which led protests against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has launched itself as a political party called the National Citizen Party (NCP). The new party, which aims to 'dismantle constitutional autocracy' and establish a 'second republic,' has pledged to create a 'solely Bangladesh-oriented' political system, with no room for 'pro-India and pro-Pakistan politics.' The NCP's inaugural rally was attended by representatives of various political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and envoys from the Vatican and Pakistan.
Maruf set the tone for Bangladesh's success with a superb opening spell, reducing India to 13 for three inside seven overs.
"It is still not too late. India must speak clearly, act responsibly, and use every diplomatic channel available to defuse tensions and promote a return to dialogue in West Asia," Gandhi asserted.
Bangladesh is in turmoil, which is not good news for India, which shares a porous 4000 km border with it. There is a danger of fundamentalism growing there, and India has to move in to reset its ties with the new dispensation before China and Pakistan make capital out of it, alerts Ramesh Menon.
The move comes a few days after the Yunus-led government dropped the portrait of the country's founding father and deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's father Mujibur Rahman from new currency notes.
'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.'
Former National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon has stated that the political dynamics between India and Pakistan have resulted in a "controlled level of hostility" that benefits the ruling elites in both nations. Speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival, Menon described Pakistan as a "brand new state" still grappling with its national identity. He argued that India's foreign policy towards Pakistan is influenced by its domestic politics, resulting in an uneasy equilibrium characterized by a "controlled level of hostility." Menon also questioned the concept of a multipolar world, stating that the current global order is merely "confused." He emphasized that the United States remains the world's true military hegemon, while other nations, including China, are regional powers. Menon further argued that there is no binding international order, leading to a state of "between orders." He highlighted the absence of definitive international agreements on crucial issues in recent decades.
Their shared brief: To assert India's case with clarity, rebut hostile narratives, and secure enduring partnerships for global counter-terror cooperation.
The announcement of the award comes as an acknowledgement of Dr Saiduddin's services, according to a statement by Pakistan President Arif Alvi, who approved the conferment on Wednesday.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board named a 16-member squad for the India tour, on Thursday.
The BJP has lauded the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, as a testament to "New India's" zero-tolerance stance against terrorism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the Congress has countered the claim, stating that the extradition was the result of diplomatic efforts initiated during the UPA government's tenure. The BJP highlighted Rana's return as a tribute to security personnel who lost their lives fighting Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and a step towards justice for victims of the attack. The Congress, however, asserted that the Modi government did not initiate the extradition process but benefited from the UPA's groundwork. The exchange of accusations has added a political dimension to Rana's extradition, with both parties vying for credit for the development.
Clearly, her father hopes that a successful tenure in Lahore will give Maryam the ballast to be prime minister after the next general election.
A handful of Pakistani Muslim youths are beginning to question the existence of God and are in the process of giving up Islam to become atheists.
Usman Khawaja told a press conference on Friday that he had been managing a hamstring strain and had logged the injury in an app used by Australia's professional cricketers.
Pakistan, which is witnessing an influx of Tehreek-i-Taliban terrorists in significant numbers in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's tribal districts, is also facing a threat from the Islamic State (ISIS) which is trying to establish a foothold in the country, the ministry of interior has said.
The recent incident has eroded trust and Chinese social media reflects growing anxiety, with calls for stricter security measures to protect Chinese lives.
The result is a big blow to the military establishment, revealing the limits of 'political engineering'. It reflected the anger of the electorate, especially its younger voters, who have spoken decisively against the persistent harassment and victimisation of Imran Khan's political party, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
The victim said she returned home after managing to escape her abductors.
Anju, an Indian mother of two children who travelled to Pakistan to marry her Facebook friend, returned to India through the Wagah-Attari border on Wednesday, officials said.
'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.'
Quraishi asserted that India has, is and will always stand up and fight for its constitutional institutions and principles.
The central government has appointed advocate Narender Mann as special public prosecutor to conduct trials and other matters related to the National Investigation Agency case RC-04/2009/NIA/DLI against Tahawwur Hussain Rana and David Coleman Headley, who is in a US prison following a plea deal.
About 20 scholars had recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining about the inclusion of the work of the two authors in the syllabus.
'I can see the world's concern. I am concerned. I have daughters who play cricket.'
'Will Imran compromise with the army? We are all human beings. We all compromise.'
The menacing threat that radical self-styled defenders of Islam today pose to the Pakistani State is, undeniably, a logical culmination of the very ideological basis of that State, says Yogi Sikand
Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, passed away in Lisbon at the age of 88 on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.
Javed Munshi, suspected to be a member of the outlawed 'Tehreek e Mujahideen' outfit in Kashmir Valley, was picked up from near Canning Hospital by a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police and West Bengal Police's Special Task Force, the officer said.
A young Indian man was arrested in Pakistan after illegally crossing the border to meet a Facebook friend he wanted to marry. However, the woman told police she was not interested in marrying him. The man, Badal Babu, was arrested in the Mandi Bahauddin district of Pakistan's Punjab province on December 28. He had crossed the border to meet his Facebook friend, Sana Rani. Rani, in her statement to police, said she had been friends with Babu for the past two-and-a-half years but was not interested in marrying him. Babu's family has appealed to the Indian government to intervene for his release.
'Religion and extremism is going to be a big force, a very important force, in Bangladesh's politics.'
