'Today, there is pervasive fear in society; an uncertainty of what might happen.' 'This has forced Muslims to shrink further into mental ghettos, with many considering extreme measures like pretending to change their identity.'
Given all the turbulence created by Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi's unexpected tirade against Saudi Arabia, it is likely to be business as usual between the two countries, albeit with a bit of caution on the part of both, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'You will see more laws that treat Hindus and non-Hindus, especially Muslims, quite unequally.' 'Once you see this kind of erosion of secularism, it will be very hard to get it back.'
Islamic clerics on Friday barred women who are not accompanied by a close male relative from entering markets of Karak area in Pakistan's restive northwest.
The 18-year-old youth, named Jake Bilardi, had previously made preparations to launch a string of attacks across Melbourne, including at shopping centres, cafes and foreign consulates, according to a blog he is believed to have written.
'Second-class citizenship would have been meaningless to a Hindu in the Mughal empire.'
The Indian authorities have to reconfirm that Prabhakaran is dead. It may require seeking assistance from Interpol and also involve the re-opening of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, and more so, the investigations, formally or otherwise, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Seeking to wriggle out of the FATF's grey list, Pakistan has imposed tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, by ordering the seizure of all of their properties and freezing of bank accounts, a media report said.
'If you don't have children, that's also a problem.' 'There's no right way to live because everybody has an opinion about your personal life, and how you should live.' 'You have to listen to them, unless you can pick a fight with everyone.'
'The brainless 'fidayeen' you have been breeding are going to hell to rot and not to any heaven.' 'No one can get away after messing with the Indian Defence Forces,' Major Mohommed Ali Shah, an Indian Army veteran, tells the Jaish e Mohammed.
Dawood Ibrahim is wanted in India to face the law of the land for carrying out serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 in which scores of people were killed and injured.
All Pakistani moves towards peace will be seen as tactical compromises, to be abandoned when the situation changes, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'What we are today witnessing is the final act of the Pakistani army trying to retain its turf,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'In Rajiv Gandhi's time, out of every Re 1 spent by the government only 15 paisa reached the public.' 'At this moment, I cannot say that the entire Re 1 reaches the common man's pocket, but yes, two-thirds of that money definitely reaches the common man.' 'And the rest of the money will also reach soon.'
Interestingly, the choice of August 5 as the day of the bhoomi pujan coincides with the abolition of Kashmir's special status on the same day a year ago. Perhaps the RSS-BJP wants August 5 to be remembered as the date on which the foundation stone of their cherished Hindu rashtra was laid, notes Amulya Ganguli.
'We must not forget who we are and what courage and bravery were shown by our ancestors to bring us closer to the freedom we enjoy today,' says Tarun Vijay after attending the Gudi Padwa in Goa.
'When you are returning your award you are commenting on the country and not the government.' 'Can we actually say that a vast majority of Indians have become communal? The data shows actually no. That is not true.' 'In religious terms India has a lot to teach the world because we are genuinely liberal, but in gender terms we have to learn lot from the West. In gender terms, we are terrible.'
'The outrage that followed the destruction of the Babri Masjid was an inability to see the event for what it was: The rectification of a grave historical wrong, the restitution of a hurt of a people and the countering of moral injustice,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
'But India, increasingly, is not that far behind, which is a story I never expected to tell.'
'This Ram Navami -- the birth anniversary of Lord Ram -- presents the majority community an opportunity to shed its minority complex and offer an olive branch and discrimination- free society to the minority,' suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Muslims, like people of all other faiths, are quite comfortable with the idea of nationalism and democracy today. But are they following Islam in its spirit? That is a different question.'
Intolerance toward the minority communities or attempts to humiliate them or the refusal to go the extra league to build an inclusive society -- these are all evident today in our society, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'I am more worried about the rainy season from June.' 'If you don't bury the COVID-19 dead properly, then rainwater will seep into the dead bodies and it will come to our locality where I fear more than 2,000 people will be affected.'
The Ayodhya verdict heralds not the beginning of theocracy or Hindu rashtra (that never existed in 5,000 years), but marks the end of a divisive phase of our history.
The winners of the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest have been announced. The winning shot was taken by Turkish Associated Press photographer called Burhan Ozbilici, with an image he has simply titled An Assassination in Turkey. Showing Mevlut Mert Altintas shouting after shooting Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey, on December 19 2016.
'The return of India to its own civilisational values can never endanger freedoms as pluralism is the bedrock of our culture,' assert Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the media to accept the challenges of threat to freedom of expression posed by certain quarters. "In a democracy, we realise the importance of freedom of expression only when it is denied to us just like the importance of breathing is realised when one cannot breathe for two seconds," Modi said.
'Between now and 2021, Bengal's politics could change irrevocably,' predicts Kanchan Gupta, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation.
'The Quran says that saving one life is like saving humanity. So by donating for Kerala, you are following what Allah told you.' 'This gesture would create goodwill for Muslims and would work as a counter to the hostility they face.' Jyoti Punwani reports how some Muslims won't sacrifice goats this Bakri Eid, instead donating the money towards relief efforts in Kerala.
What the ceasefire does is to show the supporters of violence in the Kashmir valley an alternative to militancy, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A 'soft' approach must be nurtured to complement the hard-line of spending billions in physical conflict; that is the only way to 'degrade and destroy' ISIS.
A new West Asia is emerging and India must engage at the highest level and help shape this change, says Saeed Naqvi
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he regretted causing pain to people by not choosing the "right words" sometimes and uttering "wrong thing" even as his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton termed the statement as a mere "well-written phrase".
As captain of the women's cricket team in Baramulla's Government Women's College, Insha is one of the young women setting trends in this suburban town in north Kashmir and in the Valley.
The apex court said the faith of Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the site was undisputed, and he is symbolically the owner of the land.
The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, who shot dead 166 people, had confessed to details that should have been enough to hang him, but Pakistan enjoyed his anti-India rhetoric and let him spread his tentacles. A revealing excerpt from Khaled Ahmed's Pakistan's Terror Conundrum.
'Muslims in India have been suffering in many ways. Yet, they are proud Indians and love India as much as any other Indian community.'
During last week's Nuclear Security Summit, President Obama asked the media to leave and then screened videos depicting plausible scenarios pertaining to nuclear terrorism.
Hindu and Sikh leaders will share stage with Pope Francis during a prayer service in New York
