'No country or society ever prospered or remained secure by marginalising more than one-sixth of its own,' warns Shekhar Gupta.
'While India's 'secularism' is a matter of cultural values rooted in Hinduism, the Western concept became one of rights rooted in legal rights. India would be secular with or without Article 25 of the Constitution,' says T V R Shenoy.
Bangladesh on Monday banned an Islamist militant outfit that is believed to be behind the gruesome hacking deaths of three secular bloggers.
The Forbes 30 Under 30 list is harder to get into than Stanford or Harvard University. Meet the desis who made the cut this year.
He also emphasised that those giving shelter to terrorists and using them as political instruments must be condemned, an apparent reference to Pakistan.
Indians must remember that Pakistanis hate losing to India, at war or in cricket, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Awesome photos of the month: February Here are some of the best photographs clicked across the globe in the month of February.
After an RSS affiliate withdrew the invitation to Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi for an iftar, senior Sangh leader Indresh Kumar on Saturday told Pakistan to worry about calls for freedom emerging within that country and stop interfering in Kashmir.
Hometown diplomacy mixed with a Silk Road touch is expected be part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's reciprocal gesture when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits China before end of May.
'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.'
Defying prohibitory orders, protests were held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and several other cities. Protesters, mostly students and activists, were detained on a large scale in national capital and other places.
Shehla doesn't and has never shied away from talking the tough talk and walking the tough walk, says Gurmehar Kaur.
The dreaded Islamic State militant "Jihadi John" was a "reasonably hardworking" student and showed no sign of radicalisation, his former UK school principal said on Monday.
By some strange and bizarre twist of fate, Omar Mateen did exactly what he did not intend to do. He took the lives of gay people and made them extraordinary. He infused their stories with a poignancy they might not have possessed otherwise. He enabled the rest of the world to see themselves in their stories, to weep at the sheer waste of lives cut short, says Sandip Roy.
Here's a collection of some of the best photos from around the world shot in the last 24 hours
Adityanath, who had in the past lashed out at a section of Muslims for terming the practice of 'surya namaskar' as un-Islamic, said the sun salutation was a beautiful example of religious harmony. "The namaz offered by Muslims resembles different postures and asanas of surya namaskar including pranayam.
A computer has helped scientists discover the largest prime number ever with over 22 million digits, breaking the previous record by approximately 5 million digits.
'The Hindu quest for political power in terms of a Hindu identity can pose a problem for tolerance, as the alignment of religion with power often does.'
'For over a decade, the United States has been shaping the contours of Hinduism. It has been doing this from the perspective of upper caste and conservative interests,' Professor Shefali Chandra tells Rediff.com's Arthur J Pais.
'There is need to invent another enemy.' 'If you can add Maoists to Muslims, the tukde-tukde thread will tie in nicely.' 'You might even have a 'nation in grave danger' story by the summer of 2019,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
''The avoidance of the 'P' word had less to do with reality and more to do with the politics -- domestic and international -- of Mr Modi and his efforts to both appear statesman-like (vis-a-vis Pakistan) and rid himself of the taint of being some kind of Muslim-baiting hardliner.'
Mariam Farid, who competes wearing a hijab, says she would never compromise on her identity but would not mind blending a bit of fashion with religion.
Everything about ISIS had indicated that this would be a violent Ramzan. A violent, divisive Ramzan sends out exactly the message that ISIS wants to send to religious Muslims outside its folds: It plays on their faith and fears, says writer Tabish Khair.
The second debate soon turned ugly with the Republican nominee going on the offensive with personal attacks, but Democratic rival accuses him of diverting attention from the lewd tapes.
'The Modi government is about privatising profits and nationalising losses.'
'The emphasis is on nationalism, which the party apparently feels will have greater resonance than one on religious identity which may have lost some of its appeal in recent years.'
Nigam, posted a barrage of 24 tweets to say he is quitting Twitter.
'It is not just a loss for India or UC Berkeley, it is a loss for the world.'
Religious and political leaders joined celebrities, sports stars and tens of thousands of ordinary people on Friday in bidding farewell to Muhammad Ali, the boxing champion who jolted America with his showmanship and won worldwide admiration as a man of conviction.
Notwithstanding the claims and counterclaims of different political parties about riding the crest of a populatiry wave in Uttar Pradesh, Tuesday's results of the three bypolls out of the 403 state assembly seats have sprung surprises for all key political players.
India on Tuesday supported Afghanistan's reconciliation process with the Taliban, but warned that it must not undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan government and should be within the internationally accepted "red lines".
A Sikh professor at Columbia University was allegedly attacked by a group of men, who called him "Osama" and "terrorist", in an assault which police are investigating as a hate crime.
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
It further said that the epic Valmiki's Ramayana, whose composition dated back to the period Before Christ (BC), was the main source of knowledge of Lord Ram and his deeds.
Two victims of the deadly Sydney siege were remembered on Tuesday by tearful mourners at private memorial services here, a week after a gunman held them hostage inside a downtown cafe in Australia.
Today no big militant can dream of committing terror acts, the MoD said.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are closely monitoring the events in Paris.
'Modi has said he has been made the PM of India not to do small things but big things. What bigger thing can there be than to have peace with Pakistan and in the neighbourhood?'
A secular blogger in Bangladesh has been hacked to death in north-eastern Bangladesh in the third such deadly attack since the start of the year, police say.
'The reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have attended the President's iftar was not merely to break a fast with the faithful, but more importantly to broker an understanding with India's second largest set of citizens,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
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