The 'love jihad" controversy, an issue the Bharatiya Janata Party sought to exploit during the assembly by-elections in western Uttar Pradesh last month, took a new turn with a 22-year-old local woman going back on her statement that she was gang-raped and forcibly converted to Islam.
Punishment under the new law is a jail term from one and five years, and a fine of Rs 15,000.
Nearly a dozen first information reports have been lodged since the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, was notified on November 27.
It appears that the murder of Anjali is not just similar to that of Neha, but the killer had allegedly threatened that she would face the college student's fate, according to her sister, who accused the police of inaction when informed of the threat.
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.
The Uttar Pradesh assembly on Tuesday passed the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024 that provides for a maximum punishment of life imprisonment, making the law stricter in cases of fraudulent or forced conversion.
Communal tension has been brewing in Purola and some other towns of Uttarkashi district after two men, one of them Muslim, allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu girl on May 26.
With the Bahujan Samaj Party keeping out and the Congress being in the fray only for namesake, Saturday's bye-election for 11 state assembly constituencies and for one Lok Sabha seat will determine the supremacy between Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
'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.
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
The woman and Althaf had been friends on Instagram for the last three months and both belonged to the same town (Karkala).
The complaint mentions the last scene of the film which shows a temple priest's daughter, played by Nayanthara, offering namaz wearing 'hijab' before making biryani.
Amid a raging debate over 'love jihad', a Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party MLA has asked organisers of forthcoming Navratri festival to disallow entry of non-Hindu youths in pandals where 'garba' or devotional dance is performed in the praise of goddess Durga.
"I am a Muslim. I was not forced. I want to be with my husband," Hadiya, wearing a head scarf, shouted as she was being taken inside the airport.
The CM said that the film exposes the conspiracies of 'love jihad', religious conversion and terrorism and its "hideous" face.
Shops owned by Muslims were shut for half a day in solidarity with the family of Hiremath and to condemn the dastardly act that shook the twin city of Hubballi-Dharwad.
A reception of a newly married Hindu-Muslim couple was cancelled in Maharashtra's Vasai town following opposition from local organisations in the wake of Shraddha Walkar's murder.
The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday gave nod to an ordinance on the bill against religious conversion through fraudulent means, including those for the sake of marriage, that stipulates a jail term of up to 10 years for violators.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said his government has decided to hand over the Hubballi student murder case to the Crime Investigation Department and that a special court will be set up for its speedy disposal.
Swami Darshan Bharti, the founder of "Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan" which had allegedly pasted threatening posters on shops run by Muslims in the communally tense Purola, on Friday claimed that he has received a death threat.
'...We should first look at and acknowledge what we have done to ourselves.' 'To not do so opens us to the accusation of rank hypocrisy and also reduces the stature of our globetrotting peaceniks,' asserts Aakar Patel.
In his weekly column Rokhthok in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Raut also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah should not sow 'seeds of hatred and divisiveness'.
Talking to reporters in Bilaspur town of the state, he also accused the saffron party of trying to take political advantage of last week's communal violence in Biranpur village of Bemetara district.
The most strident criticism of UP's anti-conversion ordinance has come from the judiciary with several retired Supreme Court and high court judges having described it as being violative of Article 14 (Right to Equality), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion), 21 (Right to Life) and 25 (Freedom of conscience) of the Constitution, points out Rashme Sehgal.
Advising parents against educating their children in missionary institutions, Thakur said, "by doing it you will open the doors of old age homes for yourselves."
The police staged a flag march in the main market area of the town and appealed to people to maintain peace.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking to prevent a 'mahapanchayat' called by Hindu outfits in Uttarakhand and registration of an FIR against hate speeches allegedly targeting members of a particular community.
'My son did tell me about Neha and that he was in love with her and they wanted to get married. But I had suggested that he first focus on his career'
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Tuesday said the organisation believes that there is no need to turn India into a 'Hindu Rashtra' or Hindu nation because the country has always been one.
The interfaith marriage has stirred up a political storm after the bride's relatives alleged 'love jihad,' with a senior Left party leader supporting the charge, only to retract his statement later.
The Allahabad high court, which is hearing an appeal in connection with the case, has been informed that there is no evidence that the two men tried to change the woman's religion.
The Delhi Police on Wednesday recreated the scene of crime at the same bylane in northwest Delhi's Shahbad Dairy where 20-year-old Sahil killed a minor girl, officials said.
The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to set up a 'gau cabinet' for the protection and promotion of cows in the state, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday.
The bench asked senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the father of the woman, to ensure that she is produced that day for interaction with the bench, which is likely to ascertain her mental stage and whether she had given free consent to the marriage.
The couple was in a relationship but had a quarrel on Saturday. On Sunday, the victim planned to attend the birthday party of her friend's son but was accosted and stabbed repeatedly. She was also hit with a stone
'We will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.'
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday spoke to father of slain student Neha Hiremath over phone and said 'sorry' over his daughter's killing, and assured that 'we will be on your side'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Telangana president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday said his party, when it comes to power in the state, would abolish minority reservations and provide the benefit to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and others.
A government-run law college in Indore has taken six teachers, including four Muslims, off duty temporarily after the ABVP accused them of promoting fundamentalism and 'negative thoughts' about the government and Army.
'People want to do business in the name of the Kedarnath temple.'
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