'India has jackboot laws legislated by all parties, a State prepared to stomp all over you, and citizens who don't often realise how easily they can be crushed under both,' says T N Ninan.
The Shiv Sena on Wednesday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party for the reverses suffered by it in the bypolls, saying it should learn a lesson and keep its "feet on the ground".
'The cow can always be the CAUSE.' 'Cause for murder. Cause for setting India's people against each other.' 'Not recognising the fact that this can tip the country into an unending spiral of civil strife and set the much-vaunted 'India story' back by years is the ultimate stupidity of all,' says Shuma Raha.
Can you even imagine the fear that must have passed through Kiran Rao's mind, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'As a student of history, I am no pessimist, but regardless of which party/coalitions comes to power on May 23, the space for secularism, pluralism and minority rights has shrunk significantly,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has warned the people against the "communal designs" of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party and urged them not to lose their cool in the run-up to the 2017 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
'Today, if the international community is seeking space, if not place, here, then the message is not unclear in any which way. 'It does not reflect well on the nation's standing in the international arena, where human rights issues go a long way in building bilateral relations and benefiting from international cooperation, more than any aspect of politics and diplomacy,' N Sathiya Moorthy.
Right actions might help reduce this trust deficit. But what we have today is over- enthusiastic vigilante groups targeting minorities over beef or 'love jihad', against whom the government does little apart from meek condemnation, says Utkarsh Misgra.
They claimed that what the country had witnessed in the last two years was just 'empty promises and gimmicks' and dubbed Modi government as 'most disappointing' ruling dispensation since independence.
'Shaheen Bagh is no longer a mere ghetto of lower middle class Muslims.' 'Now, it is a metaphor for resistance, secularism and struggle,' notes Md. Zeeshan Ahmad.
'Mercifully, the Supreme Court is currently playing the role of the elderly wise to prevent wrong-doing,' says Amulya Ganguli.
'For the BJP to lose this virtual pocket borough of the saffron brotherhood demonstrates how resolutely the people of Gorakhpur have turned against the party,' says Amulya Ganguli.
'Her work involves hiring people to serve in the hospitality industry, and she acknowledges that though remunerations are fixed, those with fairer skins are the first pick of companies, while those of a darker hue have a difficult time getting placements.'
'Teaching lessons is the objective behind every school.' 'For the moment, a state seems intent to teach a lesson -- that students of Classes 4, 5 and 6 can wage war against the mighty Indian nation,' says Krishna Prasad.
With a rise in the clout of Muslims in western Uttar Pradesh, fearful Hindus are being radicalised.
The question is whether Prime Minister Modi can convince the world's investors that India is the ultimate investment destination of 2018, says Kanika Datta.
Opposition parties have closed ranks to target the government on a range of issues from intolerance to rising prices as the winter session begins on November 26.
The judges asked the police to escort the woman to the house of the man she wanted to marry.
'The current BJP leadership believes the party's expansion across India, and thus their own survival at the top, depends on injecting communal tension into areas where it has so far been largely controlled,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
The arms training camp of Bajrang Dal has triggered a war of words among political parties in Uttar Pradesh with Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati expressing concern over Governor Ram Naik's support to the "illegal exercise" and Samajwadi Party accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of whipping up communal frezy with an eye on state assembly polls.
His comment hat many of the people present at the funeral of the Mumbai blasts convict after he was hanged are "potential terrorists", sparking outrage.
'How will one day's crackers change pollution levels?' 'And why limit such genius solutions to just the capital when air pollution and pollution affects all of India?' asks Aakar Patel.
'For Pakistan, the comfortable old calculations and certainties are no longer valid.' 'Strikes on Indian targets now carry a high risk of retaliation and escalation,' notes Ajai Shukla.
'Since the goal of taking everyone along on the path of development -- sabka saath sabka vikas -- requires an atmosphere of amity, there cannot but be an emphasis on the primacy of law and order -- and it cannot be only against road-side Romeos or gutka chewers,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Will he take Modi's 'sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' route? Or will he turn UP into Egypt under Morsi, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'A class antagonism of rich versus poor took the colouring of a communal confrontation,' says Sunil Sethi.
Hindu Mahasabha has planned to celebrate Basant Panchami on Valentine's Day
The group has chalked out a strategy as part of which couples could be married off.
A note about hijackers and a bomb found in the toilet of a Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight.
Permissive communalism, as represented by the Sachar Committee report, cannot become the basis to counter the threat of majoritarianism, says D L Sheth.
Newly-elected CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury speaks to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.
Rahul Gandhi, who was also present at the event, refused to comment on UP CM's proposal.
'In a world where the corridors of power are packed with sexually promiscuous men, it would be interesting to see what sort of a president a man committed to one woman 25 years his senior would make.'
'Tension is being created in society because of this green flag, which is not even an Islamic flag.' 'There is no history of such a green flag being used in the Muslim world.'
The year 2014 easily earns for itself the title of annus horribilis, says Malavika Sangghvi
'Since the general election is only two years away, the BJP will need a surefire plan of action -- and it cannot be either the Ram temple or ultra-nationalism,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Although the authorities had maintained till the last minute that Mevani and his supporters did not have permission to hold the event, it seems the rally organisers and Delhi Police reached a compromise later.
A brainchild of Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia, many find its agenda divisive
'The government know very well how to pass a bill in the Rajya Sabha with consensus.' 'They got consensus from Opposition parties on the 10 percent reservation for economically weaker sections.' 'In instant triple talaq, the BJP wanted to take sole credit.' 'They wanted to take credit and see that other parties suffer (political) loss.' 'Therefore, the bill got stuck.'
'Today if you look at the way India is growing many people are saying the sleeping elephant has finally woken up, is dancing!' 'I have travelled extensively, in about 60 countries. In all these the moment you say India, the first thing they mention is either an actor's name. Or they start humming a song.' 'I wanted to be in Bollywood. It is the most powerful medium we have in this country. That's soft power.' Listening in on Shobhaa De, Kabir Khan, Vikas Swarop and Saffron Art CEO Hugo Weihe speak on India's Soft Power, Hard Influence.
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