The mood was full of gaiety and devotion, with chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' reverberating across Maharashtra.
The NDA government has approved additional facilities for members of minority communities living in India on long-term visa
Six persons allegedly involved in vandalising a cathedral premises and a Catholic school, where people had gathered for a religious convention, were arrested in the wee hours on Monday.
The four accused had applied for bail in February earlier this year. The 2006 Malegaon case comprised of two sets of accused.
A pall of gloom descended on Mira Road, a township in Maharashtra as people joined the last rites of martyred Indian soldier Major Kaustabh Rane, who was martyred in Jammu-Kashmir. He was among the four army personnel killed in a gunfight with terrorists near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district on Tuesday. His family, friends and residents showered flowers, raised slogans "Major Kaustubh Rane, Amar Rahe", "Vande Mataram" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" as a flower-laden army truck took him to the crematorium.
Such is the force of his oratory that many Muslims, even those who don't vote for him, have come to believe that Asaduddin Owaisi is the first and only politician who speaks up for Muslims since Independence, observes Jyoti Punwani
'His prowess in Aikido -- a Japanese martial art that focuses on harmony with the opponent to peacefully resolve conflicts -- gives Rahul Gandhi an advantage that fanatical adversaries lack,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'We had no inkling this would come. Admittedly, we failed to inspire confidence in migrants that no harm would come to them if they stayed back.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Her great grandfather began sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra. Her grandfather was an eight time MP. Her uncle is currently leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly. Her cousin joined the BJP on Tuesday, March 12. Nila Vikhe Patil, who could one day become prime minister of Sweden, unravels her India connections in an e-mail interaction with Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'The Babri Masjid wasn't just a mosque, it was a test of our secularism,' says Jyoti Punwani.
'Was he afraid that his answers during cross-examination would land him in trouble under the new ruling dispensation?'
He accused the BJP of creating friction between communities and 'igniting' fire and ramped up his attack on the PM.
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
'I want to know, how can any God become impure if woman enters the temple?'
The decision was taken after opposition by right wing Hindu groups across the country, who have called for expulsion of Pakistani artistes from India after the Uri attack that killed 18 soldiers.
When BJP leaders, including Mr Modi's number two, Amit Shah, use the pandemic to launch an assault on state governments run by opposition parties, or to topple them, they are exploiting a grave crisis in cynical political self-interest, notes Shekhar Gupta.
They claim Wagle has always been writing against them.
'The Elgar Parishad turned out to be the first rallying cry against the BJP and RSS in Maharashtra.' 'The speakers took a vow not to vote for the BJP.'
Rediff.com takes a look at the devout flock that attends the Simhastha Kumbh Mela to take a dip into the holy waters and purify themselves.
'The political fallout of the verdict on national politics is pregnant with incredible opportunities.' 'Post-judgment politics can change the ground rules of election campaigning in the coming decades,' says Sheela Bhatt
'If they were really serious (about conferring the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar) what were they doing for the last five years?' 'Why do they have to take so long?' 'Gandhi himself never got the Bharat Ratna so it does not really matter.'
Anyone with such experiences could have been expected to turn fundamentalist. But Shaheen Kadri is anything but that.
Wearing multiple identities of religious preacher, science student and terror accused, the saffron robed Aseemanand, once known as the most wanted man in India, was the alleged link between the series of three bombings that ripped through India in 2007.
The Shiv Sena passed a resolution not to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
'If Mamata Banerjee doesn't want, then violence cannot be stopped.'
While some say he went overboard in the Sheena Bora murder case, others feel Devendra Fadnavis is sending out a signal that the chief minister is in full command.
Permissive communalism, as represented by the Sachar Committee report, cannot become the basis to counter the threat of majoritarianism, says D L Sheth.
The mohalla committee movement in Mumbai celebrated its 25th anniversary last weekend. The movement, which was born in the wake of the horrific Mumbai riots of 1992-1993, has played an important role in ensuring that Hindu-Muslim riots do not recur in the Maximum City.
Secularism as a principle and practice in India is in "danger", but "forces of hatred" cannot alter the country's secular character, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said during an interview on his new book 'The Battle of Belonging'. In the book, Tharoor makes a stinging critique of the Hindutva doctrine, asserting that it is a political doctrine, not a religious one.
Bharadwaj claimed a number of human rights lawyers, activists and organisations were deliberately named to cast a stigma over them, obstruct their work and incite hatred against them.
'The principles on which a modern Republic should be governed are changing and taking dangerous turns,' warns Uddalok Bhattacharya.
An illuminating excerpt from T C A Raghavan's History Men: Jadunath Sarkar, G S Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh And Their Quest For India's Past.
While the DMK fears that the Congress with its poor strike rate will pull it down in the 2021 state elections, like it did five years ago, the ruling AIADMK is worried that the BJP may ultimately do a Bihar on it, relegating it to second place in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The imprudent, not to mention immature, attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Congress leaders, especially on the election trail, can only be read as a sign of nerves on the eve of an important poll battle.
'He has terror charges against him. And for an army officer, it's just terrible.'
Close on the heels of the arrest of a man allegedly having links with right-wing outfit Sanatan Sansthan in connection with the murder of Communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare, a 32-year-old woman has been picked up by police for questioning from Kanjurmarg in Mumbai suburb.
Here's a list of the top five major temple tragedies in the past 10 years.
'We were expecting death sentences, but now the court has acquitted them, despite Aseemanand himself admitting to his crime in front of a judge.' More importantly, it seems the tag of 'Hindu Terror' coined by the United Progressive Alliance government was wrong all along. Amjedullah Khan, spokesperson for the Majlis Bachao Tehreek, has been tracking the Mecca Masjid blast case from day one and was also involved in securing the release of more than 100 Muslims youths who were falsely accused in different terror cases in the aftermath of the blast. He spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com about the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and what it means.
For it's not the Sena alone that indulges in hooliganism. 'Thokshahi', as the Sena proudly calls it, is the hallmark of the party and of its offshoots. But other parties haven't exactly been models of good behaviour. Not just Maharashtra, ministers and MLAs slapping officials everywhere in the country is not unheard of, says Jyoti Punwani.
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