The Bharatiya Janata Party's solid solo performance in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections confirms continuation of some of the trends that emerged in the Lok Sabha elections in May this year.
'The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.'
The RSS uses its resentment against mosques and loudspeakers to stoke anti-Muslim feelings among other Hindus, whenever it can, be it during riots, or before elections, says Jyoti Punwani.
'The brutal violence of the UP government's first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesman-like,' notes Mukul Kesavan.
'The Congress should have accepted our demands.' 'Gone are the days when it could decide how many crumbs to throw at us.' 'Now, we make the demands.'
The bench, however, granted Purohit the liberty to raise his contentions before the trial court and said it is not expressing any opinion on his petition.
The Enforcement Directorate has registered a criminal case against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik and his organisation IRF under money laundering laws.
'The BJP's all-India plans can be expected to become clearer around 2022-2023, particularly if -- as some anticipate -- the senior Congress leadership cracks, broadly as between the Nehru-Gandhi loyalists and those who may be termed 'pro-changers',' observes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party, which has often been mocked by opponents for not having a well-defined ideological plank, seems to have finally found its calling in Bengali sub-nationalism, as a section of top party leaders feel only an 'inclusive message of regionalism, which the Bengalis can identify with, will counter the aggressive nationalism and Hindutva practised by the saffron camp'.
Modi and Shah can't afford to lose any of the 24 per cent Dalit vote of 2014, says Shekhar Gupta.
The National Investigation Agency is well aware that it does not have a strong case in hand to keep the 2006 Malegaon blast case accused behind bars. Vicky Nanjappa reports
'I have stopped going to college and instead come here to protest.' 'What is the point of going to college when you are unsure about your citizenship?' 'I am here to protest and save my future.'
'The participants and organisers have rejected their own political leadership and shown the door to leaders who have tried to claim power at these rallies.' 'Instead, the Maratha masses have reclaimed their power and stakes in the larger scheme of things.'
'Once the prime minister and the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Haryana pushed for this in 2014 and 2015, we have been trapped in a cycle of violence that gives India a bad name around the world,' says Aakar Patel.
The nine meetings offer an interesting window into Shafi Armar's efforts to try and group together what after all were excitable keyboard warriors into an actual terror group, capable of handling weapons, organising recruits, cooking homegrown explosives, selecting safe training areas, safe houses and finally, committing strikes against Indian targets.
'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 apex court had on April 28 rejected Purohit's plea for urgent hearing, saying the petition will come up in regular course.
Seven Indians are currently with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, just one in a combat role, while six from the country who had joined the dreaded terror network have gone down fighting.
Religious minorities in India have been subjected to "violent attacks, forced conversions" and 'Ghar Wapsi' campaigns by groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after the Modi government assumed power in 2014, a US Congress-established panel has said.
All through the trial in the military court Colonel Purohit stated that every action of his was known to his superiors who had assigned him to undertake undercover operations.
Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Monday dismissed concerns over alleged slow progress in the Centre's Namami Gange programme saying that the NDA government has resolved to make the river as "one of the cleanest" in the world by October 2018.
Journalist-turned-activist Teesta Setalvad in her new book 'Foot Soldier of the Constitution: A Memoir' has spoken of the rise of communalism and the aftermath of the '02 Godhra riots. In this interview with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf, she discusses her book, the cases against her and the state of secularism in the country.
Sameer Gaikwad, in his early 30s, was arrested from Sangli in a joint operation by the Kolhapur and the local police.
Javadekar, along with Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan, is among the few ministers who have party as well as ministerial responsibilities.
Arrested in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, she was given a clean chit by the National Investigation Agency, but the trial court refused to discharge her from the case.
'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.'
'For the Shiv Sena, Hindutva is like a shawl which can be put on and discarded at will.'
'If the museum in his memory inspires and instils among Brahminical British Indians an attitude of equality towards Dalits, the edifice would be worth it,' reports Ashis Ray.
He said he's languishing in jail for nine years without even charges being framed against him.
Rediff.com presents few other instances when the Sena created a furore through its protests.
Jyoti Punwani pays tribute to Syed Feroze Ashraf, the eternal do-gooder who changed the lives of many children.
The NIA had also not opposed her bail application.
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.
The court also directed that police officers, who were earlier appointed as nodal officers to deal with incidents of mob lynching, would be now responsible to deal with cases of alleged assault on Kashmiris.
'Only when they are in a group or in mobs, then they attack.'
A shocking fact revealed by a pan-India survey that was flagged at a seminar of Dalit intellectuals
Syed Firdaus Ashraf explains how two cases separated by ideological motives were curiously similar on one account.
'They thought he can separate the Muslim votes and win, but the Kerala mind is completely different.' 'It is a secular mind because Hindus, Christians and Muslims live together.' 'We don't like somebody coming from outside, contesting in our state, winning and going and avoiding us.'
'Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of Hindutva.' 'He just cannot think of reining in the hoodlums raging, marauding and killing in the mohallas,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
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.
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