As a consequence of prominence given to the brutality during those few days, a very important aspect of that episode got almost glossed over. This was the intervention by a very significant section of people who restored faith in humanity, and conveyed the message that only a small section of Indians, that too politically backed, were consumed by anti-Sikh majoritarianism. The overlooked facet of the events of 1984 was the story of significant sections of the city's populace, public figures and nondescript ones, stepping out hand-in-hand, to first stand with little but bravery in hands, in the way of attackers, and thereafter to provide immediate relief to those who lives were uprooted and who lost family members in the violence, recalls Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
They were all fielded by the Samajwadi Party and its alliance partners.
Shah, in a video that has gone viral on Twitter, said every Indian Muslim must introspect if they want 'reform and modernity' in the religion or live with dated 'barbarian' values.
Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh has promised to establish an Islamic Bank for the Muslim community of Andhra Pradesh on coming to power.
'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
The Delhi high court on Monday refused to quash the proceedings against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party leaders in a defamation case over their remarks about alleged deletion of the names of 30 lakh voters belonging to some communities from electoral rolls in the national capital.
'Look at the aggressive way in which a campaign against Friday namaz is going on in North Indian cities.' 'Even the Union home minister is part of this vicious campaign.'
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
Pawar was apparently referring to MLA Nitesh Rane, who in a recent video can be seen telling a gathering that they should have business transactions only with Hindus.
Bose's views make it amply clear how he would have dealt with communal and supremacist forces post-Independence had he been there at the helm instead of Nehru, points out Utkarsh Mishra.
'...or go to jail.' 'The government is getting them silenced.'
'Pro-incumbency worked big time for the ruling party.' 'It has never happened in the past of pro-incumbency working so much for the ruling party.'
Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National People's Party supported it.
'In the Middle Ages, when Muslims were around 15 per cent of the population of the world, they accounted, according to one estimate, for 90 per cent of scientific advancements.' 'And today, when Muslims are around 22 per cent of the population of the world, their share in scientific writings is less than 1 per cent!' point out Ziya Us Salam and M Aslam Parvaiz.
'To everyone voting for Trump, I have only this simple question: Would you let him have lunch with your daughter or sister or wife or mother?' 'Then why would you let him have our lunch (and so much more) for four more years?', asks Sree Sreenivasan.
Bhagwat further emphasised that no Muslim will face any loss due to the citizenship law.
'Modi 3.0 will have more balanced policies like one saw in Modi's first term.'
70-plus years after Independence, 'Hindu India, metamorphosised as 'Hindutva India', is proving the British right -- and for all the wrong reasons. Mohan Bhagwat should have answers for the why of it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Hindutva will not win any elections. Hindutva as a political plank never works.'
'Who has seen what Sharia is? Who knows what actual Sharia is?'
The poll aspirants who feel threatened are seeking to garner sympathy from their voters by meeting influential leaders like Jarange in the Marathwada region
In contrast to the inertia in the SP camp, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party showed no complacency in the run-up to the polls this month.
Cracks in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is frittering away the ground gained in social justice and contributing to increasing polarisation in the state, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'Just because a subject is uncomfortable for some and doesn't suit their political ideology, should a film not be made?'
'The courts should not dishearten the people that might end the hope of last justice'
According to the findings of the CSDS-Lokniti survey, the BJP saw a marginal increase in its support among the Muslim voters as compared to the 2017 assembly elections.
After being elected president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1999, Najma Heptulla rang up the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from Berlin to convey the news but had to hold the phone line for an hour as a staff told her that 'madam is busy'.
'This chauvinistic attitude, what they call nationalism in the name of religion, is sad.' 'It is a tragic state that we are all in currently.'
Banerjee had slammed the BJP for allegedly trying to import AIMIM in Bengal to sharpen the communal polarisation and divide the Hindu-Muslim votes among themselves.
India has also taken note of reports of Saeed's son Talha contesting elections in Pakistan and said the "mainstreaming" of radical terror outfits in the neighbouring country is nothing new and that it has been part of its State policy for a long time.
Several opposition leaders hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party following the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP on Friday, alleging the ruling party was involved in vindictive politics, and said it was a new low for democracy.
'No Indian politician has been killed in India for upholding the Constitution except for Kashmiri mainstream politicians.' 'Yet they call us terrorist or militant.'
Bengal, where the electoral discourse has mostly steered clear of divisive agenda, has been drawn into the vortex with the TMC and the BJP accusing each other of fanning communal sentiments ahead of elections.
'If, as happened in Baramulla during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the youth in the Valley get triggered enough to jump into the wider fray, the end result would be difficult to predict, especially as the state's post-August 5, 2019 political format remains substantially fragmented and foggy,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Chidambaram came down hard on the Jahangirpuri demolitions and those in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone earlier, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders' justification of the bulldozer-enabled demolitions 'flies in the face of the law'.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused his successor, Narendra Modi, of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the office of the prime minister by giving "hateful speeches" during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign. In an appeal to voters of Punjab ahead of the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls, Singh asserted that only the Congress can ensure a growth-oriented progressive future where democracy and the Constitution will be safeguarded.
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
The BJP and Congress have called out the 'Delhi model' as a hoax, built on sustained propaganda when the ground reality is different.
In a jibe against people leaving his side and joining the ruling party, senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has said that after the declaration of the results of the Rampur assembly bypolls, the Muslim community will mop the floor for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Thursday said the final number of seats from where he will field his candidates in the Maharashtra assembly elections will be declared on the last day of the filing of nominations next week.
