India on Wednesday expressed concern over the "negative and incorrect" picture conveyed about Hinduism and Sikhism after a leading Malaysian university published an educational module depicting Hindus in India as unclean following which the varsity has issued an apology.
With most political parties failing to articulate the concerns of Muslims, who account for 15 per cent of the population and can swing the electoral outcome in 21 constituencies, the AIMIM hopes to make a mark in the ongoing assembly elections, says Shafeeq Rahman.
Pakistan's minority Hindu community leaders have asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to accept their demand for a public holiday on Diwali and announce a special aid package for them on the festival.
'Had Muslims been a vote bank, they wouldn't be in the condition they are now,' Asaduddin Owaisi tells Jyoti Punwani.
The All India Matua Mahasangha has asked its members to apply for Indian citizenship only after the formation of a new government at the Centre.
The Muslims side said that they have received the letter and it will be deliberated upon in a meeting.
'Aurangzeb, who had destroyed the Hindu temples of Mathura and Kashi and many others in the north, was a very different ruler when he came to Maharashtra.' 'He did not touch a single temple in Maharashtra.' 'It was possibly the greatest triumph of Shivaji's statesmanship,' notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), the well known military historian.
"By attending, the Prime Minister has not only laid the foundation of a Mandir, but also the foundation of a Hindu Rashtra," Owaisi told reporters in Hyderabad.
'When our forefathers were fighting for Independence from British rule, Jinnah was pushing for the creation of an Islamic state'
In the coming days, unless Modi tones down the communal spiel, it will be clear that anxiety continues to drive his mind and clouds his judgment, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Pakistani students today formed a human shield for Hindus celebrating Holi at a temple in Karachi to protect and show solidarity with the minority community.
Pakistan's opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Thursday told the Hindus not to think of migrating, saying they were safe in the country, days after three Hindu doctors were killed on broad daylight in Sindh province.
President Maithripala Sirisena has issued a gazette notice banning three Islamic extremist organisations, including National Thowheeth Jama'ath that was blamed for the Easter bombings.
'There is a remarkable link between the eating of beef (or at the very least, tolerating the eating of beef) and India being a superpower.' 'In India, whenever an empire was strong, religion took a back seat.' 'Alternatively, whenever religion asserted itself, the main empire of India crumbled...'
'The Mahabodhi temple is the only example in the world where a religion's most sacred place is controlled by people belonging to another religion.'
Professor Dr Abrar Ahmed, however, said his tweet had been 'misunderstood' and he had posted it as a 'satire' on how minorities are being 'targeted' by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Even as February 2017 will be remembered for the fight Americans have put up for the rights of immigrants, South Asian Americans recall the February of 1923 when the US Supreme Court barred South Asians from becoming citizens.
'This is going to generate a new debate on reservation because the quota for Economically Weaker Sections is 10%, and that is for nearly 16% of the population.' 'For 16% you are giving 10%. This is set to raise eyebrows among the OBCs after the caste survey.'
At an online book release event, former vice president Hamid Ansari lays to rest the controversies surrounding his tenure.
'We are telling them we have isolated them and their religion as not only unwanted,' says Aakar Patel.
'Our study finds that only about 20% of Indians are vegetarians and the rest of the 80% are non-vegetarians or meat-eaters.'
'Must every believing Hindu automatically be assumed to subscribe to the Hindutva project?' asks Shashi Tharoor.
'Which path should Muslims take politically as they have been completely marginalised?'
The US state department in its annual report to the Congress on international religious freedom has alleged that in India in 2021, attacks on members of the minority communities, including killings, assaults, and intimidation, occurred throughout the year.
The Opposition's stand on the Ayodhya consecration is puzzling. Their only objection seems to be that the BJP has hijacked a religious event for political benefit. In saying this, the Opposition is either being naive or hypocritical, argues Jyoti Punwani.
Prayers were performed in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi on Wednesday night following court orders allowing the resumption of a practice said to have been discontinued three decades back, Kashi Vishwanath temple trust president said.
The Uttar Pradesh government has given the allotment letter to the Sunni Waqf board for the land in Dhannipur village in Sohawal tehsil in Ayodhya on the Lucknow highway, about 18 km from the district headquarters, state government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma told reporters on Wednesday.
'After the NRC in Assam, things have changed for Muslims in India.'
The trigger for the stone pelting incident was not yet known, he said, adding further details were awaited.
Imam Bukhari alleged that a number of Muslims hold important posts in various states and union governments and even the prestigious post of the President but had done nothing for the uplift of the community.
'... are losing faith in the institutions of government, where people do not believe that the institutions of government operate according to the Constitution, within the confines of the law, where these institutions are seen to be representing a small faction of a particular community against all other (minority) communities.'
The police have registered an FIR against unidentified people for allegedly making provocative speeches at the August 13 'Sarv Hindu Samaj mahapanchayat' in Haryana's Palwal, officials said on Wednesday.
'The victory is an expression of agrarian distress and social turmoil.'
The former chief minister urged the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh not to be disheartened or lose hope over the apex court's decision.
The Supreme Court asserted on Friday that action must be taken against all those making hate speeches "this side or that side".
According to Siddaramaiah, Deepak Rao (Dakshina Kannada district) was killed on January 3, 2018; Masood (Dakshina Kannada district) on July 19, 2022; Mohammed Fazil (Dakshina Kannada) on July 28, 2022; Abdul Jalil (Dakshina Kannada) on December 24, 2022; Idrish Pasha (Mandya) on March 31, 2023; and Shamir (Gadag) on January 17, 2022 were killed in different incidents.
Modi hasn't raised or encouraged the raising of slogans such as 'Jai Sri Ram' at public meetings
While there is no denying that certain sections of the community deserve aid, the politics of reservation can be suicidal for India.
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