Introducing UCC is a challenging task for any government. The complexities are real and difficult to negotiate as it deals with sensitive religious and cultural sentiments. How can it strike an easy balance between individual rights and community interests?, asks Ramesh Menon.
Lambasting the Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly bringing up the issues of NRC, CAA and Uniform Civil Code ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted she would not allow anyone to take away the citizenship of people during her lifetime.
'For the sake of the nation, and the preservation of its polity, it is high time the country's largest political party and the country's largest religious minority make peace between them,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Rahul Gandhi has not erred by not engaging with Muslim conservatives. After all, they had misled his father in 1986 to legislate a misogynistic law after the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case, which helped the BJP rise at the cost of the Congress, says Mohammad Sajjad.
The former head of Delhi's Jama Masjid was in Ajmer to visit the memorial to Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.
'He should not come to Kerala and fight against the CPI which is an integral part of the INDIA alliance'
Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's famous statement, Abdullah said "we can change friends but we cannot change neighbours".
Krishna Kumari, a Hindu senator from Pakistan Peoples Party in Sindh province took to Twitter on Thursday to break the news of Daya Bheel, a Hindu widow's murder in Sinjhiro
Whether the age-old cry of kendrer banchana will be able to drown out pangs of Sandeshkhali, the EVM will tell.
"Indians see religious tolerance as a central part of who they are as a nation. Across the major religious groups, most people say it is very important to respect all religions to be 'truly Indian'.
'There has never been a problem between Hindu and Muslims in Kairana.' 'We are a people that smoke from the same hookah.' Once the seat of an influential tradition of Indian classical music, Kairana has become a metaphor for the exodus of Hindus.
Political power has now been outsourced fully to the Modi government. Even if the RSS is still, in principle, his guru, nobody would dare to whisper a word of advice to Modi, forget some whiff of criticism. When the shishya grows into such a popular and domineering leader, the guru has to applaud from the sidelines, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'You cannot suppress a section of society permanently.' 'The spark of revolt will catch fire sooner or later.'
Religion matters. Aspirational India is still poor. India admires strong leaders. India values decency. Shreekant Sambrani highlights the reasons why the BJP pulled off improbable victories in the Hindi heartland.
In his first response to the issue, Stalin, president of the ruling DMK, said Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) has already responded to the matter twice.
'The BJP is racing against its opponents by putting a chain on their legs.'
The man entered a Hindu temple in Ranchore Line area of Karachi in the evening and damaged the statue of Hindu deity Jog Maya using a hammer, Pakistani Urdu language news television network Samaa TV reported.
'You will see more laws that treat Hindus and non-Hindus, especially Muslims, quite unequally.' 'Once you see this kind of erosion of secularism, it will be very hard to get it back.'
Negating all the apprehensions of trouble and tension, the centralised Ganesh immersion procession in Hyderabad, one of the biggest in India, was on Wednesday held in a relaxed atmosphere with lakhs of people converging on the route as well at the Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city.
After Uddhav Thackeray hit out at All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, his party Shiv Sena on Tuesday stepped up attack on the Hyderabad-based outfit, accusing it of poisoning the minds of minority community and demanded that Maharashtra government take strict action against it.
'The victory is an expression of agrarian distress and social turmoil.'
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam deputy general secretary A Raja stoked a controversy over his Shudra remark and drew the Bharatiya Janata Party's ire with the saffron party accusing him of spewing hatred against a community to appease others.
Now, the chief justice of the high court will allot the case to a new judge.
While stating that all political parties, including the Congress, create division amongst people, former Union Minister and G-23 member of Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad hinted at quitting politics to work for the civil society.
In a state that usually plumbs for a Dravidian major, three candidates have a chance of delivering for the BJP, observes A Ganesh Nadar.
'Compared to other social groups, managing the Muslim constituency has always been easier for the secularists.' 'Just some symbolic measures and window-dressing would keep the Muslim flock together.' 'Having been betrayed by all the supposedly 'secular' political parties, Muslims should turn into citizens without any ascriptive identity marks,'says Mohammad Sajjad.
Known for making controversial statements, Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Sakshi Maharaj has demanded that a strict law for family planning be brought in for all to check population growth and those who do not follow it should be stripped of their voting right.
Hindu population showed a decline by 0.7 per cent at 96.63 crore during the period.
Many photographers descended on Bhopal after December 3, 1984, but the work of Raghu Rai and Pablo Bartholomew define, for most people in India and the world, the unspeakable horrors of the 'worst industrial disaster ever'. Their photograph of a lifeless infant, nothing but his face visible against the backdrop of a mass grave, has become the definitive image of the disaster.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday blamed the Congress' preoccupation with assembly polls in five states for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)'s inability to build on the momentum it had gained in recent months.
The RSS will also offer special prayers to protect cows.
Opponents of the CAA and NRC have gone to town accusing the BJP of an ulterior motive (read, disenfranchisement of Muslims) in implementing the NRC. By the same token it can be alleged that anti-CAA opponents have a nefarious agenda in mind that would be scuttled by the implementation of the NRC: Namely the accrual of dedicated vote banks and the restoration of Muslim hegemony over at least parts of India, especially Bengal and Assam, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Abdullah said both Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims suffered and even his workers and ministers were killed in large numbers since the eruption of terrorism.
Pooja Oad was said to have been shot in the middle of the street after she put up resistance to the attackers in Rohi, Sukkur.
Shiv Sena advocated compulsory family planning for Muslims and Christians to check their "rising" population.
While main events throughout the country were organised on Sunday by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, several community members gathered at the iconic Times Square in New York to celebrate the historic event.
"Girls are sitting outside classrooms and demanding their fundamental rights. The hijab is a part of their cultural and religious identity of these girls. It is like the mangalsutra for Hindus, crucifix for the Christians and turbans for the Sikhs," Prathapan said during Zero Hour.
He also said if Hindus want to remain Hindus then Bharat has to be made 'akhand' (undivided).
The rulers of the day need to be sensitive and involved in managing the identities of sacred spaces and the ongoing dialogues about the past in diverse societies, suggests Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd).
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should avoid visiting the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva at Batadrava on January 22, as there can be no competition between Lord Ram and the medieval age Vaishnav saint revered as an icon in the state.
