'The jurisprudence of a modern secular State has to be strictly rational.' 'Rather than aastha and aqeedah, our jurisprudence as well as the executive and legislature have to act in accordance with Constitutional rationality,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
Besides Pratapgarh, incidents of rape and sexual abuse of women and girls at shelter homes run by NGOs have also surfaced recently in Muzaffarpur in Bihar and Deoria in Uttar Pradesh.
Police and railway officials said RPF jawan Sukhnath D Singh and a passenger were killed in the attack while Kumar Amit, a Patna-based Bihar police sub-inspector, was found dead in an AC coach when the Dhanbad-Patna Inter-City Express reached Keul at Lakhisarai, ECR Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) Amitabh Prabhakar and Lakhisarai DSP Vijay Prasad said.
Bihar's ruling JD-U has sent 1 lakh DNA samples of its partymen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office for testing to protest against his DNA jibe.
Congress and Janata Dal-United on Friday strongly objected to the description of revolutionary leaders Khudiram Bose, Jatindranath Mukherjee and Prafulla Chaki as "extremist and terrorist" in school syllabus in West Bengal and urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to drop the chapter.
The BJP plans to ride the upcoming Bihar assembly polls battle on four chariots that will helm the much hyped parivartan yatra.
The war of words between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar escalated on Monday with the latter tweeting that "50 lakh people" from Bihar would send their DNA samples for testing to the prime minister.
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptuallah on Thursday said most of the political leaders wear skull caps to "show off" but do not have respect for it.
'Stress, depression, PTSD and anxiety, especially relating to their domestic lives, are big issues for the men.' 'The men work in extremely difficult conditions, often with the fear of death looming large.'
Detailed reports have been sought from the state's chief secretary and from the chairman of the Railway Board in four weeks, an NHRC spokesperson said.
Twenty-four girls were rescued from a shelter home in Deoria in Uttar Pradesh after allegation of sexual exploitation of the inmates came to light a few days ago.
Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, a one-of-a-kind cricket fan, who worships Sachin Tendulkar and follows the Indian team wherever it goes. For the upcoming India-Sri Lanka series, he has bought three litres of saffron, white, green and blue paint and is looking for the cheapest ticket to Colombo!
India had 14 out of the world's 20 most polluted cities, the World Health Organization reveals.
The year is coming to an end and overall, it's been one hell of a year! We have had our share of ups and downs and we look forward to a better 2020. While we count down the days to the new year, let's also reflect on those who gave us strength to stand up in what we believe, the courageous who didn't bow down and the ones with gumption who inspired us to be better. We, Rediff.com, have selected 26 personalities, who we think are worthy of the title -- HERO OF THE YEAR -- and we want you, dear readers, to choose your hero!
Absence of name of actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha as BJP candidate from Patna Saheb seat on Friday caused heartburn among his supporters even as a large number of party legislators are angry over selection of "turncoats".
Cracking the whip, Janta Dal-United on Thursday expelled outgoing Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and senior leader Shivanand Tiwari and four Lok Sabha MPs for anti-party activities.
More than 600 students taking the class 10 board exams in Bihar's Hajipur district have been expelled in the last two days after they were caught cheating in the examination.
With this phase, election will be over in 424 seats and polling in the remaining 118 seats will be held on May 12 and 19.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence over caste based census and Bihar's special status is likely to put the BJP in a tight spot ahead of upcoming state assembly polls.
Protest continued on Sunday for the fourth consecutive day in Bihar against the attackers of a 16-year-old girl who was gang-raped and set ablaze in Kolkata in West Bengal demanding death sentence to the accused and a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into it.
The government's decision to award the Bharat Ratna to Sachin Tendulkar was drawn to a court in Bihar on Tuesday, with a petitioner challenging the Centre's decision to bestow the honour on the just-retired cricketer, alleging a 'conspiracy' to ignore hockey legend Dhyanchand.
Caste assertions, including from the upper castes, could have the Sangh Parivar stumble yet again in its efforts to construct a Hindu rashtra.
Why are far right Hindu organisations growing in strength? Why is there a rising subscription to Neo-Wahabism, the Saudi Arabian version of contemporary Islam?
'At least 6,000 people attended a meal at Shahabuddin's residence in a feast to celebrate his bail. As if the community has no other priorities of channelising such funds for better purposes!,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The hounding of former AMU students by some alumni over their 'wining and dining' during Ramzan is deeply disturbing, says AMU Professor Mohammad Sajjad. 'Intolerance, irrationality, bigotry, religious/sectarian hatred, and all such pernicious tendencies must be fought and resisted, more particularly by university campuses, in order to build a better society.' 'Have we, as academics, failed, and that too, quite miserably?' he asks. 'I feel like confessing and saying yes, we have indeed failed.'
Cutting across party lines, members in Lok Sabha highlighted the cases of atrocities being committed on Dalits in various parts of the country and demanded steps to prevent them.
Reports of stopping of trains and road blocks are coming in from Patna following the bandh called by the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar against withholding of the caste-based census data by the central government.
While consumers will be paying a higher upfront cost for smart metering, the share in the efficiency gains could more than offset this higher spend
Stringent punishment for rape of a girl under 12 years has been provided with the minimum jail term being 20 years which may go up to life in prison or death sentence. Gangrape of a girl under 12 years of age will invite punishment of jail term for the rest of life or death.
'Consider this image of today's youth in Bihar -- armed with a bike, a smartphone and possibly some illegal arms too, imbibing incessant stream of images from the Internet and television.' 'Some of them would turn into gau bhakts, some would listen with interest the exploits of Salafism, dig deep into the Internet to come out with images which cry vociferously that their respective religions are in danger.'
The arms training camp of Bajrang Dal has triggered a war of words among political parties in Uttar Pradesh with Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati expressing concern over Governor Ram Naik's support to the "illegal exercise" and Samajwadi Party accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of whipping up communal frezy with an eye on state assembly polls.
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
'The Mughals became completely Indian in every sense and united the vast Indian subcontinent, not only territorially, but also the hearts and minds of people with multiple religio-cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversities' 'The Mughals, arguably, made India an enviable superpower in the then world.' 'Are the Hindutva rulers of today scared of acknowledging Mughal accomplishments?' asks Mohammad Sajjad.
These Muslim women are poor and illiterate but, with the devotion they display as they create handmade earthen stoves for Chhath, they strengthen the social fabric, says M I Khan.
The Lok Sabha election will be held in 7 phases, beginning on April 11, 2019 and ending on May 19, 2019.
"I did not cross the 'lakshman rekha' by meeting the CM," he said, asking the media not to "dramatise" the meeting.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already taken a lead with his knock-on-door campaign.
Suspended Indian Police Service officer Amitabh Thakur on Monday sought time to meet Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav after submitting details of his immovable assets as directed by the state government.
Concerned over high incidents of violence, the Home ministry has asked the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 33 Naxal-hit districts in the first phase to ensure maximum security and minimum casualties.
The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 1 points to end at 26,396 and the Nifty50 slipped 2 points to end at 8,109.
