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?
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.'
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.
'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.
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.
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
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.
The Lok Sabha election will be held in 7 phases, beginning on April 11, 2019 and ending on May 19, 2019.
'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.
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.
'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.
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.
This classification of districts is to be followed by states and union terrotories till a week post May 3, when the second phase of lockdown will end, for containment operations.
"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.
'This is basically aimed at vilifying Nehruvian ideals.' 'Why?' 'Because, Nehruvian leadership is seen by Hindutva forces as the one which did not let them have their Hindu Raj.' 'The Hindutva proponents have always assumed that had Sardar become the first prime minister, India could never have become a secular State,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'The Congress-JD-S alliance will be intact for the next three years, for sure.'
A random check of the database for India displays about 22 offshore entities, 1,046 officers or individual links, 42 intermediaries and as many as 828 addresses within the country ranging from the tony and posh locations of metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai to mofussil locations like that in Haryana's Sirsa, Bihar's Muzaffarpur and Madhya Pradesh's Mandasaur and state capital Bhopal.
References to cow, beef and Pakistan, which dominated political speeches and rallies during the keenly-fought Bihar polls, resurfaced on the media.
Using the Jinnah portrait as an issue, and by demonising AMU and consequently Indian Muslims, the politics of communal polarisation is sought to be played out ahead of the Kairana Lok Sabha by-poll and to sustain it till the next Lok Sabha election, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'The Congress shall have to take some brave-tough decisions to give a new social face to the party and its leadership composition,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
More than two lakh paramilitary personnel, thousands of vehicles and nearly a dozen helicopters will be deployed across the country to ensure smooth and violence-free elections beginning April 7.
'The brazen politics, in this series of bullying of AMU by functionaries of the Union and provincial governments, utterly disregarding the fact that the matter is sub judice, is quite obvious.' 'One needs to see through the desperate politics of the BJP which governs both Uttar Pradesh and the Centre, especially its woes over its Dalit support base,' says AMU Professor Mohammad Sajjad.
Party's performance will also work as a catalyst in Uttar Pradesh elections.
The flood situation eased in Assam and northern districts of West Bengal with water receding and no fresh deaths being reported in both the states.
The four-day long Chhath festival ended on Thursday with millions, braving the chill and taking a dip in the river to offer prayers to the rising sun.
'This is a public institution, run on public money and our fees,' the students say. 'Yet, decisions that affect us crucially are being taken without consulting us.'
a senior police official told Rediff.com that the Indian Mujahideen may be using Hindu youth for terror activities. "It is a serious matter," the official said.
Ending speculation, Janata Dal-United Chief Sharad Yadav has been re-nominated from Madhepura as the party released the second list of 32 candidates for Lok Sabha election in Bihar.
Rediff.com lists five reasons for BJP's defeat in the Bihar assembly elections
'The BJP has sent out a message that its allies are at its mercy.' 'The allies cannot pressurise or bargain with the BJP any more,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday launched a scathing attack on Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, accusing him of breaking ties with it to pursue his 'personal ambition' of becoming prime minister even as it asserted that its 'Vijay Rath' would roll in Bihar when Assembly polls are held there later this year.
In another dig at Kumar for joining hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad, Modi reeled out Bihar police crime figure to claim "Jungle raj has begun to knock Bihar."
Thirty-two-year-old Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, who has devoted his life to Sachin Tendulkar, has vowed to cheer the Indian cricket team wherever it plays in India.
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