'If you talk about any kind of equality, you are under attack.'
'When the first Islamic State flags appeared, it was called an aberration.' 'When videos appeared, they were termed exceptions!' 'It is high time we accepted that the global jihad is here.'
In a veiled attack on Narendra Modi-led dispensation, Rahul Gandhi slammed those who were trying to "rub out" Jawaharlal Nehru from history as an international conference on the country's first prime minister affirmed that democracy, inclusion and empowerment espoused by him were of "enduring relevance".
Supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and representatives of some Kashmiri separatist groups were on Saturday involved in a war of words outside the UN headquarters.
A top leader of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party and Bangladeshi media doyen Mir Quasem Ali was sentenced to death on Sunday by a special tribunal for war crimes he committed during the independence war against Pakistan in 1971, days after the party's chief was given capital punishment on identical charges.
In the words of a senior PDP leader, the party, in order to continue its alliance with the BJP, only needs 'a long spoon to sup with the devil.'
'He is wily and has everything that a political leader needs to succeed at that level.' 'He would be outstanding as a counter to Modi in the Lok Sabha, if he had the Opposition benches behind him,' says Aakar Patel.
'The recalculated ranking showed India should have had a higher ranking earlier (113 in 2012 instead of 132) and lower ranking later (114 in 2018 instead of 100).' 'This would mean that there has been no change in India's climate of doing business across two regimes.' 'This is exactly consistent with the reality on the ground,' observes Debashis Basu.
He also said in the Rajya Sabha that the people of the country have a predominant wish of retrieving the parts of Jammu and Kashmir occupied by Pakistan since 1948.
Jaishankar said that the resolution on Kashmir introduced by Jayapal in the House is not a fair characterisation of the situation in J-K. And also said that he has no interest in meeting the Congresswoman.
Meanwhile, the Archbishops secretary, Father Robinson Rodrigues said that such prayer campaigns took place before every general election.
'Nationalism has been defined for us. It is what the BJP and Modi bhakts decide, not me, you or Salman Khan. If you don't agree with their view, you are a Pakistani agent and an anti-national. Period. No more argument. The discussion ends there.'
"Prudence and caution" needs to be exercised, warns China.
India must be aware that there is no question of the US fighting the Chinese on land. We have to fight our own battles, points out Virendra Kapoor.
It was Obama's eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as the US President
'Those who have followed politics even when there was no Twitter know what the word 'jumlebaaz' means,' says Utkarsh Mishra.
Facing his toughest test since becoming Pakistan's prime minister, a defiant Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday brushed aside the demand of protesters asking him to quit saying the country has survived "difficult times" and the current political crisis too shall pass.
Lashing out at Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia for allegedly targeting a Muslim businessman for buying properties in certain areas, the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday demanded action against the right-wing group leader for "vitiating the peaceful atmosphere" during elections.
Retired senior US diplomats Teresita and Howard Schaffer believe the 'US cannot afford to continue restricting its contacts with Narendra Modi.' Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports from Washington, DC.
"I stand by my comments. Anybody who tweets on social media platform should be careful. But anyone with a contrary view should be allowed to speak. Gurmehar is a young girl and she should be allowed to speak her mind," he said.
At a rally on the occasion of the BJP's 38th Foundation Day, the BJP president expressed confidence that his party would win the 2019 polls, "not by giving hollow assurances but on the basis of work done by the Modi government".
General V K Singh's remarks elicited sharp reactions from political parties as well as a media body.
Both Messrs Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri claim to march independently, but most of Pakistan believes they are marching to the Army's tune
'Someone told me on Facebook that 2017 will be the last year of my life.' 'I am speaking up only because innocent students were physically abused and that is not correct.'
In an era when the misguided youth of today are trying to build political careers by subscribing to divisive ideologies, they need to look to independent thinking icons such as Acharya Kripalani, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 'Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath' programme in London also said that people have more expectations from his government because they know that it can deliver.
"Any fight with the Congress will remain in the state. At the national level, we will fight together, this I am saying from the heart..." she said.
If we don't want a Hindu version of our neighbour, we must keep open minds -- even when what we hear or see is not what we like.
Kejriwal, the AAP national convenor, indicated that the party may contest the next assembly polls in Gujarat, alleging that an "atmosphere of suppression" was prevailing there and people wanted to overthrow the BJP regime.
Defying prohibitory orders, protests were held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and several other cities. Protesters, mostly students and activists, were detained on a large scale in national capital and other places.
'There is a problem with the rise of a popular view that sees Kashmir through the prism of the larger, chronic Hindu-Muslim tensions.' 'By redefining the Kashmir problem simplistically in Hindu-Muslim terms could end up keeping Kashmir but losing most Kashmiris,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Notwithstanding the realisation among the Indian leadership to build up its navy for the force's expanding role, the Indian Navy was allocated only 15% of the interim defence budget presented in Parliament in February 2019.' 'The outlay for the navy's capital acquisition is not even adequate to meet its committed liabilities,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'The best remedy would be to scrap Section 124-A of the IPC, a colonial vestige, altogether.' 'However, if legislators don't want to do so, they can do two things.' 'They can formally amend Section 124-A to bring it in line with what the Supreme Court has said about sedition.' 'The words which stand on the statute book today were inserted in 1898.' 'The Supreme Court's words are not a part of Section 124-A.'
He made it clear that the issue of national security cannot be compromised.
'The objective is not to make India into a one religion place, but to ensure that there is harmonious and peaceful co-existence of all faiths with each of them having their cultural personality.'
'The UPA was never soft on Pakistan, terrorists and even China, but Sonia Gandhi's Congress rightly earned a "soft" image on issues of hard national interest, leaving the field open for Modi to take it and wrap it around with his implicit Hindutva,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Even as politics engaged him more, he never hid his way of life. On one occasion, Morarji Desai pleaded with him to stop drinking publicly. "You stick to your pissky and I'll stick to my whisky'' he is supposed to have told him.
Presiding over the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in the absence of party chief Sonia Gandhi, the party vice president charged that, "hiding behind the cloak of national security, civil society is being intimidated for asking questions."
The US has all along interfered in India-China issues. The objective is clear: Bring the Sino-Indian standoff to a flashpoint that would compel Modi government to take shelter under an American umbrella, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
If Muslims back Mayawati, nothing can stop her from forming the next government in UP.
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