Khalistani separatist Lakhbir Singh alias 'Rode', a designated terrorist under the Indian law, has died recently in Pakistan, where he had taken refuge after his uncle Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was killed in 1984 during an army action, officials said on Tuesday.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi alleged that actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan were "tarnishing" the image of the country by claiming that intolerance was prevalent.
The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh battles its own and Opposition over the community's 'victimisation' and alleged preference to the Rajputs. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
"Shouldn't they get Indian citizenship? Shouldn't their human rights be protected?" Shah asked the audience which responded with a resounding "yes".
The BJP would want that by March 2022, when UP votes, the economy starts looking up and it heads into the polls with no other issue distracting from its main poll plank of the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Recipients of these damaged mementos have been given the option to either seek a refund of their bid amount or get a replacement for these broken items.
A total of 1.71 lakh earthen lamps were lit up at the grand event while a chopper decorated as the mythological 'Pushpak Viman' descended on the Ram Katha Park with artistes decked up to resemble Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman.
Invoking the imagery of Goddess Sita and her father Janaka, the king of Mithila of which this north Bihar town became the capital later on, Modi said those who used to taunt the BJP over the delay in construction of Ram temple were now forced to applause.
The Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly on Thursday passed a bill that provides for recovery of losses from the people and organisations responsible for damaging public and private properties during protests.
The opposition made it clear during the meeting that it will press for a joint parliamentary committee to probe the Rafale jet deal and raise several issues, including the "misuse" of probe agencies and the autonomy for Reserve Bank of India.
Though he loves gambling, he cautions against undue risks and says non-professional investors like the salaried class should invest through the mutual funds route and keep aside not more than 10 per cent for self-investing.
More than 25 years after the Babri Masjid was destroyed, another generation proclaims its commitment to building a Ram temple.
Contentious issues such as the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Art 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir and enactment of Uniform Civil Code have been included in the Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto with the party making promises on them.
Alleging a "pattern" of triggering communal riots and winning elections, Raut said this will break the country into pieces.
Brand India's societal divisions and distortions have remained as much relevant in 'liberal' America and Europe as it still is in the structurally stratified Indian society of the 21st century, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Shiv Sena wants madrassas in India not to use Urdu and Arabic as a medium of instruction and wants it to be replaced with English and Hindi.
Photographer G Venket Ram brought celebrated artist Raja Ravi Varma's paintings to life for his 2020 calendar.
The BJP is not taking the AAP challenge lightly. Amit Shah has cautioned party insiders to ensure that AAP does not cross a vote share of 24%. He has always seen AAP as a much more significant challenge than the Congress, observes Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
"Will anybody want a servant that who is on vacation when needed at home? And nobody knows where he is," he continued.
Shah said not a single person will lose citizenship as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
It cannot be that only in this case the CBI has developed a spine, refusing to heed the advice of its political masters.' 'There is something that does not meet the eye here,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
Uneasy calm prevailed in Ayodhya, which on Saturday looked like a fortress, with deployment of more than 10,000 cops on the 22nd anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
The parties seem to have forgotten their two decade-old antagonism for a 'political revolution' which they hope would 'last long'.
This theory of 'Hindus vs the rest' sees the two communities as two separate blocs. Isn't that the two-nation theory? What of the deep bonds that the communities have on the ground? asks Jyoti Punwani.
He said Google failed before the epic Ramayana, which was written by sage Valmiki, and he asserted that the knowledge of the spiritual books was correct instead of what the search engine said.
Indications are that Modi will have words of encouragement for Stalin, and the meeting is likely to be much less acrimonious than critics of either would want it to be. notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Principal opposition Congress too staged a walk out saying its members should have been the first ones to speak but were being denied a chance.
Anyone with such experiences could have been expected to turn fundamentalist. But Shaheen Kadri is anything but that.
'These villages have never seen a communal dispute, let alone communal violence.' 'Are attempts to create a communal divide acceptable to the MP administration?'
Speaking at the RSS's annual Vijayadashami rally in Nagpur which was broadcast online and attended 50 swayamsevaks (volunteers) due to the COVID-19 guidelines, Bhagwat said when the Sangh says Hindustan is 'Hindu Rashtra', it does not have any political or power-centered concept in its mind.
The prime minister says he will bring real change to Bengal. Perhaps he will. The interesting thing is that his party has never defined what this change is, observes Aakar Patel.
If AAP dominates both state and local elections, the move for unification may become the illness for the BJP instead of the medicine it was supposed to have been.
At a time when many women were forbidden by their caste-conscious families from taking up acting assignments in an industry not deemed respectable, Phalke wanted to cast his wife as the female lead in Raja Harishchandra.
One of the most important cases which have political implications is the Ayodhya land dispute case.
'Mamata is an emotional person, she follows her heart.' 'We loved that Didi, we still love her, but she is a changed person.' 'Why and how the change happened, who is responsible, I can't say.'
Hindu bodies except Nirmohi Akhara have opposed the suggestion of the apex court to refer the issue for mediation, while Muslim bodies have supported it.
We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh told PTI that preliminary information from the scene suggests there was a minor altercation among some young boys, and within seconds, there was a stampede situation.
In some ways, Jyotiraditya parting ways with the Gandhis was similar to the saga of the Gandhis and the Bachchans, largely a story of friendship that turned sour. A fascinating excerpt from Rasheed Kidwai's The House Of Scindias: A Saga Of Power, Politics And Intrigue.
