Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for one of the victims, was blunt in his arguments and assailed the practice of triple talaq various constitutional grounds including the Right to Equality. "The right of triple talaq is available only to the husband and not to the wife and it breaches the Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution," Jethmalani said.
Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant claimed that they had executed 1,700 Iraqi Shia air force recruits in Tikrit, posting some gruesome photos online to support their claim.
India is apprehensive about the Taliban's return as it would mean loss of access to Baluch rebels and help to the restive tribals of Waziristan. This would be a setback to the Indian strategy of returning the compliments of death by a thousand cuts to Pakistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
India has a sizeable population of Sunni Muslims, and the Intelligence Bureau fears more young men will be drawn to the ISIS.
Talmiz Ahmad is a former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE. In an interview with Aditi Phadnis, he says the disequilibrium in Iraq will continue to prevail. Ahmad also says there are indications that the US is now anxious to avoid intervening militarily in West Asia, and that this is the appropriate moment for Asia to assume responsibility for its own security. Edited excerpts:
Saudi Arabia on Sunday came under attack globally a day after it carried out mass execution of 47 people, including Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who was a vocal critic of the government and the Saudi monarchy.
Eleven people died in sectarian violence in Pakistan's largest city today, taking the overall death toll in two days to 18 as unrest spiralled out of control on the eve of the Islamic holy month of Muharram.
If the government is able to deliver the promised projects, the large number of youth will be taken off the streets and that is not acceptable to the Pakistan army nor the terrorists hiding in Pakistan, notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
The blast was claimed by both the local affiliate of the Islamic State terror group and by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The decision, they said, has given new hope to Muslim women.
'It was always anticipated that the return of the Taliban would embolden armed Islamists including anti-India groups like the Lashkar and Jaish.'
China, the Ukraine crisis and Quad will dominate the discussions, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Remember the US withdrawal agreement was signed in February 2020. In the intervening period, a proper evacuation plan ought to have been in place. It was not. Consequently, tens of thousands of Afghans who had worked as interpreters, drivers, suppliers of goods and services, etc, face brutal retribution from the Taliban, Virendra Kapoor points out.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called on Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Geneva agreement is a signal, which at least Saudi Arabia and Israel are so reading, that normalisation of relations between US and Iran is not merely about the nuclear fuel cycle, says K C Singh.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has emerged as the single largest party in the legislative assembly elections in the strategically-located Gilgit-Baltistan region.
The United States military has conducted a humanitarian air drop in the besieged Iraqi town of Amrili, home to thousands of Shia Turkomen who have been cut off from receiving food, water, and medical supplies for two months by the militants of the Islamic State, the Pentagon said.
'Islam says the person who has been hurt has the right to pardon the accused. So don't ask me on whether I will pardon Narendra Modi or not. Go and ask this question to Gujarati Muslims who have been hurt.' 'Secular and non-secular is not an issue for Muslims. The day Muslims become strong, the non-secular guys will become secular. And if Muslims are weak, the same secular guys will cut the throats of Muslims.' 'The secular character of India can never be finished. India is secular by its nature. Whoever comes to power, he will have to become secular to rule,' Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad Naqvi tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
Islamic State group jihadists have claimed responsibility for twin explosions.
To the extent the nuclear race in West Asia is slowed down by the Iran nuclear deal, the world as a whole has reason to be happy, says Virendra Kapoor.
ISIS' advances in Iraq and Syria are not just tactical but strategic victories -- born of US errors and confusion
Both the separatists in the Valley and the Indian establishment have failed to fathom that the world's alignments have changed, writes Col Dr Anil Athale (retired).
How long can Pakistan remain neutral in the Saudi Arabia-led Yemen conflict?
'It is to be fervently hoped that a person as rational and brilliant as Hamid Ansari will not be allowed to wilt and simply wither away.'
Standing amid the rubble left by the now defeated Islamic State terrorists in Iraq, Pope Francis on Sunday said that hope is 'more powerful than hatred and peace more powerful than war'.
Rouhani said people who think Islam is a religion of "violence and terrorism" are wrong in their assessment.
Leaders of Muslim world are suffering from an "acute inferiority complex", which stems from the "legacy of the colonial era", Justice Muhammed Al-Ghazali of Supreme Court of Pakistan said.
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Tension is being created in society because of this green flag, which is not even an Islamic flag.' 'There is no history of such a green flag being used in the Muslim world.'
Sources in the prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind said it was not in favour of filing a review petition and wants the matter to end.
In 11 countries with significant Muslim population people hold overwhelmingly negative views about the Islamic State with the exception of Pakistan where most people have no definite opinion on the terror group, according to a new research.
Muslim scholars on Friday trashed as "cheap publicity gimmick" and "childish" Bahujan Samaj Party leader Haji Yakub Qureshi's alleged statement hailing terrorists who truck at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and demanded strict action against him.
'This Ram Navami -- the birth anniversary of Lord Ram -- presents the majority community an opportunity to shed its minority complex and offer an olive branch and discrimination- free society to the minority,' suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'What we are today witnessing is the final act of the Pakistani army trying to retain its turf,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
At least 11 people were killed and many more wounded on Monday when a powerful bomb exploded in a passenger bus in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, local officials said.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Thursday said there was no scope of change in the triple talaq system and rejected the suggestion by some community outfits for building a consensus on making a three-month period mandatory before finalisation of divorce.
'Nobody knows what they teach in madrasas.' 'If we do not adapt to the ways of the modern world, how will we progress as a community?' 'How will these children compete in the modern world?'
'China is likely to help Pakistan in keeping the fire burning in J&K to bleed India for its own interests.' A fascinating excerpt from Lieutenant General K Himalay Singh's Making of a General: A Himalayan Echo.
Both the victims -- Rizwan Husain, 31, and Ibne Abbas, 25, -- were taking part in the prayers when they died.
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