'They probably imagine any hue and cry in the event Sheikh Hasina is hanged will be shortlived as it happened when Bhutto was hanged in Pakistan in 1979.'
'But they had nothing to negotiate as the government did not negotiate. It is completely the fault of the government as they dumped it on the police.'
'I am now driving an electric vehicle. I have lost faith in petrol-run cars.'
'The BJP has all the instruments with them and they do have a sense of purpose, so I don't think there will be a challenge.'
In O'Romeo, Shahid Kapoor plays dreaded gangster Hussain Ustara, whose life has been touched upon in S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges' book Mafia Queens.
'We can never trust the BJP when it comes to elections.'
'Tamil Nadu has 42% of its population in the 18 to 39 age group. The bulk of the population in this age group voted for Vijay and women voters too voted for him in big numbers.'
'When Sikhs were killed in the Afghan-Sikh war in 1837, the Afridis used to bury their heads like flowerpots in the ground,' writer and popular historian William Dalrymple tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'When Sikhs were killed in the Afghan-Sikh war in 1837, the Afridis used to bury their heads like flowerpots in the ground,' writer-historian William Dalrymple, whose latest book Return of a King is a historical work based on the First Afghan War, tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Ajit Pawar granted Rediff an interview in Baramati at 6 am. Why? 'To be a successful politician one needs to sleep less, and I never sleep for more than 4 hours' Ajit Pawar told Syed Firdaus Ashraf as Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff captured the encounter on his camera.
'SIT means nothing because the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh and Ram Janmabhoomi Trust are the same people.'
'This generation decides on their own what is good or bad for them.' 'They got an outlet to vent their anger against this government through CJP and they did that.' 'They felt how can the government control us or lathi charge us?'
'The final electoral roll will be published on October 7, 2026.' 'If someone who is otherwise eligible does not find his/her name in that electoral roll, they can fill Form 6 along with other necessary documents to enrol his/her name in the electoral roll after the final publication of the electoral roll also.'
'Jan Suraaj Party was the BJP's 'B' team. It is proven now.' 'You have seen their performance and it proves that they only worked to dent Opposition votes by working for the BJP.'
Ministers arrested post-2014 who, if the 130 Constitutional Amendment had been in effect, would have been unseated from office.
'The software vendor had a black mark against him and yet they went ahead with him. Why was this company shortlisted? Who is responsible for signing off this software?'
'When we start describing somebody as an enemy that is the start of politics and emotion after which no business can take place.' 'We need to get out of this, allow Indian businessmen to do business with China.'
Ranveer Singh opts out of Farhan Akhtar's Don 3. Syed Firdaus Ashraf tries to piece together the puzzle.
Cirkus is not getting good reviews but its *huge* cast is quite excited to see it on big screen anyway.
'Many have contributed in terms of gold and silver. Ladies in big numbers have contributed their home belongings and gold.' 'Some have donated their cars too.'
'If we had not passed an order against Ranveer Singh, the film industry would have collapsed.'
Congress leaders are a jubilant lot after the results.
Gustaakh Ishq feels like a cinematic revival of everything we once loved about Urdu story-telling, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Jews are very much safe in Iran. They are our brothers. There is a difference between a Jew and a Zionist.' A conversation around a tea table in Mumbai serves as an eye-opener for Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Dominic Xavier wonders whether Rhea is being made a scapegoat in a case which has clear political overtones.
Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf's excitement knew no bounds when he laid his hands on the 'poor man's iPad'. But the supposedly 'revolutionary' and 'game-changing' piece of technology that sells at Rs 2,500 a piece went kaput in 30 minutes flat. Yes, we are talking about the Aakash Tablet PC. Firdaus pours his heart out.
'Today, if 50 songs are composed, one or two work. In the 1970s, all 50 would work.'
'Now if you break the party under the 10th Schedule you have to join another party.' 'You cannot join the NDA as it is not a party. You can only join another party, and that is the BJP.' 'So the question to ask is that these so-called 20 TMC Lok Sabha MPs who are parting ways with the TMC, are they ready to join the BJP and accept Narendra Modi as their leader?'
Saif and Kareena moved to Satguru Sharan after Jeh was born.
'The entire party is centred around one man and that is Arvind Kejriwal.' 'Till the time you are in Kejriwal's good books you are powerful. The day you are not with him, you are no one in the party.'
'The real leader is not the one who builds flyovers and bridges. The real leader gets into the space of the human hearts which are at war and brings them together.' 'Gandhi did that. There cannot be a nation which is vibrant and strong where there is hatred which is tearing you apart,' filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
The realities at the nerve centre of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement are glaring with lack of development, rampant unemployment and 12-hour long power cuts making life miserable. And most of the people are hopeful that Narendra Modi will change the situation in Ayodhya. Syed Firdaus Ashraf speaks to some Ayodhya residents to get a hang of their real issues.
'Lakhs of transgender people's identities will get erased. Many of them will go into hiding and lead depressing lives.'
'All these farmers and tribals were told to bring their own wood and ration to cook food during the march.'
'Even last year, when India bought gold, the physical quantity was much less than the previous years.'
'Mamata was more feared than loved, and in politics when people start fearing you then they start hating you.' 'So Mamata's comeback now is impossible.'
The realities at the nerve centre of the Ram Janambhoomi movement are lack of development, rampant unemployment and 12 hour-long power cuts. Most residents hope Narendra Modi will change the situation in Ayodhya.
Jaswant Singh's biography of M A Jinnah has cost him his place in the BJP. Syed Firdaus Ashraf looks at Jinnah and his controversial place in India's history.
'If you can come with some arrangement with the Pakistanis that Pakistan ceases to stop creating trouble in Kashmir in return for the Indians not arming Afghanistan, everyone wins.' William Dalrymple discusses his new book Return of a King, Afghanistan, the Mughals and, of course, India with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Narendra Modi can never be Vajpayee because the poet-prime minister had a heart. Modi doesn't. He only understands the language of business, of profit and loss. It is beyond his capacity to understand a complex country like India, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
