'I have seen so many cows roaming the streets of Mumbai. When people from foreign countries see cows roaming on our streets, it is not good.'
All you need to know about the case and the man behind the drama that has ensued.
'Our only request to the Indian government is that they should act fast and send a plane to evacuate us as people around us are dying'
''I had no idea that my life would turn into a horror show.' 'I was stuck as the Russians kept bombing Kyiv non-stop.'
'It is not that I don't want to say "Jai Shri Ram".' I only said I will not say this slogan under any pressure.'
'I welcome Droupadi Murmu as the first Adivasi woman President of India, but her track record has not been good as a politician and governor of Jharkhand when it came to helping Adivasis,' points out activist Gladson Dungdung.
Yes, Alauddin Khilji did launch a military encounter for a woman. He had her captured and made her one of his queens. But it was not Rani Padmavati.
'This bill is to relieve the government of accountability and to cover up its corruption.'
'They are ABVP-phobic people. Tomorrow, they will say the US attack on Iran is because of the ABVP.'
'The blasts destroyed my family. Two of my sons are in jail and one is absconding.'
'Why do the English-speaking class feel they are the only ones who are efficient in work?' 'My own mother was from a village and she was more efficient than me. She used to handle crises better than me.' 'We will have to come out of our elite perception of governance.'
'Destabilising the Yediyurappa government is not a cakewalk.' 'If he is destabilised, then the BJP will have problems in Karnataka.'
'I remember the confusion over the slogan, 'Karenge Ya Marenge! (Do Or Die!)'.' 'I think this confusion arose because Gandhiji was arrested.' 'People used to wonder: What are we supposed to do?' 'How are we supposed to die?' 'How are we to fight the British?'
'There was special bonding between all the nurses and Aruna. It has been a bond lasting 40 years among us. We all have fond memories of her, she will be missed, for sure,' the nurses of KEM Hospital, who looked after Aruna Shanbaug selflessly for more than four decades, tell Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.
'Maharashtra governor did not do anything that was contrary to the Supreme Court's decision.'
'When the Congress tied up with Chandrababu Naidu, they helped trigger Telangana pride.'
'He ruined my life but he did not help me with a single paisa. I wonder what kind of charity he does when he does not pay the very people who are the victims of his bad deeds. All he did was to pay the compensation the court ordered him to pay me,' Abdullah Rauf Sheikh tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.
'Sachin Pilot had every legitimate right to demand to become CM.'
Onkar Singh, a valuable member of the Rediff.com team over the years, breathed his last on January 13. Syed Firdaus Ashraf, who knew him intimately, remembers the ultimate newsman.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com presents 10 dynasts of the BJP who have managed to get elected this time round.
'As soon as the violence broke out, they should have stepped in and sent a message that the state is there to stop this violence.' 'Had they done it right there, the situation would not have gone out of control.'
It is a waste of time to speak up in today's India, believes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Nowhere is it written in the Constitution that Ravan's effigy must be burnt.'
'The PM of India was 20 km away from the Pakistan border and he is one of the persons under extreme threat from that country and they put his life in danger.'
'The Chinese have not crossed the LAC in Galwan.' 'They are on their side of the LAC and we are on our side.'
'You want poor people who take 5 kg rice to produce an Aadhaar card.' 'The poor man may or may not have Aadhaar.' 'Poor people are losing their food and dying.'
'No other terror organisation has valued popular consensus as the Islamic State does -- instead of repressing people, IS wants to gain their support. This is a major innovation in terrorism,' says terrorism expert and author Dr Loretta Napoleoni in an interview to Archana Masih and Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.
'People are questioning these highways and expressways in UP because ultimately, they want to get bread and butter first.'
'Everyone has to take some step in solving this deadlock -- civil society, separatist leaders, the government.'
'It could take at least a couple of years for his case to go through the entire run of the British judiciary.'
Dr Rajendra Bharud has done what no other district collector in India could do as the pandemic ravaged the nation. He not only made Nandurbar district oxygen surplus, but ensured that the supply of life-saving oxygen remained uninterrupted for patients -- something even Delhi and Mumbai hospitals have not achieved yet.
'Already, the temperature has touched 39 degrees in some parts of Gujarat and now we are in the last week of February.' 'We need to activate the heat action plan from March 1.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tracks Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's project-launching spree with just about three months to go for the assembly election in India's most populous state.
Mulk tells Indian Muslims they have to ensure that their children don't get involved in jihad, and at the same time tells Hindus not to doubt the patriotism of Indian Muslims, notes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Even if the BJP does not come to power, the system has changed.'
'We have been fighting for the last 70 years on the issue of Article 370.'
'The Indian government spent Rs 506 crore on security of the separatists in the last five years.' 'These separatist leaders must know how ordinary people live. Have you ever seen Geelani's son throwing stones?' 'The separatists have encouraged people into this stone throwing business. They have destroyed Kashmir.' Jammu BJP MLA Rajesh Gupta on why separatists must not be given security.
'You cannot give authority to citizens to start policing the State.'
'It was disappointing on two counts. One is on the leadership issue and second is how the Congress must win elections.'
'Two years ago I told Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that we have traitors in the Congress.'
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