'The Chinese have not crossed the LAC in Galwan.' 'They are on their side of the LAC and we are on our side.'
'I had told the government that if they could not take care of Shaktiman, I would take care of him.'
'When the Congress is put against someone like Narendra Modi, they do not have anything new to offer to the people of India.'
'He had 6 billion names to choose from and he chose the Pope who is the religious head of the Catholic community in the whole world.'
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.
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Viral Acharya is the eighth economist to quit since the Modi government took office.
'I hope that by seeing us in such huge numbers the government will get scared and agree to our demands.'
'The government must have armed security personnel for doctors and only then they can go and serve people.'
'It is a very irresponsible statement.' 'He is saying all the wrong things.'
'We are losing the battle of secularism, but we have not lost.'
'Muslims must show patience and endurance.' 'The perception that has been created against them needs to be changed by them.'
'Muslims should not justify demolition of temples by foreign invaders.'
'This country is not of one culture. We must live together and we must respect each other.'
'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.'
'O P Sharma pulled me down to the ground and started punching and kicking me.' 'The Delhi police, instead of arresting Sharma and the others, detained me for five hours after this incident.'
'Delhi is regretting its decision of electing Arvind Kejriwal.'
'It is not happening in the same manner as it was happening during the time of the Peshwas.' 'Whatever happened during the Peshwas cannot happen now.'
'Israel has received an extremely hard and rude reminder that it cannot go ahead and talk of normalisation of relations with other Arab countries without addressing the issues pertaining to Palestine.'
'I will try to make sure everything runs smoothly from now on.' Is Gajendra Chauhan having the last laugh?
''I had no idea that my life would turn into a horror show.' 'I was stuck as the Russians kept bombing Kyiv non-stop.'
'The Scindias betrayed Jhansi ki Rani and now the Congress party.' 'So this is nothing new as he is repeating the history of his family.'
'The test of true secularism in India is when a girl in your family decides to marry someone from another religion. If you accept her decision happily, then you are truly secular. If you don't, it means your secularism is fake,' argues Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Releasing dam water for a holy bath is the most unholiest thing. No religion propagates polluting or squandering resources.' Professor Hiralal Desarda explains why he went to court against release of water for the Shahi Snan at the Kumbh Mela in Nashik.
'That she drove 20 km in 9 minutes is rubbish.'
'If people want to blackmail others to get information or harm things, so why will someone give them information?'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf walks the streets of Mahim, where Yakub Memon grew up and lived till the day before the serial blasts in 1993, on the day Yakub was hanged and discovers an undercurrent of unease and restrained anger.
'It could take at least a couple of years for his case to go through the entire run of the British judiciary.'
'In 2021, assembly elections are going to be held in Assam. The BJP, sitting in Delhi, is thinking everything is hunky-dory in Assam. But that is not the case.' 'People of Assam are no longer with the BJP.'
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.
'Even if the BJP does not come to power, the system has changed.'
'If you have only one hit out of 100 movies in a year, it is death for Bollywood.'
'We were expecting at least they would be held guilty, but instead they have gone scot-free'
'Crony capitalism will gain due to these Acts.'
When Amitabh Bachchan bounced back at 60, why can't Shah Rukh Khan at 51? Picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost, assures Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
It may be 2017, but the 'uska baap kaun hai, maloom hai kya' still dominates India.
'When there is so much anxiety, the Government of India should assure people on the vaccine issue and help the states demanding more supply that they will be provided the required quantities.' 'Any Centre-state conflict at this point of time is counter-productive and enhances people's anxieties that should be avoided.'
On November 7, which marks 100 years of the Russian Revolution, Syed Firdaus Ashraf recalls a conversation he once had on Communism.
'If a politician asks the policeman to do something which is not correct, then why blame the politician?' 'If you do it, then you are equally liable.'
'The BJP had a big threat from the Congress in J&K, therefore they were threatened by us.'
