'In his first speech in Parliament, Modi spoke about the slavery of 1,400 years, and though he didn't say in so many words, the meaning was that he had come to re-establish a Hindu Rashtra.'
'...by combining religious and political missions -- to destroy the Babri Masjid and establish Ram Rajya.' 'Hindutva was successful in creating synergy with the aspirations of devotees,' Dhirendra K Jha, author of Ayodhya: The Dark Night, tells Kanika Datta.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati will descend on Varanasi on Saturday making it their battleground ahead of the last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, a schedule that has put the administration on its toes.
The Congress on Saturday urged the Election Commission to book Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders for alleged violation of the model code by holding a road show in Varanasi without prior permission.
The hounding of former AMU students by some alumni over their 'wining and dining' during Ramzan is deeply disturbing, says AMU Professor Mohammad Sajjad. 'Intolerance, irrationality, bigotry, religious/sectarian hatred, and all such pernicious tendencies must be fought and resisted, more particularly by university campuses, in order to build a better society.' 'Have we, as academics, failed, and that too, quite miserably?' he asks. 'I feel like confessing and saying yes, we have indeed failed.'
President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday night cut short his visit to Odhisa and returned to the capital after his wife Suvra was hospitalised following illness.
Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said the manifesto was prepared after taking opinions through multiple platforms such as social media.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
Speaking during Prime Minister Narendra Modis video conference meeting with chief ministers of eight states which have reported high COVID-19 cases, Thackeray said the PM or Union Home Minister Amit Shah should convene a meeting of all parties to tell them about the seriousness of the situation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Tokyo on Sunday for crucial summit talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe after an overnight stay in Kyoto where he visited two ancient Buddhist temples with the latter accompanying him in a significant gesture.
When Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Gujarat to cast his vote in the urban body polls, learnt of the poor voter, instead of heading home he went to the Motera stadium, organised a control room, and was on the phone with practically everybody assigned duty on the ground: MPs, MLAs and BJP office-bearers. His single commandment was to check the voter list and phone or personally get people to the booths, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
As anti-Sri Lankan protests raged in several parts of Tamil Nadu, a Buddhist priest from the island, currently pursuing archaeological studies in Delhi University, was roughed up by some activists of pro-Tamil outfits at the famous Big Temple in Thanjavur on Saturday, police said.
Gandhi called for the need to reconsider the country's economic policy as the one that encouraged industrialisation and urbanisation, causing "huge population unsettlement" and forcing farmers to migrate to the cities in large numbers, only spurred the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photographer HariPrasad captures the quaint village through his lens.
The Indian Council of Historical Research will undertake a two-month pilot project on 'Ram Setu' later this year to archaeologically "ascertain" if the structures were built naturally or were "man-made".
There were no immediate reports of any loss of life or damage to property.
Hasty, ill-conceived steps show how isolated Mamata Banerjee had been from the national political trend. A fascinating excerpt from Sugato Hazra's Losing The Plot: Political Isolation Of West Bengal.
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.
The home ministry can notify Google of the Voice of Punjab app's hateful content and have the app taken down from the app store. The glorification of Beant Singh's assassination alone is enough to have the app taken down.
'While the Congressmen were fighting, the LDF was quietly doing its job, perhaps bringing in results in the lives of the people.' 'Pinarayi Vijayan and several ministers in his cabinet believed that the government should do real business, which is not to fight with the UDF but govern.'
Maharashtra and Punjab, which are recording a surge in new COVID-19 cases, tightened curbs on Friday and the chief minister of the western state said lockdown is an option, as India added close to 40,000 cases in the biggest daily increase in nearly four months.
Any defeat for the BJP now would imply that anti-incumbency against Modi has set in, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Despite the unusually chilly weather, the 10,071 participants in 225 cities and towns in 40 states warmed themselves during this two-week Yogathon with 984,481 repetitions of the yoga routine. Participating organisations included 17 public schools, 25 universities, 14 yoga schools, and many temples.
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement on Monday, said that Lord Ganesh was meant to be worshipped in temples and home shrines and not to be made a laughing stock on theater stages.
Toronto-based Indian couple Mani and Darsh share some key lessons.
A Muslim man taking a PhD in a dance form is not unusual, but it becomes interesting when the dance happens to be Mohiniyattam, says Shobha Warrier
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Saturday said India is a nation of non violence and noted that a majority of the Hindus believes in peace and amity.
As the Prime Minister hit the campaign trail in his Lok Sabha constituency, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Varanasi on Saturday charged the administration with "selectively" pulling down its posters in the name of implementing the poll code.
A historic Chola-era idol of Shiva and Parvati, stolen from a temple in India and sumggled into the United States by notorious Indian art dealer Subhash Kapoor, has been recovered from a university in Indiana.
From the kind of food to the art which will be displayed at the museum, historian Pushpesh Pant shares his vision.
The Ayodhya judgment of November 9 draws on both the polytheism of Hinduism and the modern rule of law, says Deepak Lal.
'The DMK may get a little more than 50% of the minority vote.' 'The AIADMK always gets over 10% of the minority vote.'
This Haryana village believes it has 'found' the Saraswati river of the Vedas.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite films, most of them shown at international film festivals held virtually (Berlinale and Rotterdam), hybrid (Toronto) or physical (Cannes and Venice).
Shivaji made sure that his soldiers respected the sanctity of mosques and the Quran Sharif to ensure that his fight against the Mughals did not become fight against Islam, explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Addressing a rally in Rithala in northwest Delhi, Shah said Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were against the construction of Ram temple, the scrapping of provisions of Article 370 and were not bothered about the country's image and soldiers.
'Krishna is your best friend. He knows what's best for you.' 'They talk about death being a final exam. So at 65, I have to be studying for my final exam.'
'There is enough proof of science-driven research in the India of early centuries,' argues Kumar Abhishek.
