'If the BJP wants to build a minimally inclusive and secure society, in which vulnerable groups and religious minorities don't feel persecuted, then the Sangh Parivar, the party and its government must change their ways. Or else, they risk dividing India further -- violently and irreparably -- for narrow political ends,' argues Praful Bidwai.
'The top level will be development and then sab ka saath, sab ka vikas.' 'But at the street level, the tongue will be vicious.'
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who will demit office as the Chief Justice of India in a week's time, has etched his name in the annals of history by giving finality to one of the most politically and religiously sensitive cases, the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.
'If lynchings are happening frequently in India, it is the responsibility of those who lead the country to try and end them, not promote them,' says Aakar Patel.
'Kanhaiya Kumar, rising through subaltern rage and aspiration, may not triumph, not yet, but his ability to rise is tribute to democracy's finest hour,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'Nitish's claims of development are false. He has only helped corrupt officials.' 'I want to remind Lalu that this is not the 1990s. This is 2015.' 'I am a bahubali for those looting society.'
Gleaning lessons from Amit Shah's compendium of Chanakya-isms, the Samajwadi Party is keeping its operations low-key and working on an inclusive strategy.
In any institution that has a passionate ideology, the moderate is always vulnerable to the person who is more extreme, because that is what the supporters want.
'As long as true Hinduism survives in India, we need not let the Hindutva fear factor keep us from accepting a change in Muslim personal law with a ban on triple talaq,' says Najid Hussain.
'In order to achieve Pakistan's psychological isolation and pariah status, breaking all cultural, economic and people to people contacts must become a government policy with clear linkage to a change in behaviour by the Pakistani regime.'
'What authority has a secular government to administer Hindu temples? When Hindu temples are ruled by secular governments, what religious freedom do Hindus have?'
'Much of the Socialism that we attribute to him actually came during Indira Gandhi's time,' says M J Akbar who believes that Nehru's convictions helped shape modern India.
'Truth is stranger than fiction. You cannot think these things up.' 'What happens is weird enough.'
Yes, Aurangzeb was a tyrant who ill-treated his subjects. But was he the only Mughal emperor guilty of this, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Any Muslim who shows even the slightest hint of revolutionary thought is marked as 'infected'.' 'At that point, he is taken to the nearest Detention Centre where a procedure called Reconditioning awaits him.' 'Areas with a high Muslim population have been designated as Scheduled Religion Zones.' 'To be an active participant in this social cleansing ritual, there is only one prerequisite: You have to be an undying patriot whose friend and family is his country.'
'You cannot suppress a section of society permanently.' 'The spark of revolt will catch fire sooner or later.'
'I am quite optimistic that sooner or later, my wishful thinking would turn into a reality.' The only hitch is that the INC president's own career ambitions may be hurt if the Congress merges with the BJP,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Arun Jaitley and Janardan Dwivedi have rewritten the rules of politics in the Age of the Internet and its young and restless user base, reports Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Bajirao Mastani has the potential to do for Maratha 'history' what Mughal-e-Azam did for Mughal 'history', says Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
The interesting bit about the Azamgarh poll finding on India TV was the whopping percentage of Muslims backing the SP-BSP alliance, which sort of negates Mayawati's appeal to the community to not split their vote with the Congress, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The Vision of Justice was indeed attained in the courtroom.' 'Not once, but multiple times.' 'But has it translated into reality?' 'Has the success of these sterling verdicts reached the ground?' asks Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the next Chief Justice of India.
'The judge said that anybody who does not believe in the RSS ideology is not acceptable to you. You have terminated his contract because he thought differently.' 'The Modi government has no accomplishment to show. Therefore, they are using the tool of nationalism to divert the country's attention from very serious things like farmers suicides and the water crisis.' 'You cannot simply dismiss anyone because they are not willing to raise a slogan and not think like you.'
Sunit Nair writes about what he thinks of his Father -- the word, the idea and the person.
The preferred course of action to challenge Wendy Doniger's many published works and polemical Hinduphobic statements is to debate it, Aseem Shukla tells Rediff.com's Arthur J Pais.
The controversy over Sant Rampal and his army of followers taking the law into their hands has once again thrown the spotlight on the clout that India's godmen possess.
'If one observes a common man passing a church or gurdwara or dargah, he instinctively bows his head. It is this prevalence of polytheism that has ensured that monotheists and minorities flourish in India. This may sound preposterous in wake of the recent communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar. But it must be understood that in a county of over one billion people that was at worst an aberration,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The publishing of the NRC will not rid India from illegal immigrants who are already here. But even if it manages to withhold their political and voting rights, it will be a significant achievement, says Anand Kumar.
Can you find a world leader who has met generations of Indian politicians, most US Presidents, European head of States, several Popes, celebrated cricketers, Hollywood and Bollywood stars, some of the greatest scientists and many ordinary people, including what he calls, 'Chinese brothers and sisters?'
In the light of the efforts being made to forge electoral unity between scheduled castes and Muslims, Mohammad Sajjad examines what the architect of our Constitution, B R Ambedkar, had to say about the Muslim community.
'One of the things that gives a downed pilot strength is the knowledge and confidence that his government will do everything in its power and more to get him back.'
Kher was one of the 18 Indians invited to the four-day festival by the organisers but he is the only one whose visa has not been cleared. The other 17 Indian participants have been given visas.
If the classical language is to live in India, its teachers and fans must separate their love for the language from that for the country or their religion, feels Arundhuti Dasgupta
A new report has questioned the trial court verdict convicting Shahzad Ahmad in the Batla House encounter case, speaks in length about why the verdict in the Batla House encounter is wrong. The 24-page-report, titled Beyond reasonable doubt? The Conviction of Shahzad Ahmad which has been put out by the Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association, states that the findings of the court are based on conjectures. Vicky Nanjappa explains.
'What is forgotten but is actually as important for a society's long run success is morality.' 'Morals and trust are the nuts and bolts of an economy.' 'Without those you can get short run success, but not long-run development.'
'I bow to the 125 crore citizens of this great nation and promise to stay true to the trust they have bestowed on me.'
Sreehari Nair presents his Top 20 movies of the decade.
Anjali Lama will walk for the very first time at the coming Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort Week 2017.
Raju Hirani on making Sanju.
