In Kottayam district alone, 120 people have "returned" to the Hindu faith in the last three months.
The petition seeks registration of FIRs against VHP leaders for allegedly making inflammatory speeches in Delhi in February. The Delhi high court has issued notices to the Centre, state government and police.
In his report, Justice Liberhan said the senior police officers were at hand to ensure that their men toed the line and that the demolition of the disputed structure was allowed to go ahead with "military precision as orchestrated by the leaders present at the spot and carried out by their henchmen."
Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders Ashok Singhal and Pravin Togadia were on Friday released along with 957 fellow cadres, a day after nearly 2,500 activists were arrested in a massive crackdown by Uttar Pradesh authorities to foil its yatra which also led to protests by its workers.
As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday sent a general advisory to all the states and Union territories asking them to deploy adequate security personnel at all sensitive places, political leaders made fresh calls to people not to indulge in making provocative remarks or spreading rumours.
The district administration of Kandhamal, which has been violence-free for about a year, on Tuesday decided not to allow VHP leader Pravin Togadia to visit the town.
They have been asked to verify the list of 346 families handed over by the local MP who have allegedly migrated, he said.
The synod of Syro-Malabar Church has alleged that scores of women from Christian community from Kerala were being lured into the trap of Islamic State and used in terror activities. The VHP welcomed the Church statement.
The Uttar Pradesh government also said the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao was 'indirectly' involved in it.
Police have issued an order, prohibiting organisers from transmitting his speech
Interestingly, the choice of August 5 as the day of the bhoomi pujan coincides with the abolition of Kashmir's special status on the same day a year ago. Perhaps the RSS-BJP wants August 5 to be remembered as the date on which the foundation stone of their cherished Hindu rashtra was laid, notes Amulya Ganguli.
Shah's rally and other events will be attended by party workers from neighbouring constituencies, including Amethi.
Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was elected president and Champat Rai general secretary of the Ram Temple trust at its first meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Amidst opposition in some quarters to observing International Yoga Day, Vishwa Hindu Parishad International Executive President Dr Praveen Togadia on Sunday said that the discipline was never secular and was more of "Vedic and sanatan".
Uneasy calm prevailed in Ayodhya, which on Saturday looked like a fortress, with deployment of more than 10,000 cops on the 22nd anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
Given the controversy over Uttar Pradesh's population control moves, Hemant Shivsaran/Rediff.com digs deep to find out how many children BJP MLAs in UP have.
'It wasn't as if the senior police inspectors in charge of the police stations were not aware of the communal tension that was being created in their areas before and during the riots.' 'Yet they chose not to act,' recalls Jyoti Punwani.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Fatehpur Sikri MP Babu Lal on Tuesday reiterated his comments he made against the Muslim community at a condolence meeting for VHP worker Arun Mahaur, who was killed last week allegedly by some Muslim youths.
With the Muzaffarnagar riots still fresh in its mind, the Centre has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to maintain status quo in Ayodha, where the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has called for a 'Sankalp Diwas' rally, and prevent any attempt to incite communal tension anywhere in the state.
The Samajwadi Party government went overboard in deploying nearly 10,000 policemen to patrol the streets of Ayodhya to prevent the VHP from carrying out its 84-kosi parikrama, reports Sharat Pradhan
The police do not have it in them to confront the Hindutva groups in a country ruled by a Hindutva party. No wonder Munawar Faruqui feels this is the end for him, asserts Jyoti Punwani.
The Samajwadi Party on Thursday justified the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to ban a proposed yatra by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to garner support for the construction of the RamTemple at a disputed site in Ayodhya.
'We had no inkling this would come. Admittedly, we failed to inspire confidence in migrants that no harm would come to them if they stayed back.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Since the historic judgment of the apex court that paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town, a large number of devotees have been flocking to Ayodhya, several among them making their maiden visit to the city.
Prohibitory orders were on Sunday clamped in communally-sensitive Kandhmal district and security tightened across Orissa after the killing of a prominent Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader and his five associates sparked protests in the state with a prayer house being torched.
The decision comes after a meeting between VHP president Ashok Singhal and Modi earlier in the day. The VHP had demanded that the demolition drive against temple be immediately stopped
Drone cameras will monitor the crowds in real time.
Modi's presence at the evnt would open wounds, the Hyderabad MP said.
Zakia Jafri's lawyer on Friday alleged before a court here that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had conspired to instigate Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers and other members of Hindu community after the Godhra train burning incident in 2002.
Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said it is the "dream" of the people of the country that Ram Mandir is built as early as possible.
He directed the centre to take prompt action to clear mud from there and provide better living conditions.
'The BJP is the most progressive force within Hinduism today.'
The VHP will focus on non-religious topics and give the Ram temple a miss at the three-day Vaicharik Kumbh, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shashikant Trivedi reports.
Realpolitik is at work in the Bharatiya Janata Party, says Aditi Phadnis
While Ayodhya resembled a city under seige earlier during the day, the scene was no different elsewhere in the state with police and central forces keeping an eye over the security situation and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally monitoring it from a hi-tech control room in the state capital.
All 32 accused in the 28-year-old Babri demolition case, including BJP's founder-members LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, have been acquitted by a special CBI court in Lucknow.
The meet will discuss the organisation's strategy to galvanise and energise the cadre
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
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