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
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.
'It seems the action against Nupur was because the vice president was in Qatar and officials in his secretariat did not want any embarrassment.'
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 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.
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.
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.
'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.
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
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.
Drone cameras will monitor the crowds in real time.
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.
'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.
Realpolitik is at work in the Bharatiya Janata Party, says Aditi Phadnis
He directed the centre to take prompt action to clear mud from there and provide better living conditions.
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.
The meet will discuss the organisation's strategy to galvanise and energise the cadre
Modi's presence at the evnt would open wounds, the Hyderabad MP said.
The Art of Living founder said that he was involved as a mediator in the RamTemple dispute of his own will and would visit Ayodhya on November 16 to meet all stakeholders.
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
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.
Hindu community was facing a "conspiracy" and it should strengthen itself and "set an example", Union Minister Ram Shankar Katheria said in Agra at a condolence meeting for a dalit VHP leader, who was shot dead on Thursday.
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.
The seven-member committee consists of four members of Parliament and three leaders from Uttar Pradesh.
Like Modi, Keshav Prasad Maurya worked at tea stalls. Dinesh Sharma, on the other hand, is a professor at Lucknow university.
Police has started picking up evidences and recovered an empty shell of AK rifle from Tapal Mohalla, where the duo were killed by suspected militants while they were returning home after closing their stationary shop located outside old DC office complex.
'The BJP is the most progressive force within Hinduism today.'
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.
'He was a nobody then.' 'And whatever little his contribution was there, it was restricted to Gujarat.'
The crisis over the start date of the Amarnath Yatra deepened with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad showing no signs of relenting and a top VHP leader on Tuesday stating that Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti will lead a contingent of devotees to the cave shrine on June 3. The board has left sadhus all across India angry by disobeying him, he added.
In the past four years, neither the BJP nor the VHP has shown any interest in the mandir or Lord Ram. Now that elections are nearing, it is attempting to whip up communal passions, says Minister of State for Home R P N Singh in an interview to Anita Katyal
Hindu nationalists in India have stepped up attacks on the country's beef industry, seizing trucks with cattle bound for abattoirs.
Why should an elected government, any party's government, need a law to protect itself from its people? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Welcoming the high court's decision to stay the award, announced by the state Education and Cultural department, VHP and Bajrang Dal office-bearers told a press conference in Kozhikode that Baby should quit office and apologise for his action.
Facing ire over his alleged inflammatory speech warning Muslims of a 'final battle', Union Minister of State for Human Resource and Development Ram Shankar Katheria claims he did not make any such comments.
