Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani on Sunday stoked a controversy when he claimed that "Om" and "Allah" were the same God worshipped by 'Manu'.
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday ordered a halt to the demolition drive in violence-hit Nuh and asked if it was an "exercise of ethnic cleansing".
At present, such a law has been enacted in just eight states to stop illegal conversion while the problem is nationwide, he added.
Police have booked more than 10 people for 'promoting enmity' after they allegedly burnt photocopies of the pages of Ramcharitmanas in the Vrindavan area of Lucknow on Sunday.
Temples across Uttar Pradesh were packed with devotees on Sunday for Ram Navami, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading prayers at the Gorakhnath Temple. Heavy crowds were witnessed at temples in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi, where security was heightened. In Gorakhpur, Adityanath performed the traditional kanya pujan ritual, while in Varanasi, a 51-foot statue of Lord Ram has become a major attraction. The festival was celebrated with enthusiastic fervor across the state.
The 'deliberate attack' on a Hindu temple in Canada sparked strong condemnation in India on Monday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the Canadian government to ensure justice and uphold the rule of law.
The police staged a flag march in the main market area of the town and appealed to people to maintain peace.
Destiny had decided that a grand temple of Lord Ram will be built in Ayodhya and it chose Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this, BJP stalwart L K Advani has said in an article to be published in a special edition of the Rashtra Dharma magazine next week.
Markets in Uttarakhand's Purola and neighbouring towns remained closed amid heavy police deployment on Thursday in protest against the imposition of prohibitory orders to prevent a 'mahapanchayat' that was scheduled to be held there over alleged incidents of 'love jihad'.
Posters asking non-Hindus to stay away from the ghats of the Ganga and the temples along the river came up in Varanasi, prompting the police to launch a probe.
The minister appealed to the people to use social media responsibly and refrain from sharing inflammatory content.
Local station house officer Ashok Chakravarty said the decision to not offer namaz in public place was taken by the community itself after a meeting was held on Wednesday to maintain peace.
Barely a few kilometres from Nuh, which witnessed communal clashes on July-end, a group of people belonging to different communities is busy preparing for Durga Puja.
They said according to the Hague Convention, the service upon a foreign entity had to be served through the prescribed rules.
The support of every Ram devotee from all over the country will be solicited for the grand temple to be built at the birthplace of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, Rai said, adding that for this, Vishva Hindu Parishad activists will go from door to door, accompanied by venerated seers and others.
A Bajrang Dal leader said that a church was being built without obtaining prior permission and the local administration did nothing to stop its construction.
A brainchild of Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia, many find its agenda divisive
The VHP expressed its concerns and condemned the dissemination of "misleading information" regarding the construction of the temple alleged to be built atop a razed mosque.
Amid escalating tensions over the Sinjauli mosque in Shimla, a Muslim welfare committee on Thursday urged the municipal commissioner to seal the unauthorised portion and also offered to demolish it in accordance with a court order.
The Haryana government on Friday rejected in the high court the suggestion that a demolition drive in violence-hit Nuh did not follow procedure and was an exercise in 'ethnic cleansing', as the bench hearing the case referred it to the chief justice's court.
Togadia said he would go on an indefinite fast from Tuesday to push the Hindutva cause.
'The level of violence that took place and also occurred at different points, the way stones were collected, the way weapons were brandished, the way shots were fired, it does not appear to have happened all of a sudden'
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a sister organisation of the Bajrang Dal, said its workers carried out the act to register their protest against Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor's recent statement regarding minorities.
While the saffron camp questioned the administrative capabilities of the Mamata Banerjee-led state government, the Trinamool Congress claimed that BJP leaders "behaved like good boys" this time.
'Pass the law on Ram temple without any delay and stop fooling the majority'
A BJP delegation arrived in Nuh on Wednesday to meet administrative officials and take stock of the situation in the violence-struck district, even as a delegation by AAP was stopped on its way to the district.
A 10-member delegation of Haryana Congress on Tuesday was stopped from entering violence-hit villages of Nuh district, police said.
This came after police said it has registered a first information report (FIR) against the organisers for taking out the procession without permission, and arrested a person, identified as Prem Sharma, who is a local VHP leader.
Besides Nuh, the services will remain snapped in Faridabad, Palwal and the territorial jurisdiction of sub-division Sohna, Pataudi and Manesar of Gurugram district.
With all the evasions, one assertion made by the Pune (Rural) police stood out: They had found no connection of the Elgar Parishad with the violent incidents of January 1, 2018. Yet, the case against the 'Bhima Koregaon 16', which is based on exactly this alleged connection, continues, and seven of the accused continue to be behind bars under the UAPA, explains Jyoti Punwani.
'Some people came on motorcycles on Tuesday night, threatening us that if we do not leave, they would set fire to our slum'
It then went on to ask whether a lion could be named after Swami Vivekananda or Ramakrishna Paramahansa.
The VHP dismissed the claim that permission for the event was not taken from the Delhi police as 'laughable' and said police personnel were deployed at the venue of the event in Dilshad Garden.
While the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at the MLA and the Congress government, Shivakumar seeking to clarify, said no guarantee scheme will be stopped and it will be continued for five years.
Taking cognisance of attacks on the minority community, the National Commission for Minorities sent a notice to the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Tripura seeking reports on the recent cases of violence against the minority community.
The activist Birinchi Bora drove into the venue of the street play dramatically in a motorcycle with another actor dressed as Goddess Parvati for their play on Saturday which had several Hindutva outfits up in arms demanding their arrest.
Cow vigilante Monu Manesar, who was booked by Rajasthan Police for the murder of two Muslim men in February and is also accused of inciting communal hatred in home state Haryana, was arrested Tuesday, officials said.
Shah's rally and other events will be attended by party workers from neighbouring constituencies, including Amethi.
The controversy has sparked reactions across states. The famous Mankameshwar temple in Uttar Pradesh has now banned offerings of 'prasad' bought by devotees from outside and said they can offer homemade 'prasad' or fruits.
Letters purportedly written by some panchayat heads in Haryana's Mahendergarh, Rewari and Jhajjar districts "banning" Muslim traders from their villages have surfaced online, amid communal tension in parts of the state.
