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.
The Centre has rushed additional security forces to Ayodhya to prevent the much hyped yatra that is being planned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in spite of a ban on it by the Uttar Pradesh government.
With Vishwa Hindu Parishad adamant in going ahead with its planned yatra from Ayodhya from Sunday, the Faizabad district administration on Friday issued arrest warrants against its 70 leaders amid heavy deployment of police force in the twin towns.
The government on Wednesday named nine out of 15 members of the 'Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teertha Kshetra' trust constituted for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya as mandated by the Supreme Court. Here's all you need to know about the members of the trust who have been named so far.
RSS head Mohan Bhagwat will be present through the exercise in which issues like census figures and OROP are likely to come up for discussion.
'Bhagwat, aware of the advantages of keeping the BJP in power, is wary about the RSS taking steps that would undermine the popular standing of either the PM or the party.'
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.
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.
Claiming there was nothing religious about Vishwa Hindu Parishad's 84 Kosi Yatra, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today described it as a "political drama" which his government had not allowed to be staged.
'I'm sure the central government must have been thinking over the technicalities, that how to pave the way for construction of the temple.'
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.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for anyone providing information on Zishan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana, the two persons who were killed in an encounter along with Ishrat Jahan in June 2004.
'Whenever the Government of India throws the debris, they will not take such care of the mosque's debris and Muslims may object to such a move at that time.'
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant also issued a notice to the Agartala police on the plea filed by advocates, Mukesh and Ansarul Haq, and journalist Shyam Meera Singh against lodging of the FIR.
As vice president and ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankar is inheriting a troubled legacy. Although the government faces no real numerical challenges in the Upper House, political and legal challenges are there aplenty.
A clerical error compounded by callousness of the higher bureaucracy has raised a storm over the already vexed Ayodhya issue.
The Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Monday granted reprieve to arrested Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders as the ruling Samajwadi Party prosecutors chose to soft peddle on them.
Delhi Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari called the killing an "act of cowardice" and "an act against Islam".
Hemmed in by barricades and police and paramilitary swarming all over the place, the troubled Jahangirpuri on Friday showed signs of returning to normalcy, with the local peace committee calling for communal harmony and members of the warring communities embracing each other, agreeing to let bygones be bygones.
Modi hasn't raised or encouraged the raising of slogans such as 'Jai Sri Ram' at public meetings
Accusing Narendra Modi of using religion for canvassing by putting out Lord Ram's portrait in the backdrop at his Faizabad rally, Congress on Monday approached Election Commission demanding registration of an FIR against him and other party leaders as well as derecognition of BJP.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said that due silence has to be maintained only in front of the ice stalagmite resembling the 'ShivaLinga'.
The Supreme Court Thursday agreed to hear a plea of two advocates and a journalist seeking quashing of a criminal case lodged under the harsh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act provisions against them for allegedly bringing facts through social media posts about the 'targeted violence' against the minority community in Tripura.
Netas in Uttar Pradesh are using Rajkumar Hirani's film PK to play the politics of polarization.
'The Ayodhya anniversary, every year brings back the tragic memories. Politicians should let people's wounds heal and not reopen them to suit their agenda'
The carving work by artisans had been carried out uninterrupted since 1990 when Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu were among those who attended the meeting, sources said.
Without naming the BJP, Joshi added, "We are not begging for it. We are expressing our emotions. The country wants 'Ram rajya'."
'The signals were clear. December 6 would not witness another show of "Hindu" strength staged periodically in Ayodhya. Something grave was afoot.' Radhika Ramaseshan's personal recollection of the events of December 6, 1992.
Born in Ayodhya, Ansari was the first to file the suit on the matter in the court of civil judge of Faizabad in 1949.
Sensing the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's attempts to rekindle Ayodhya sentiments, the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in Uttar Pradesh has banned a meeting to mark the 25th death anniversary of brothers, Ram and Sharad Kothari, who fell to police bullets while performing the symbolic kar sewa on November 2, 1990 -- two years before the Babri Masjid was brought down.
Several eminent officials and experts from both India and the United States have told American lawmakers that a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre would be detrimental to the basic rights of the religious minorities in India.
He said it was due to the degradation of moral values that social evils such as rapes, cow slaughter and other evils are happening in the society.
Days after the Uttar Pradesh government denied the Vishwa Hindu Parishad permission for the yatra, the row has gained a religious-political colour.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad was on Monday refused permission by the Uttar Pradesh government to organise a yatra from Ayodhya to push for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site, just days after it asked Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to work as a bridge between Hindus and Muslims on the issue.
The Rajasthan Police has also set up a high-level committee to probe the allegations of delay against the Alwar police in taking Khan to a hospital.
Normal life was paralysed in Assam during a 12-hour-long state-wide bandh led by the Bajrang Dal and supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and several other organisations demanding action against the All India United Democratic Front and its leader Badaruddin Ajmal for alleged links with 'jihadi forces in Bangladesh'.
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 VHP leadership notes that 'ghar wapsi' wasn't something started after the Modi govt took over. Archis Mohan reports
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