'We have been fighting to treat political prisoners differently.' 'Except for Hyderabad and Kolkata, the concept of keeping political prisoners separate doesn't exist in India.'
'During the nine years of BJP rule, not a single temple has been reconstructed.' 'They might have constructed the Ram temple as it is an emotional issue. But they are not much interested in issues like heritage.'
Amidst tight security, the 20th anniversary of Babri Mosque demolition is being observed on Thursday in the twin towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad as "black day" and "shaurya diwas" by Muslim and Hindu outfits respectively.
Questions are being raised on the future of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as differences among its constituents come to the fore and several parties call for serious introspection by the Congress after a string of debilitating electoral losses.
The Hindu litigants claim the mosque holds signs suggesting that it was a temple once.
'We were expecting at least they would be held guilty, but instead they have gone scot-free'
In an interview with rediff.com's Arun Lakshman, scholar, writer, teacher and social activist Professor Hameed Chendamangalur says that the people of the state have given a befitting reply to such organisations in the recently held local body polls.
The new idol of Lord Ram was placed Thursday afternoon in the sanctum sanctorum of Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi temple, ahead of the consecration ceremony set to take place on January 22.
The rulers of the day need to be sensitive and involved in managing the identities of sacred spaces and the ongoing dialogues about the past in diverse societies, suggests Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd).
'Why were they silent when over 128 temples and shrines including Shivlings were broken down at the time of the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor?' a Varanasi resident asks Rashme Sehgal.
Chandrakant Patil also took a swipe at Uddhav for accusing Eknath Shinde of stealing the legacy of Bal Thackeray.
'We see that a BJP MP abuses a Muslim MP in the Parliament. People are saying that he should not have said all this in the Parliament, they are saying that his tongue was bad. This is the representative of the people for whom you voted'
'...to think apna time aa gaya after the 2024 election.'
The ground floor of the three-storey Ram temple in Ayodhya is in its final stages and the work on ancillary structures is going on in full swing for their completion by October this year, the temple authorities said on Monday.
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet will hold its meeting on Thursday in Ayodhya as the city gears up for the opening of the Ram temple in January.
The agency officials said they are studying the judgment and an appeal would soon be filed in the Supreme Court.
While that created a stir so did the decision on his penultimate day at work with the Supreme Court rechristening its summer vacation "partial court working days", an issue that has led to criticism that the apex court judges enjoyed long breaks.
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
Here is the chronology of events in the Ayodhya Ram temple issue.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will hear the plea of Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee.
Police escorted the rally all the way, at one point standing in a row to prevent the rallyists from entering a side road where stood a huge mosque. Across the road, an old Muslim woman asked her Hindu neighbour what the rally was all about. The latter shrugged her ignorance, looking on in bewilderment at the young men with their saffron flags, all of them wearing Bajrang Dal T-shirts.
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
Former JNU student Umar Khalid on Wednesday withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.
Though religion is no longer the hot topic, the government should be on its guard
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted time till October 31 to the Centre to file its response to a batch of pleas challenging certain provisions of a 1991 law that prohibits filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.
'Muslims should not justify demolition of temples by foreign invaders.'
Reacting to the grand old Congress party's decline to the 'pran-pratishtha' ceremony invitations of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, Digvijaya said that the ruling party had turned the event into a BJP and VHP event.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who has been part of several landmark Supreme Court judgements such as scrapping the electoral bonds scheme and upholding abrogation of Article 370, will be sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India on Monday.
'We all know that when the Babri Masjid was demolished, P V Narasimha Rao was prime minister.' 'He did not do anything to stop the demolition.'
Ayodhya Nagar Nigam corporator Haji Asad hoped that Kashi and Mathura issues will not be raked up after the CBI court ruling.
'I just invited PM Modi for Kalki Dham for shilanyas, so what crime did I commit as a Congressman?'
After a meeting of its working committee in New Delhi, the board adopted a resolution which stated that the recent judgment of the Supreme Court on the maintenance of Muslim divorcee women is "against the Islamic law (Shariah)".
The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned till January 10 the hearing on the bail plea of former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid in a case lodged under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.
Taking a dig at Pakistan without naming it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said a country which was a supplier of aatank (terror) is struggling for aata (flour) these days.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked the ASI not to take recourse to any invasive act during the survey.
As the 240-seater prime minister attempts to moderate his image of hardline hero, he has made room for others to elbow in and that is what is happening. And that it what will continue to happen from inside the BJP, notes Aakar Patel.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned for a week the hearing on a plea filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid seeking bail in a case lodged under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) international joint general secretary Surendra Jain on Tuesday warned All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi for his comment on the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.