'The prime ministership needs a statesman, not a politician, and 18 months into the job Modi is yet to learn the difference between the two,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'Compared to other social groups, managing the Muslim constituency has always been easier for the secularists.' 'Just some symbolic measures and window-dressing would keep the Muslim flock together.' 'Having been betrayed by all the supposedly 'secular' political parties, Muslims should turn into citizens without any ascriptive identity marks,'says Mohammad Sajjad.
"We don't take chances with the medical fitness of a pilot," he said at a press conference.
Today as one sees the Owaisi brothers of Hyderabad seeking to lay claim as the custodian of the Muslim vote and the upholders of the community's interests, it is Shahabuddin who springs to mind for having been there, done that, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said measures should be taken to strengthen the Constitution and ensure that democracy is not subverted again.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi appears to be on the way out in the wake of his defiance as the Janata Dal-United is all set to replace him with his mentor Nitish Kumar at a meeting of the legislature party on Saturday.
Two clerics from Harayana arrested last month for their suspected links to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, and another operative, had allegedly visited the Muzaffarnagar relief camps in Uttar Pradesh and sought to recruit men to their module, a television news channel reported on Tuesday.
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
If the government does not allow the Opposition a few victories, then it is opening the door to paralysis and an entrenched culture of confrontation.
Venkaiah Naidu said 'let there be a discussion... November 8 is a historic day'.
The contentious Land bill passed the Lok Sabha test after the government carried out nine amendments.
After an unsavoury courtroom battle, his party won to secure for him the final resting place at the Chennai landmark
Despite the incessant disruptions and bitter clashes between political parties witnessed in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, lawmakers from across the political spectrum will display rare unanimity in the coming days to pass two bills aimed at protecting their interests.
Why did Kamal Haasan name the leaders he did?
Concerned by fresh protests, Pakistan government has decided to send a security team to assess the situation in India before taking a final call on the team's participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Of the 27 named, at least four are workers and functionaries of right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal, officials said.
'The continuing crisis in agriculture, the inability of successive governments to provide secure jobs to millions of youths having varying degrees of skills, and fragmentation of politics have created a sense of despondency.'
In a brief statement, Jung's office said he has submitted his resignation to the government of India and that he would be returning back to academics, 'his first love'.
The stage is now set for the first substantial round of polling in the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, involving nearly 11 crore voters in 92 seats spread across 11 states, including Delhi and the national capital region and the riot-hit Muzaffarnagar.
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his gesture of congratulating him after winning the Lok Sabha elections, saying he did not expect him to reach out after their "nasty" spat.
Job creation was mentioned 13 times in the BJP's 2014 election manifesto, yoga only twice. Has yoga taken precedence over jobs for the Modi Sarkar, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Hundreds of students and teachers of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia on Tuesday hit the streets with a call to "save" the varsities from the "onslaught" of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and "curbing" of dissent.
Mohammad Salim cited a news magazine which quoted Singh as reportedly saying -- after Narendra Modi and BJP's victory last year -- that India had the first "Hindu ruler after 800 years."
'The violence that shook Assam was a direct outcome of the state's ethnic problem... The tension that created a rift between the Bodos and the non-Bodos for years found a blood-spattered expression.' Former NSG chief Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, the Trinamool Congress candidate from Kokrajhar, speaks to Indrani Roy/Rediff.com about last week's carnage in Assam.
At the core of the issue is the national capital's unique status of a Union Territory that is administered by both the Centre and the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
Breaking his silence on the over-a-month-long unrest which has claimed more than 55 lives, Modi said it was painfully to see innocent youngsters, who should be holding laptops, book and cricket bats, have been given stones
The RSS realises that with a majority BJP government at the Centre and in several states, now was the best time to undermine and perhaps outdo the Congress-Left 'stranglehold' over campuses and young minds.
"This wasn't an attack over meat. He has been killed in the name of religion. This is a pre-planned, cold-blooded killing. It cannot be an accident," said Owaisi.
Much of the pre-2014 peace in our hotspots is diminished. Kashmir is on the boil and the Northeast is anarchic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Members of the BSP forced two adjournments of the Rajya Sabha till noon, creating uproar over the suicide of Dalit student, Rohith Vemula.
It is ironic that Raja Mahendra Pratap's Jat connection is being used for vote bank politics. He could not have cared less for his caste.' 'He was aware of the hold caste had on people's lives, and always rose above this kind of narrow thinking.' 'He mentions that once when he landed at Dwarka the priests asked him about his caste. He replied that he was a sweeper. The priests denied him entry. "I did not care to visit it," he writes, "when it was surrounded by people who had no regard for humanity".'
Though Muslims have been trusted allies of Jats since the days of former Prime Minister Charan Singh, experts feel the alliance has had its share of strains following his death in 1987
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti warned that there could be a backlash if the force loses patience.
Under fierce attack for his DNA jibe against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which has been turned into a major electoral weapon against him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday sought to make amends, calling Biharis the "most intelligent" people.
A "record" 57.59 per cent of over 1.46 crore voters cast their ballots in 55 assembly seats in Bihar on Sunday in the fourth and penultimate round of polling.
Barring one of the earliest surveys of the kind in the country, in 1989, none has proved right in Tamil Nadu's case, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I've answered all those people who are tweeting nonsense about Varnika Kundu and trying to shame her.' 'Shame her for what? For being a young girl at a party with friends? For enjoying herself?' 'I think it is ridiculous for somebody to say that she should not be out at night.' 'Why should a girl not step out at night?' 'What does that mean?' 'Does it mean that something happens to the boys at night and they change into monsters?' 'If so, then the problem lies with the boys, not with the girls.' 'Please keep your sons at home at night.' 'Why are you telling girls where to go and what to do?'
Twenty-eight years ago almost to the day, 37 unarmed Muslims were killed in cold blood, an act of wanton violence for which no one has so far been held guilty. Jyoti Punwani and photographer Uttam Ghosh visited the Meerut locality after the trial court recently acquitted the security personnel charged with the killings, and found a town untouched by its grim past.
There is indeed a Bengal Model but it is one which negates generational aspiration, generates animus, thrives on bloodletting and political vendetta, reiterates outdated ideas of vote bank politics, is shorn of any vision or roadmap for reconstruction and is fast depleting the levels of a legitimate tolerance, says Dr Anirban Ganguly.
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