The contentious anti-conversion bill was cleared by the Karnataka Cabinet on Monday and it is most likely to be tabled in the legislative Assembly on December 21, official sources said.
Local activists allege that the administration, with the sole aim of harassing the people, has relocated a dumping ground to a hill top at Uttan-Dhavagi.
The Maharashtra government on Monday declined to stall staging of the play 'Agnes of God', which tells the story of a nun who delivers a still-born child, as demanded by the church on the ground that it hurts the sentiments of the Christian community.
Taking note of the recent violence against the Christian community in India, the US has asked the Indian government to protect the religious freedom throughout the country. "We urge all parties to refrain from violence and urge government officials to protect religious freedom throughout India and thus preserve India's longstanding tradition of religious tolerance," said Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, John Hanford.
In a sharp attack on Pakistan, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday accused it of supporting terrorist activities and communal violence in India, even as he voiced concern over the alienation of Muslim and Christian communities in this country.Noting that India is caught in a 'troubled neighbourhood', Chidambaram said Pakistan has taken its 'hostility towards India beyond Kashmir'.
The Supreme Court has set aside the bail granted to Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Manoj Kumar Pradhan, sentenced to seven years RI for his role in communal riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district where members of the Christian community were targeted.
Christmas was celebrated across the country on Saturday, but the festivities were low-key for the second year in a row due to Covid, with churches and other events witnessing lower footfalls, people avoiding large get-togethers and the administration in some areas imposing certain curbs.
'The State uses identity politics as part of divide and rule; the militant groups too use identity politics and civil society groups are also divided along ethnic groups.'
The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought the stand of the Centre and city government on a public interest litigation seeking a direction to the authorities to use the "proper meaning" of the term "religion' and not use it as a synonym of "dharma" in official documents.
The applicants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain or Parsi faiths will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
Grappling with the intractable issue of Aligarh Muslim University's minority status, the Supreme Court said on Thursday the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act, which effectively accorded it a minority status, only did a "half-hearted job" and not restore to the institution the position it had prior to 1951.
The demand for imposing a ban on Sangh Parivar outfits Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishas on Monday gained momentum with the Congress saying these organisations were a "suitable case" for such action. "Bajrang Dal is a suitable case for ban... Also the VHP," Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said in Delhi.
"The unity and understanding among various religions were important for the unity and development of the nation. Religious faith was important for each and every person and it was wrong to forcefully change one's religious dictum."
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Orissa government to place its report, relating to steps taken to protect the lives of people belonging to the Christian community in riot-hit Kandhamal district, by Thursday.The apex court also asked the state government to submit an affidavit on whether permission was granted to Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia for his proposed yatra, carrying the ashes of slain leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.
'He needs to control his foot soldiers by taking either stern action against the over enthusiastic members of his group or convince them to stop causing him this embarrassment.' 'We know that most of these leaders are not going to be prosecuted by Indian authorities. So we are seeking alternate means to bring them to justice,' FIACONA President John Prabhudoss tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
His comments come against the backdrop of a campaign by Opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, which has claimed that applying for CAA would turn legal citizens into foreigners.
Drawing examples from history to prove his point, Vijayan said a Muslim man named Azimullah Khan had coined the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
The Supreme Court today decided to hear a petition seeking laying down of guidelines for preventing communal violence like the Kandhamal riots in Orissa in which the Christian community was targeted after the assassination of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader.
A group of Indian-Americans gathered at Times Square on Sunday, carrying placards and raising slogans in support of the Narendra Modi government and CAA.
'We know a day will come very soon when people will realise our fight was for the environment and not against the nation.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded tabling of the interim report of the judicial commission on Kandhamal violence in Orissa assembly even as the Christian community said there was no need of such a report at this stage.
'There is something in our desh ki mitti that has held us together.'
'So many conquerors, colonisers, cultures came and went, but we withstood them and rose up again.'
A procession in Kolkata, here and below, commemorating the anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's return from Chicago after delivering his historic speech at the World Parliament of Religions.
Lambasting the Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly bringing up the issues of NRC, CAA and Uniform Civil Code ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted she would not allow anyone to take away the citizenship of people during her lifetime.
Stoutly defending Sanatan Dharma, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai on Thursday dubbed the ruling DMK a casteist party that must be decimated, and questioned its track record on Dalit empowerment.
'Israel has received an extremely hard and rude reminder that it cannot go ahead and talk of normalisation of relations with other Arab countries without addressing the issues pertaining to Palestine.'
The Lok Sabha contest in Thiruvananthapuram is shaping up to be a significant battle involving key candidates like Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Panniyan Ravindran. This three-cornered fight highlights the political dynamics in Kerala's capital city, with each candidate bringing their own vision and promises for the region's development, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
Sharmila said it was her father's dream to see Rahul Gandhi as prime minister and she would be happy to contribute to it.
'Modiji has a vision for the country, not just to fight the elections but about achieving certain goals for the country.' 'Congress does not even have a vision for 25 days.'
Struggling to gain political traction on issues of corruption, the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party is shifting its focus to emotive topics such as the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in a bid to achieve its target of securing 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state.
In an interview with PTI, Roy praised the Union government for implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, stating that it would benefit the refugee population, including the Matua community, who had fled neighbouring countries to escape religious persecution.
'If you want to really grow, it has to be geometric progression like it happened at the Centre or Haryana or Tripura, where you made a quantum jump.' 'This is possible in Kerala provided we present a better alternative with a great leadership, but the current leadership is busy fixing each other.'
In the Interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a high power committee would be set up to consider the challenges arising from 'fast population grown and demographic changes.' 'But who wants data? It pays to feed people's fears, insecurities and apprehensions. If such fears don't exist, they must be created,' her husband Parakala Prabhakar says in this fascinating excerpt from his book, The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis.
Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad's statements regarding ministerial and chief ministerial posts, along with his veiled dig at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have created a sense of unease within the ruling party in Karnataka.
The act grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains and Parsis who had arrived in India by December 31, 2014 from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh due to religious persecution.
The Kerala Story is among a long list of films that invited bans and censorship.
Facing flak on social media, the hospital came up with another advertisement on Sunday, carrying an apology.
Any aware viewer, who might wander into the film, will be repulsed by this unabashed spewing of communal hatred, feels Deepa Gahlot.
The film, which allegedly depicts the sexual escapades of a priest, has been facing a lot of criticism from different Christian groups.
