'It is very interesting that the RSS is sending sadhus to Una.' 'They will again talk about Hindu unity to woo the Dalits.'
'At no time since Independence this issue of whether we are a secular country or whether we are a Hindu Rashtra has come up in this manner.' 'This is the most important issue which is going to decide whether we remain together as one country or not.'
'If you are caught in a violent storm at sea you have to deal with it and find a way out which Abhilash Tomy did.'
In spite of being wounded in battle, Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore fought for six days before meeting a hero's death on the battlefield in the 1965 war. A legend in the Indian Army, he is the highest ranking officer to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
'A mother, a farmer and cattle owner, all have valuable knowledge, but academia has failed to acknowledge their wisdom.'
'The honourable prime minister virtually handpicked me for the Amritsar East seat.' 'Amit Shahji announced that if I am elected, the whole of Punjab will be drugs free.'
'I hope that the incoming Biden-Harris Administration works with India to address some of the most profound geopolitical transboundary challenges.'
'Vibhuti was a braveheart.' 'He always said I cannot stay behind. He always wanted to lead.' A cousin and friend remember Major Dhaundiyal who made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland on Monday.
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's poems speak to every Indian, uniting them across political, social, religious and caste divides. They elevate; they inspire; they stir the soul and goose-bump the flesh.
'It will be a repeated folly to ever think that China will not attack us.'
'Definitely, they are going to attempt this, not only in Kashmir but elsewhere, maybe in the Jammu area and beyond.' 'They would want to expand the battle space and the conflict area.'
'After days of waiting in uncertainty and anguish, I was finally going home.'
Captain Manpreet Singh led his band of 130 men on Rajpath, perched on a ladder 10 feet high, rising precariously from the handle-bar of his motorcycle.
'More than losing Bengal, the worry for their national leadership is the current crisis.' 'If people perceive that the government does not do enough, then there's trouble.'
'What hurts people most is dynastic impulses and corruption under a family-ruled Congress party -- and Nehru has borne the brunt of it... I cannot be blinded by how the Nehru family has functioned but just as Gandhi can't be judged by his descendents, why should Nehru?' asks political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
'At a time when the economy is depressed, a pandemic is raging, and the Chinese are making noises on the border, the NRC could be resuscitated.'
'The Chinese thought India would back off. 'They did not expect such a firm Indian response to their expansionist manoeuvre.'
From one of Kashmir's worst trouble spots, Adeeba Tak emerges as a story of hope.
'Just as a wave brought the BJP into power; an anti wave will blow them away.'
'The BJP would not have brought him into the party if they did not appreciate him.'
'Our boys are very patriotic.' 'They say Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Hind in front of the Chinese.' 'We have never accepted their claims, we are Indians and proud to be Indians.'
Two years after a midday meal took the lives of 23 children in Gandaman, Archana Masih sits down to have lunch at the same government school and discovers that much has changed and much remains the same.
'Some people petitioned the adhikari (government official) and a electricity pole was unloaded here, but because we were not here at that time, some people from a neighbouring village took it to their village instead.' As Bihar goes to the polls, Rediff.com looks at the state through the stories of its people.
Irom Sharmila, the woman who was on a hunger strike for 16 years, leads a quiet life, and recently became a mother of twin girls.
'If the leadership goes back to Rahul Gandhi, then there will be a perception problem about the drama about his exit a year-and-a-half ago.'
'Political elites need to feel that these are our children dying, that this is a crisis for us, a tragedy for our community, we must take immediate action to save the lives of our people.'
'I am sure every effort will be made to showcase Rashtrapati Bhavan to President Trump.'
'The last ten months show that India is not going to trust China.' 'Our military commanders are not going to believe that all is well till it actually is.'
'Seven galleries range from the historical to the traditional, and from the contemporary to what constitutes the Diaspora -- the migrant labour that went on to create plantation colonies in far reaches of the world,' notes Kishore Singh.
'We know there will be an end to this epidemic temporarily.' 'We probably should get a couple of years break before it comes again.'
'She has never advocated people taking to the streets and calling for a revolution.' 'I don't know if that will change now.'
Two months ago, May 2, Major Anuj Sood made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland in a hostage-rescue mission in J&K. As his grieving family grapples with their immense loss, they graciously share memories of the young major -- a husband, brother and son -- whose only calling was the fauj.
'Political parties have appropriated our military victories -- the Kargil war is the BJP's and the Bangladesh war is the Congress's -- what is going on?' As Uttarakhand -- where faujis number nearly 40% of the state's population -- prepares to vote, Rediff.com's Archana Masih discovers what upsets retired soldiers in Uttarakhand the most is a forgotten protest in the heart of Delhi.
'Scientists around the world are focused on very quickly doing work to help us better understand what we are facing.' 'I am inspired by what scientists have found in such a short amount of time since the virus emerged.'
'It could have moved from the use of small arms to artillery fire.' 'Anything could have happened like what happens on the LoC.'
'When economic policies were attacked by people on his own side, he went ahead despite all the criticisms in the coalition, within the party and the Sangh Parivar.'
'How and if India retaliates will go a long way toward determining the trajectory of this crisis.'
'The numbers of troops on both sides are enormous.' 'They are about 50,000-60,000 soldiers facing each other in that sector -- that's about the total number of troops that both sides had in the 1962 War in all sectors.'
'Going from 5% to 8%, 10, 15% of the votes is not going to translate into seats -- so what's the point of going it alone in UP?'
