Trinamool congress MP and Gardiner Professor of History at Harvard University Sugata Bose tells Kavita Chowdhury that there is a sense of fear and insecurity among our minorities.
'My party men discouraged me from visiting Kaliachak because all kind of people were part of the mob and they feared that someone could shoot at me.' 'Criminals were involved in burning the police station and then attacking Baliadanga to give it a communal colour.'
The scale and nature of Modi's election victory mean the higher tiers of the Sangh Parivar feel no need for restraint, says Sreenivasan Jain
Abdul Jalil Mastan caught on camera asking a crowd at a note ban protest to hit with shoes the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sparking condemnation and kicking up a ruckus in the state legislature.
India's majoritarian regime is now making a dangerously fast-paced move towards theocracy, like its western counterpart did a few decades ago, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
With so much bad news, everybody is hunkering down in readiness for Mr Modi's next radical Big Idea, says Kanika Datta.
Rallies, an integral part of Bihar politics are now churning out catchy names like 'Khabardar', 'Hunkar' and 'Adhikar' to attract the masses.
'The youth have given New Delhi a chance. Now it is up to the policy-makers in Delhi to respect their political choices.'
The BJP government is no better than the Congress -- as wretched and anti-people. In addition, it is explicitly and aggressively communal, says Venkatesh B Athreya, in a hard-hitting interview to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com.
Congress on Friday downplayed Narendra Modi's anointment as BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, while the Samajwadi Party said his "dream will never come true".
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.
Economists expect Modi to announce big-bang reforms.
The government on Thursday said it will respond on the issue of Shiv Sena MPs force-feeding a fasting Muslim after ascertaining full facts by Friday.
Delivering his concluding address to the party's National Executive, which saw its president Amit Shah raising concerns over "migration" of Hindus from a communally-sensitive western Uttar Pradesh town, Modi made no reference to the controversial issues and instead asked leaders to use power for the benefit of society.
'I don't think we will need to support or get support from the Congress. I hope there is no such political exigency. The Congress will be gone from the political scene. There is no lesser evil. The BJP and Congress are the two sides of the same evil coin,' anti-Koodankulam nuclear plant activist and new AAP member S P Udaykumar tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.
'I was brought up in a Brahmin Hindu family. I was brought up in places where the majority was Muslim, in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. There was a mosque next to my house, but I never saw communal tension.' 'I am not worried. This country's religious roots are very strong. They know how to take care of themselves.'
'The clearest interpretation of the November 8 mandate is that the backwards, Dalits and minorities, and a huge proportion of women cutting across caste and class, displayed massive consolidation to the extent that despite chipping of votes by the Left Front, by the Third Front and by the BSP, Mahagathbandhan candidates won, and in many cases by huge margins,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Jaitley insisted the new central notification will not interfere with state laws on slaughtering animals.
Two Muslim women were slapped, kicked and abused by a mob in Madhya Pradesh allegedly over the possession of beef.
Twenty years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, India is in rebirth mode. Whether there is a Babri Masjid or a Ram temple or not in Ayodhya, India will go on. And it will see many tomorrows, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Fiscal discipline has been maintained but toxic assets worth Rs 7 crore are a massive headache
Congress President Sonia Gandhi slammed PM Narendra Modi and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.
'The BJP has latched on to the idea of nationalism, but the nationalism they advocate is not nationalism as we have understood it since the time of the freedom movement.' 'This is not secular nationalism, it is Hindu nationalism.' 'It is a form of nationalism that is exclusionary and it tends to conflate national interest with the government.' 'So, if you disagree with the government, for example, on surgical strikes or demonetisation, you are anti-national or holder of black money.'
The Uttar Pradesh by-election will be the real test for the Modi government. By-election results are not a referendum on Modi but the time has come to analyse whether the Modi government is succeeding in assuring people that the promises it made would be fulfilled, says Dharmendra Kumar Singh.
The JNU student leader said, "There is an atmosphere of fear in the country and anybody who speaks against the government is threatened."
'The best remedy would be to scrap Section 124-A of the IPC, a colonial vestige, altogether.' 'However, if legislators don't want to do so, they can do two things.' 'They can formally amend Section 124-A to bring it in line with what the Supreme Court has said about sedition.' 'The words which stand on the statute book today were inserted in 1898.' 'The Supreme Court's words are not a part of Section 124-A.'
'Why do sections of Muslims seem to prefer Lalu and Mulayam who symbolise wilful neglect of governance and development? In this election, secularism is less at stake. What is more at stake is the degenerative, cynical, opportunistic, and discredit-worthy misuse of secularism by the non-BJP leaders and their social constituencies,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'The brazen politics, in this series of bullying of AMU by functionaries of the Union and provincial governments, utterly disregarding the fact that the matter is sub judice, is quite obvious.' 'One needs to see through the desperate politics of the BJP which governs both Uttar Pradesh and the Centre, especially its woes over its Dalit support base,' says AMU Professor Mohammad Sajjad.
Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's supporters seemed desperate to get a glimpse of their leader as they waited patiently on balconies and rooftops along the 4 km route of his road show, reports Sharat Pradhan
'Politics is not a post for retired people to enjoy.'
Has Owaisi's MIM become an albatross for Imtiaz Jaleel, former journalist and the party's candidate in Aurangabad?
Active citizenship through peaceful protest is a powerful tool, says Merril Diniz, who was part of a peaceful march that was struck down by police and CRPF personnel, while protesting against church attacks in Delhi.
'One big leader said you might get 3 lakh votes and still lose.' 'I said if I do I will make sure you are sleepless because it will be me and three lakh people.'
"Any fight with the Congress will remain in the state. At the national level, we will fight together, this I am saying from the heart..." she said.
"They call themselves the champions of speech and expression. But deny the same for the people of Kerala."
Modi emphasised on the need for taking Kashmir ahead with peace and unity while ensuring that it remains 'paradise' in the real sense.
'The BJP suddenly seems vulnerable. This is not entirely surprising. In the past too, governments and leaders who won a thumping Lok Sabha majority lost popularity in a matter of months... The by-polls results shows that a degree of disenchantment with the Modi government is setting in,' says Praful Bidwai.
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh continues to be the rising star in Rahul Gandhi's Congress. With the Congress war room at Gurdwara Rakabganj Road being re-designated as the Congress Coordination Centre, Ramesh has been appointed as the convenor of a small group which would look after the co-ordination work for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP needs to revisit its strategy ahead of the forthcoming Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections, says Dharmendra Kumar Singh
'I cannot conceive of any reason than my unsparing criticism of government policies that the government picked me to send a message to many who dare to take it on.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances