Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called for tough decisions and unity within the party after the Congress suffered electoral defeats in Maharashtra and Haryana. In a meeting with top party leaders, Kharge highlighted the need to strengthen the organization from the grassroots, fix accountability, and address internal bickering. He also urged leaders to remain united and avoid public criticism of each other. The Congress chief expressed concern over the party's performance in state elections despite a strong showing in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. He acknowledged the need to learn from the setbacks and improve the party's strategy and communication to counter its rivals' propaganda.
Nagpur Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said social media was used to vitiate the atmosphere, and appealed to the opposition not to politicise the matter.
Pressure is mounting for a resolution to be moved in the assembly when it meets next week for its maiden sitting to demand 'restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A' as committed in the National Conference's election manifesto, reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The communal violence in Sambhal that claimed four lives and left over 20 people injured has now sparked a debate over a purported rivalry between the Turk and Pathan communities, with political and administrative figures weighing in on the cause of the unrest.
As controversy raged over Yati Narsinghanand's objectionable remarks against Prophet Muhammad, his supporters on Sunday alleged that the Dasna temple head priest is being illegally kept in detention by police, which denied the claim.
The violence broke out at Maharajganj under Mahsi tehsil on Sunday over the alleged playing of loud music outside a place of worship during a Durga Puja immersion procession, in which Ram Gopal Mishra (22) died of gunshot injuries.
Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the organisation to give the list of speakers at the event to the Delhi Police and listed the case for further hearing on Thursday.
This gesture touched Muslims so much that they offered prayers for the dead man on Eid.
A total of 10 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been sent to Bihar after violent clashes erupted during Ram Navami celebrations in the state, sources said on Sunday.
'It was a disaster on his part to give an oral remark which allowed ascertainment of the religious character of places of worship.' 'This disrupted the social harmony of the country.'
Additional sessions judge Anil Antil dismissed the application of Bhupinder Tomar, president of the 'Hindu Raksha Dal', and said that in the past such incidents have flared communal tensions leading to riots and loss to life and property. Tomar was accused of raising communal slogans and inciting youth to propagate against a particular religion at a rally at Jantar Mantar on August 8. "We are not Taliban State. Rule of law is the sacrosanct governing principle in our plural and multi-cultural society. While the whole of India is celebrating 'Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav', there are some minds still chained with Intolerant and self centric beliefs," the judge said in the order passed on August 21.
If the ruling BJP stresses on Hindu nationalist themes ahead of the general election in May, there will be communal violence'
Questioning the team's authority headed by a former Patna high court judge, Banerjee pointed out that Ram Navami processions organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party had carried arms and driven tractors and deliberately taken routes where 'Namaz' was being offered.
In a video clip that had gone viral on social media, Faizan, along with four other Muslim men, was seen being beaten up by policemen while being forced to sing the national anthem and 'Vande Mataram'.
The curfew, clamped in the arson-hit town on Friday, would continue till Sunday, while the prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC were imposed in nearby Dhamnagar and Basudevpur as a precautionary measure to prevent spread of violence, a police official said.
Upping the ante against Amit Shah after his "fireworks in Pakistan" remark, Janata Dal-United and the Congress on Friday approached the Election Commission demanding that the Bharatiya Janata Party chief be barred from entering Bihar for "inciting communal tension" till the election process ends.
Here are the main factors that impact the November 23 elections in the state.
Amateur Ham Radio operators have picked up suspicious late-night radio signals in coded Bengali, Urdu and Arabic along the Indo-Bangladesh border in South Bengal over the last two months, raising concerns about possible extremist activities. The signals, which have been detected between 1 AM and 3 AM, are unusual in their pattern and language usage, according to Ham radio operators, who have reported the matter to authorities. The development comes amidst ongoing unrest in Bangladesh and growing anti-India rhetoric in the neighbouring country. Security agencies are investigating the matter, and the Border Security Force (BSF) has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation.
Local station house officer Ashok Chakravarty said the decision to not offer namaz in public place was taken by the community itself after a meeting was held on Wednesday to maintain peace.
Congress MLA from Nuh Aftab Ahmed on Thursday demanded strict action against those village panchayats in Haryana that have allegedly 'banned' entry of Muslim traders into their villages.
Internet services in Jammu and Kashmir were fully restored on Monday, three days after the state government ordered the termination of data services fearing trouble during Eid-ul Azha, popularly known as Bakri Eid.
The devotees who were beaten up by the mob were identified as Sumantra Chandra Shravan, Nihar Haldar, Rajiv Bhadram, he said.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
Bandaa Singh Chaudhary compromises on its hard realism to go after an easily digestible, mass, entertainer that ultimately undoes everything that the film had set out to say, sighs Mayur Sanap.
This comes amid the row over the arrest of former priest of ISKCON Bangladesh, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, over sedition charges, which led to protests and unrest in Bangladesh.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court over alleged "blatant hate speeches" calling for killing Muslims and their social and economic boycott delivered at rallies in different states, including Haryana where recent communal clashes claimed six lives.
Over seven months of violence severely hit businesses, schools, colleges and other institutions, besides disrupting transportation and communication networks. It also affected the agrarian sector, considered the mainstay of the state economy.
Communal tension has been brewing in Purola and some other towns of Uttarkashi district after two men, one of them Muslim, allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu girl on May 26.
With tension running high in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar, the Centre on Monday offered to provide additional paramilitary forces to Uttar Pradesh to assist the local administration in dealing with the situation.
A row erupted on Friday over plans by the Bharatiya Janata Party to observe the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Raja Mahendra Pratap at the Aligarh Muslim University campus with its vice chancellor warning of a potential "communal conflagration" and the saffron party defending the move.
He claimed that the violence is aimed at fomenting trouble in his nation with an eye on the next general election.
At least 12 people have been detained as police have formed a Special Investigation Team, while deputy commissioner Vishesh Paul Mahajan has assured the protesters that stern action will be taken against the accused.
Besides Nuh, the services will remain snapped in Faridabad, Palwal and the territorial jurisdiction of sub-division Sohna, Pataudi and Manesar of Gurugram district.
He was produced before chief judicial magistrate Ajanta Agrawal at her residence.
Gandhi remains the identity of India on the global stage, Sena said in the Saamana editorial.
Failure to take timely action against those accused of posting the video resulted in communal tension.
Trashing Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's criticism that only one voice counts in the country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "neither dictatorial, nor communal".
Curfew was imposed early Thursday in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh after communal tension spread in the town over a post on a social networking site that allegedly hurt the feelings of a particular community and also led to the killing of a person, a police official said.
Mobile internet services were also restored after remaining suspended for days.
Letters purportedly written by some panchayat heads in Haryana's Mahendergarh, Rewari and Jhajjar districts "banning" Muslim traders from their villages have surfaced online, amid communal tension in parts of the state.
