Sunday's yatra proved that it needs both the maturity of locals as well as the police doing their duty, to ensure that a religious procession doesn't turn ugly.
'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.'
'Not only are Muslim homes and shops being bulldozed, but the cops are filing random FIRs even against people who died two-three years ago, against those who have moved to neighbouring states since almost two years to work there.'
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Yogi Adityanath and 24 others accompanying him to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's 'Sankalap Diwas' rally in Ayodhya were on Friday arrested at the railway station in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, as a preventive measure, police said.
According to the complainant Mohammed Shafiuddin, who is a mosque committee member, the incident took place when a procession to immerse a 'Durga' idol was passing near the place in the early hours of Thursday.
'Just keep telling people that we have fixed the Muslims, and they will not be bothered about their empty stomachs or empty wallets.'
The district administration has also ordered closure of all colleges and higher secondary schools in Srinagar for Monday.
Zakia Jafri, the wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed at Gulberg society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002 during the violence, has challenged the SIT's clean chit to 64 persons including Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister during the 2002 riots in the state.
Consolidating its position, the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested high-profile Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh from the Samajwadi Party and won three assembly seats, including that of Chief Minister Manik Saha, in Tripura in by-election results announced on Sunday.
"I am sure that in 2018, we will come back to power hundred per cent," he added.
Assembly elections to five crucial states will take place in a few months and the results will be decisive for the BJP, which is eyeing a third successive term at the Centre, in the forthcoming the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Immediately after the attack, people started assembling outside the residence of Parihar and refused entry of senior police officers, who were even manhandled.
'1,300 Muslim youth have been arrested since the riots began and pressure has been constantly mounted on the Delhi police to create a narrative that these youths started the riots.'
'The horrific episode of January 18 in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, is quite different from what happened in Muzaffarnagar, UP, in September 2013. The Akhilesh Yadav-led administration in UP and riot-mongers among our political formations need to learn lessons from the response of the state and society in Bihar's Muzaffarpur,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
At least three persons were killed on Wednesday in a clash between two communities at Bharatpur in Rajasthan over a land dispute, District Collector Krishna Kunal said.
Rahul Gandhi was ticked off by the Election Commission on Wednesday which expressed displeasure over the "tone, tenor and content" of certain remarks made during the poll campaign and asked him to be more circumspect in future.
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Assembly Sangeet Som, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in connection with the Muzaffarnagar riots, on Wednesday said he was ready for an arrest and demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the entire issue.
Prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of the CrPC will be relaxed for a total of 10 hours on Friday in view of improvement in the situation, the ministry said.
Taking strong exception to Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addressing Rahul Gandhi as shehzada, the Congress on Saturday did some tough talking, threatening that its workers were capable of stopping such "undignified" language but were restrained due to their respect for laws and the Model Code.
In an exclusive telephonic interview with rediff.com from Srinagar, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti accused the governments of Pakistan and India for the present situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Stepping up its campaign against Narendra Modi, the Congress on Tuesday released video clips of alleged "hate speeches" of several Bharatiya Janata Party, Sangh Parivar and Shiv Sena leaders and demanded their arrest for "trading in the politics of poison" by committing the "sin" of "stoking communal fire".
The CM apprised the home minister about the steps taken to maintain peace in the Kashmir Valley
'In essence, while I appreciate your earnest care for the nation's welfare, your eagerness in returning the awards seems not be driven by data. The data is at worst favouring the present disposition or it provides an inconclusive result. It seems to be directed at Narendra Damordas Modi and nothing else,' says Sriram Balasubramanian in an open letter.
The party's most important electoral challenge lies in whether it can meet the aspirations of the youth who were drawn by the promise of gainful work.
In the FIR, police has claimed that the communal violence was a "premeditated conspiracy" which was allegedly hatched by Khalid and two others.
A photograph purportedly showing Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav with an accused of Saharanpur violence sparked a controversy but the Uttar Pradesh government was quick to dismiss it as "baseless and misleading".
'Shinde and Fadnavis have different working styles and certainly there is a crack that has come between them.'
'Congress will try to use Malerkotla to woo Muslim votes in UP. Muslims across the country have definitely taken note of this move in Punjab. But they vote only for a party that can defeat the BJP. The Congress doesn't seem to be capable of doing that'
The Election Commission on Monday granted four days more time to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to reply to its notice for Model Code violation over his remark that Pakistani's Inter Services Intelligence was in touch with Muzaffarnagar riot victims.
Ranjith Madduma Bandara, a senior politician from Wickremesinghe's United National Party was sworn in on Thursday morning as the new minister in charge of the police.
Opposition members in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday sought to rake up an issue accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not greeting Muslims on the occasion of Eid while noting that he had offered prayers in Nepal's famed centuries-old Pashupatinath Temple on Monday.
The Ghaziabad police on Monday warned the Twitter India managing director that his failure to report to it and join its investigation on June 24 in the case of the circulation of a communally sensitive video on its platform would amount to a hindrance in its probe, entailing legal consequences.
Political blame game has begun over the violence in Saharanpur with Congress accusing the Uttar Pradesh government of "administrative lapse" while BJP alleged that Samajwadi Party was indulging in "vote-bank politics".
The division bench said the order needs to consider afresh the 36 intelligence inputs submitted by the state government before the single bench.
A banquet hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee for a visiting foreign dignitary on Friday night provided the platform for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his bitter political foe West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to meet and exchange pleasantries.
High alert has been sounded across India that five members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, who had fled from a Madhya Pradesh jail in 2013, are planning to carry out terror strikes on instructions of Pakistan's spy agency Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence.
In the FIR, the police has claimed that the communal violence was a "premeditated conspiracy" which was allegedly hatched by Khalid and two others.
Abdullah termed the gag order as an attempt by the EC to please the BJP.
Police has started picking up evidences and recovered an empty shell of AK rifle from Tapal Mohalla, where the duo were killed by suspected militants while they were returning home after closing their stationary shop located outside old DC office complex.
Sharma said she would be going back to the area again on Saturday as she could not meet enough women as the police were busy in giving security for Friday prayers.