In their counter-letter, the group of former IFS officers acknowledged that the remarks made at the Haridwar event should be condemned by all right thinking, before adding that when the import of these is "exaggerated out of all proportion and the rantings by fringe elements" are seen as representative of the sentiments prevailing in ruling circles, then the political leanings and moral integrity of the critics can be rightly questioned.
The ethnic strife in Kyrgyzstan, which has so far claimed over 120 lives, could have unpredictable consequences for regional peace and security, writes security expert B Raman.
Thousands of people have lost their lives and thousands more displaced in the violence in South Sudan. The United Nations mission and humanitarian agencies are under strain to protect camps and to provide internally displaced persons with water, food and other emergency relief. What flared up as a political conflict in South Sudan is now assuming an ethnic character.
A high-level security review meeting held between senior police official of Assam and Meghalaya in Guwahati on Wednesday decided to launch joint operation against marauding Garo National Liberation Army militants. The ultras have killed 12 people, including five policemen and seven villagers on both sides of the inter-state boundary since Sunday.
Jaishankar also emphasised the need for ensuring that Kabul's neighbours are not "threatened by terrorism, separatism and extremism".
A lesson we have not learnt from China is the urgent need to knit the vast country together to keep it from falling apart at the seams. While there is considerable dent in poverty, sadly, the North East remains as distant today as it always was, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
A resolution calls the US Secretary of State to designate India as a country of particular concern for alleged violation of religious freedom.
The BJP has nothing to lose after a point. For the DMK it is a difficult choice, as it would not want to give too much of space to a 'national party' lest the 'Dravidian duel' of the past decades should be lost forever, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Born in India, Radhakrishnan, 41, went to school in Singapore before moving to New Zealand to further her education.
Official also said the recent escalation in targeted terrorist violence would not lead to any change in plans for holding the annual Amarnath Yatra which is scheduled from June 30-August 11.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing that "the Indian side should fully recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the 14th Dalai Lama."
'The way discrimination against Muslims has become almost normalised is very upsetting.'
The territory of Afghanistan must not be used to carry out terror attacks against other countries, the five-nation influential grouping BRICS said on Thursday and strongly called for combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists.
Gota has to decide if he could order elder brother Mahinda's arrest as the agent provocateur of Monday's violence. Then he has to prepare for an interim government, in which no one would now want to become a cabinet minister leave alone prime minister, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
When the top stars refused to play Milkha Singh, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra went down another route. A riveting excerpt from the director's memoir The Stranger In The Mirror.
A bench headed by acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi, which was hearing a petition against the allegedly obnoxious posts on Maa Kali by user 'AtheistRepublic', directed Twitter to explain how it undertakes the blocking of accounts.
'Partition was a two-sided story in a very big way.' 'We've oversimplified it, blamed the British, thought of ourselves only as victims.' 'We've been both victims and perpetrators.'
India on Friday launched a no-holds-barred attack on Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for his 'uncivilised' outburst against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the comments were a 'new low' even for that country.
Keeping the contents of the BBC documentary aside, Rishi Sunak's response needs to be viewed in the backdrop of Britain's historically close relations with Pakistan, argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
India said on Thursday that it desired normal relations with all its neighbours, including Pakistan, and advised Islamabad to create a conducive atmosphere, including by taking "credible, verifiable and irreversible actions" to stop cross border terrorism against it and enable the two countries to engage and address issues bilaterally.
India on Wednesday hit out at Pakistan and the OIC for raising the Kashmir issue at the UN Human Rights Commission and said the grouping has 'helplessly' allowed itself to be held 'hostage' by Islamabad.
'Neither India nor others deserve this unsolicited lecture on human rights from a country that has consistently persecuted its ethnic and religious minorities, is an epicenter of terrorism'
'Instead of developing the capacity, capability and strength to fight our external enemies, we are turning our own people against each other.'
Biden and Harris are the leaders we need at this time to do the painful but necessary work of creating a more inclusive -- and united -- nation, points out Murali Kamma.
'You will see more laws that treat Hindus and non-Hindus, especially Muslims, quite unequally.' 'Once you see this kind of erosion of secularism, it will be very hard to get it back.'
'If the NSCN-IM is cold shoulderd, the chances are that it will slip back into insurgency,' caution Sandeep Pandey, Meera Sanghamitra and Babloo Loitongbam.
Harbhajan Singh appealed for peace in the wake of protests against the amended citizenship act.
In the historic ruling on Friday, the US Supreme Court decided by six votes to three to overturn the 50-year-old Roe v Wade judgement that guaranteed access to abortion across the country.
'The threat of ceding space to China in Afghanistan appears to be one factor propelling our government to get a bit more active now.'
Over 156 people have been killed in five days of communal violence between the Uighur Muslims and China's dominant Han ethnic group in the capital of China's Xinjiang Uighurs province.
In the Kashmir Valley, we need to begin to make a distinction between an insurgent who fights the security forces and a terrorist who murders unarmed civilians, suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Delhi Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari called the killing an "act of cowardice" and "an act against Islam".
'Sirisena will keep both Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe on tenterhooks till the next general election due in 2020,' says Aditi Phadnis.
In his message to the people on the eve of 58th Statehood Day, Ravi, the interlocutor for the Naga peace process, said the essence of India is its unity in diversity, on the demand for integration of Naga inhabited areas in other states, especially Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
'The expulsion of Kashmiri Pandits -- and all other non-Muslims -- is its clear objective.'
The pattern is invariably the same: One targetted killing followed by a retaliatory attack; and then the dam bursts. Violence gets unleashed. And it has been no different this time, says Nitin Gokhale who has reported on major ethnic/communal riots across Assam over the last three decades
The concept of 'fairness by rulers' is deeply ingrained in Indians and any weakening of this dents the legitimacy of the ruler, warns military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to do enough to prevent the violence.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday warned Indian students against 'vigilante action'. Promising 'hardline measures' against racial attacks, Rudd said, "It's unacceptable for anyone to commit an act of violence against any student of any ethnicity anywhere in Australia.""I fully support hardline measures in response to any act of violence towards any student anywhere - Indian or otherwise," he said.
"As associate attorney general, the number three job at the department, I nominate Vanita Gupta. A woman I've known for some time. One of the most respected civil rights lawyers in America," Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware as he announced some of the key nominations in the Justice Department on Thursday.
