The two Indian Americans on the White House inter-faith council, Eboo Patel, a Muslim, and Anju Bhargava, a Hindu, have strongly endorsed United States President Barack Obama's support for the proposed mosque cum community and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York, saying it was a constitutional issue with regard to freedom of religion that had to be protected zealously
The ruling party sharply countered the comment, saying the Congress had "demeaned and defamed" Hindus of India.
'The BJP had ruled earlier too, but nothing of this sort happened then... I don't say the government is behind the attacks, but they don't do anything to stop the attacks.' 'The prime minister has to tell the perpetrators that it is not in the interest of the government that such incidents happen.' 'When somebody says all Indians are Hindus, responsible people should ask him to stop and assure the country that this is not the opinion of the government. But it is not happening and it is quite unfortunate,' Cardinal Baselios Cleemis tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
Even Muslim critics of the face veil, who insist that it has no sanction in their reading of Islam, do not necessarily support the French ban, says Yoginder Sikand
From the standoff with China to the government's response to the farmers' protest, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds a freewheeling talk.
'Thank God I don't live in a country governed by religious contractors,' Irrfan bursts out on Twitter.
The actor's arrest had sparked social media outrage with people calling it an attack on the freedom of speech.
It will be heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
'You can't go on creating division and rhetoric of hate.' 'It comes to roost. We are seeing the first glimpses of that in the state elections.'
An influential lawmaker from New York congratulated Captain Tejdeep Singh Rattan for graduating from the Army Officer Course, making him the first turbaned Sikh officer to complete basic training in over two decades.
The development is being seen as a sign of the growing political prominence of Hindus in America. Hinduism is the fourth largest faith in the US, representing approximately one per cent of the US population in 2016.
Have we been allowed to forget Partition? Isn't Partition the reason many Hindus cannot bring themselves to trust Muslims? So many Muslims born after 1947 have told me with anguish: "How long will we be blamed for Partition?" notes Jyoti Punwani.
About 200 people were inside the conference centre at the time and were moved to the back of the building before being evacuated using school buses.
BJP general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka's party affairs P Muralidhar Rao alleged that the problem of the Congress was looking at schemes through the prism of religion which is reflected in promising benefits to autorickshaw owners, "who in majority belong to the minority community."
'Why should she involve Islam in it?' 'We are living in a secular democracy and she has the right to do what she wants. but why bring Islam into it?'
France is under a wave of cyberattacks since the Paris rampage that killed 17, with about 19,000 French websites being targeted, said a top French cyberdefense official.
The two channels -- Media One and Asianet News TV -- were earlier issued a show cause notice and after they filed their replies, the ministry found them to be in violation of the Programme Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
The BJP knows the CAA, combined with a fresh nationwide NRC process, is an idea that's dead on arrival. Where it lives on is as a divisive, polarising instrument as its rivals have to take a position against it and thereby be exposed to the charge of 'Muslim appeasement' again, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Bollywood celebrated 70 years of Independence by telling us what it means to them, and posting interesting pictures on social media.
"They say I am anti-Hindu. No. I am anti-(Narendra) Modi, I am anti-Hegde, I am anti-Amit Shah. According to me, they are not Hindus. Mr Anant Kumar Hegde, who says he wants to wipe out an 'ism', a religion from the face of this earth cannot be a Hindu," Prakash Raj said.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Sunday decided to launch a nationwide campaign against making 'Surya Namaskar' and Yoga compulsory in schools.
'There is a discomfort among many of us at the fact that the Republic is not more Hindu than it could or should be.' 'This discomfort is producing laws such as the one we now have in Gujarat,' says Aakar Patel.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill would possibly be the first piece of legislation that is perniciously discriminatory on the basis of religion/faith, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'Whatever the BJP tries to do, they will not be able to make a big mark in Kerala.'
Recently, several Twitter users began migrating to the social networking platform after a protest that began with Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde's Twitter account suspension, and moved on to a larger conversation about Twitter's policies being allegedly anti-Dalit and certain castes and religion.
'It is a travesty that I have to prove my commitment to Gandhi and to this country.'
'The idea of a 'Hindu Rashtra' only emerged in the 1920s and 1930s.' 'The context at that time was the clear British attempt at 'divide and rule' between Hindus and Muslims and within Hindus on caste lines,' argues military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde at the outset said that it will only deal with the issues referred to it by a five-judge bench on November 14 in the Sabarimala case, and asked the lawyers to convene a meeting on January 17 to decide on 're-framing' or adding additional issues to be deliberated upon by it.
Meet Joya Nandy Kazi, Hollywood's go-to-choreographer for Indian traditional dance and Bollywood style dance routines.
About 90 per cent of the workers at this delivery service facility are said to be Indian-Americans, mostly from the Sikh community.
'It seems we will get an NRC which will include the names of illegal foreigners and exclude genuine Indian citizens'
Television anchor and actress Mini Mathur, husband Director Kabir Khan (whose film '83 on India's first cricket World Cup win releases on April 10) and their children Sarah and Vivaan are currently holidaying in the Maldives.
'Modi is an uncivilised person who is ruling a fascist regime.' 'This is not a one religion country. We are a country of many religions many cultures. India is not a country it is a civilisation and that is what they are trying to destroy.'
'The protests have forced the government to announce that the NRC is not an immediate priority.' 'Even if they are trying to pursue this policy in a different guise, through the NPR, the fact that they have been forced to pause and backtrack at least temporarily shows the positive impact of the protests.' 'Moreover, various state governments have opposed the NPR which cannot be carried out without their cooperation. That is also a success of the protests.' 'The state governments would not have taken this stance against the central government if their hand had not been forced by the popular mood.'
The party will launch its 'Sevagram Se Sangram' likening its fight against Modi-led government to the freedom struggle against the British.
'We will talk to Muslim, Christian organisations and form a broad alliance so that every temple, church and mosque will have freedom to manage their affairs and not to be intervened upon.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday praised Fiji's Constitution which reflected the will of an enlightened nation, guaranteed freedoms and rights to the citizens, ensured their basic needs and empowered them.
A bipartisan Congressional resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives calling on the US government to continue the policy of denying a visa to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the grounds of religious freedom violations.
'The message from those in power is clear. Either agree with us or suffer the consequences'
With the Tamil Nadu electorate having given him an unprecedented mandate that had eluded his father the late M Karunanidhi, Stalin has to prove his worth, ensuring at the same time that the Dravidian drag on the AIADMK's side does not open up space for the BJP to make inroads in the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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