'...to think apna time aa gaya after the 2024 election.'
'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered a probe into the matter.
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by three persons in Assam's Nagaon district, triggering massive protests by people on the streets.
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.
'Nehru remains central to the polemic between the Congress and the BJP, or stated ideologically, between secular and Hindu nationalism.' 'The reason is that Nehru represents what is optimally possible as a secular politics along with liberalism and democracy in a country like India.'
Muslims' share in the reservation will keep on increasing also because of "conversion and infiltration because they are having a secular cover from them (the Congress)", he added.
Delhi Waqf Board chairman Amanatullah Khan in a letter to ASI director general, last week, requested for allowing namaz at the "ancient" Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in Qutab Minor complex.
The chief minister of Pakistan's North West Province has assured the minority Hindu community that he will construct a 'shamshan ghat' (cremation ground) in Mardan district from his personal funds.
'...or go to jail.' 'The government is getting them silenced.'
The CJI's remarks came amid mounting concerns in India over widespread incidents of attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh after prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled on August 5 following weeks of violent unrest.
'The Kerala BJP leadership is doing the job of clerical staff. What the boss orders, they just follow them.'
'Even the Prime Minister on Naya Pakistan will not believe that girls of this tender age can voluntarily decide about their conversion to another religion and marriage'
It also cautioned that if the legislation is passed, the "two crutches" on which the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is running at the Centre would not be able to escape responsibility.
India on Friday strongly trashed the criticism against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), including by the United States, and said 'vote-bank politics' should not determine views about a 'laudable initiative' to help those in distress.
Khan's remarks came amidst a controversy over Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah's remarks on mob violence in India.
Several eminent officials and experts from both India and the United States have told American lawmakers that a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre would be detrimental to the basic rights of the religious minorities in India.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant also issued a notice to the Agartala police on the plea filed by advocates, Mukesh and Ansarul Haq, and journalist Shyam Meera Singh against lodging of the FIR.
'Will the liberals explain if minorities are under such a dire threat in India, how come more and more groups want to separate from the majority and want themselves to be declared a minority?' asks Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'...by directing these draconian provisions against political and ideological opponents of the ruling group, minorities, and those who dare to dissent through and selective prosecution and prolonged incarceration as undertrials.'
In the Muslim community, views on this Lok Sabha election seem to vary, with some seeing it as crucial for India's pluralism while others feel neglected by political parties.
The Hindu Marriage Bill 2017, which is the first elaborate Hindu community's personal law, was adopted by the Senate on Friday.
'This is what Hindu Rashtra looks like, which has been enabled by conditions of democracy.'
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said notifying the rules for the CAA days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections shows the Bharatiya Janata Party is not confident about winning 400 seats in the ensuing polls.
The Biden administration's failure in stopping two major wars and several minor ones was seen as a major disaster by many Americans and the world at large, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The Supreme Court Thursday agreed to hear a plea of two advocates and a journalist seeking quashing of a criminal case lodged under the harsh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act provisions against them for allegedly bringing facts through social media posts about the 'targeted violence' against the minority community in Tripura.
'Sri Ayodhyaji will emerge as the greatest centre of cultural togetherness, universal harmony, vasudeva kutumbakam, compassion, and love for every single living being on this Earth.'
'We also urge you to take steps to control the activities of groups, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,' said the letter signed by 34 top American lawmakers.
This theory of 'Hindus vs the rest' sees the two communities as two separate blocs. Isn't that the two-nation theory? What of the deep bonds that the communities have on the ground? asks Jyoti Punwani.
Pakistan wanted to be constitutionally communal, India wanted to be secular but is communalising itself. All three nations share a penal code, but they have amended their laws to enable the State to specifically target minorities, points out Aakar Patel.
A 16-year-old Hindu boy who had allegedly run away with a girl was beaten up by a group of men in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district allegedly on suspicion that it was a case of so-called 'love jihad', police said on Saturday.
The term 'love jihad' is used by right-wing groups to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
The affidavit, filed by B C Joshi, Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the CAA does not confer any arbitrary and unguided powers on the executive as the citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh would be granted in a manner as specified under the law governing grant of citizenship.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has honoured Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain refugees by giving them citizenship through Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday and maintained there is no provision of stripping of anyone's citizenship in the new law.
Obama in an interview to CNN on Thursday had said that India may "pull apart" if the rights of the religious and ethnic minorities are not upheld.
In 2017 the Bangladesh supreme court on his watch annulled the 16th amendment to the constitution which empowered parliament to impeach SC judges for misconduct or incapacity. As it upheld the independence of the judiciary, it miffed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who accused Justice Sinha of 'humiliating' the country. He was accused of corruption and misuse of power, allegations that he denied. Prakash Bhandari reports.
'Non-separation of religion from politics is India's most daunting challenge'
A group of assailants has set on fire at least 29 homes of Hindus in Bangladesh over an alleged blasphemous social media post amidst protests by the minority community against temple vandalism incidents during the Durga Puja celebrations last week, media reports said on Monday.
Religious minorities in India have been subjected to "violent attacks, forced conversions" and 'Ghar Wapsi' campaigns by groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after the Modi government assumed power in 2014, a US Congress-established panel has said.
