The apex court, however, allowed the West Bengal unit of the BJP to continue with its proposed public rallies and meetings under its "Ganatantra Bachao Yatra".
VHP general secretary Pravin Togadia claimed the Gujarat elections had proved that 'Hindu bashing is not profitable in India.
Vowing not to give an 'inch of land belonging to Lord Jagannath of Puri' for the proposed Vedanta University in Orissa, Vishwa Hindu Parishad international secretary General Pravin Bhai Togadia on Wednesday said his outfit would fight tooth and nail to protect the 'land of the Lord'. "We vehemently oppose the move of the Naveen Patnaik-led government to hand over thousands of acres of land belonging to Lord Jagannath and the VHP," he said.
When Bollywood stars get festive...
The Rajasthan police has arrested a man having alleged links with a Hindu militant outfit in connection with the 2007 Ajmer Dargah bomb blast, which killed three people and injured over 30 others.
On the eve of 22nd anniversary of Babri mosque demolition, the temple town has turned into a fortress with nearly 10,000 security personnel deployed amid calls by Muslim outfits to mark the day by hoisting black flags even as Hindu bodies seek to commemorate it.
An SIT officer probing the murder case said the investigation is in final stage and a chargesheet will be filed in two months.
Main accused in the Margao blast Malgonda Patil had revealed to the police names of those involved in the explosion before his death, said Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik. "Patil made certain statements to the police before his death naming people who were involved (in the blast), while he was being shifted from a hospital in Margao to Panaji," Naik told reporters.
A Special Investigating Team was formed by the Goa government on Sunday to probe the Margao blast in which two members of a Hindu right-wing organisation, allegedly involved in the explosion, were killed.
In a video posted after the alleged attack, Goswami said he was told by his security guards that the attackers were allegedly Youth Congress workers. However, there was no confirmation of the same by either police or the youth outfit.
Patnaik's image of a "clean and honest" politician is widely regarded as the reason why he was able to withstand a spirited challenge thrown by the Bharatiya Janata Party, analysts say of perhaps the lone regional satrap who cannot even properly speak the language of his native state.
The Friends of Modi initiative is expected to to boost the BJP's vote count by at least 1%.
'Is Rahul turning the Congress' covert soft-Hindutva support into overt support now?' 'And if so, following in the BJP's footsteps, is the Congress going to abandon Indian Muslims and Muslim causes altogether?' asks Dr Najid Hussain whose father-in-law former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the Gujarat riots.
As a part of the commemoration, the right-wing outfit also plans to hold blood donation camps and distribute literature.
A proposal to ban the Sanstha is pending with the Maharashtra government since last year, a top ATS officer said on Tuesday.
The Goa government said on Monday that it is contemplating a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha for its alleged involvement in the Diwali-eve blast in Panaji even as the Hindu right-wing organisation denied of any role in the explosion that left one dead and another critically wounded.
The Malaysian police will seek help from international agencies like Interpol and Europol to monitor the overseas activities of the Hindu Right Action Force, which spearheaded protests by ethnic Indians against alleged marginalisation. Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharom told reporters that the agencies involved were the European Law Enforcement Organisation, Asean police and Interpol.
Hindraf, a Malaysian outfit spearheading a stir by ethnic-Indians, will press the Commonwealth to suspend Kuala Lumpur from the body for its discriminatory policies against the community."We will urge the 54-member Commonwealth to suspend Malaysia from its body," said Malaysia-born Waytha Moorthy, founder-chairman of the Hindu Rights Action Force. Moorthy, a lawyer by profession, is currently seeking asylum in United Kingdom after the Malaysian government revoked his passport
Notwithstanding Congress' reprimand, Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Saturday intensified his attack on his friend-turned foe Mulayam Singh Yadav accusing him of conniving with the Bharatiya Janata Party to flare up communal passions and dared the Samajwadi Party leader to a public debate on Babri issue.
The demand for imposing a ban on Sangh Parivar outfits Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishas on Monday gained momentum with the Congress saying these organisations were a "suitable case" for such action. "Bajrang Dal is a suitable case for ban... Also the VHP," Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said in Delhi.
The arrest of alleged Lashkar-e-Tayiba sympathiser Dr Imran Ahmed alias Immu Bhai on Friday has breathed new life into the investigation into the plot to assassinate Hindu leaders in Bangalore.
Prohibitory orders were on Sunday clamped in communally-sensitive Kandhmal district and security tightened across Orissa after the killing of a prominent Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader and his five associates sparked protests in the state with a prayer house being torched.
Upholding principles was a luxury when there were charismatic leaders capable of winning elections without stooping low to indulge in identity politics, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Police were probing the links of right-wing group Sanatan Saunstha with the blast that took place at 9.30 pm on Friday night when explosives kept in a scooter went off on a busy street in Margao, 30 km from Panaji.
Sonal Shah, the first Indian-American to be inducted in United States President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, has formally renounced her affiliation with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which has been accused of fomenting violence against Muslims and Christians in India.Shah, former member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has said if she could have anticipated the outfit's role in the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat, she would have never associated with its US branch.
Criticising Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohammad for his statement that Hindraf is made up ofTamil racists, the outfit that led protests by ethnic Indians against alleged marginalisation has said that the former premier was trying to divert attention from his wrongdoings. Hindu Rights Action Force president P Waythamoorthysaid that the remark made Mahathir sounds "like a broken record," Makkal Osai, a local daily, said.
"We are appalled to notice the recent trend in this state to sensationalise every case of inter-religious marriage as either 'love jihad' or 'ghar wapsi' even if there was platonic love between the spouses before," the court said.
A host of pro-Hindutva outfits, including Abhinav Bharat, organised a meeting in Pune on Sunday to raise money for the accused in the Malegaon blast case.Taking strong exception to the expression 'Hindu terrorism' being used in regard to the suspects booked by the Anti-Terrorism Squad -- Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col Shrikant Purohit and Dayanand Pandey -- Abhinav Bharat president Himani Savarkar told the gathering that the money collected would be used for the legal battles.
The priest-turned-politician is not someone who minces his words.
Born as Ajay Singh, the diminutive shaven headed politician is known for his provocative speeches and mass following across Uttar Pradesh.
Kamruddin Nagori, brother of Students Islamic Movement of India chief Safdar Nagori, has revealed that some leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad were on the hit-list of the banned outfit.
In the wake of threats by some outfits to organise protests on Valentine's Day, the Centre on Thursday asked the Karnataka government to take "preventive and punitive" action to ensure law and order.
The protesters blocked roads in several areas of Mumbai, forced shops to shut down.
Refusing to be dragged into the controversy over Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed's statement that Gujarat riots led to creation of Indian Mujahideen, the Home Ministry on Tuesday said the NIA charge sheet and its position on the banned terror outfit are clear.
Thackeray said the BJP's perception of being a "world winner" had been shattered with the results of the just-held state assembly polls.
All I have to say is that the narco-analysis reports came in very late and by the time we started to look into it, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. We however got to know that those involved in the Nanded blast were also part of the Parbhani blasts case, says K P S Raghuvanshi, former chief of the Mumbai Anti Terrorism Squad
'Congress is being increasingly seen to be standing with Pakistan as Tharoor's statement was not an isolated incident'
An influential Hindu organisation in the United States has slammed a group of lawmakers for introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives on record of India's religious freedom arguing that it is grossly inaccurate and aims to provoke.
Speaking at the Annual Prime Minister's National Cadet Corps Rally 2020, Modi said the problem in Jammu and Kashmir persisted since Independence and some families and political parties kept issues in the region "alive", as a result of which terrorism thrived there.
'Since the two successive drubbings of the Congress have rung the alarm bells about the party's future, the need to chart a new course cannot be delayed any further,' says Amulya Ganguli.
