Addressing an event in Jaipur, the RSS leader said, "The term 'Hindu' has already entered our Constitution and country. It is a fact of history. Hindu is an identity and a culture to which people belong."
A dispute between two Hindu groups, the Himalayan Brahmo Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, in Shimla resulted in injuries to seven people, including three police personnel. The clash occurred after members of the Brahmo Samaj entered the ashram premises to perform prayers, which the ashram members objected to. The incident, which involved alleged stone-pelting, has led to the registration of FIRs against seven individuals, including an ABVP leader. The dispute centers around the ownership of the ashram property, which is reportedly worth crores. Both groups have accused each other of attempting to take possession of the property and have called for investigations into the incident.
A family feud within the politically influential Matua community has erupted between Union minister Shantanu Thakur and his brother, BJP MLA Subrata Thakur, creating ripples in West Bengal's political landscape and posing a challenge for the BJP ahead of upcoming elections.
The seer was brought here around 5 am from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, where he was lodged in a jail in connection with a similar case registered against him there, sub-divisional officer of police Piyush Jagtap said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Border Security Force (BSF), central agencies, and the BJP of fanning tension in Murshidabad by allegedly facilitating cross-border influx from Bangladesh. She also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to keep the Union Home Ministry under control. Banerjee has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of three people killed during the violence and directed the state chief secretary to initiate a probe into the role of the BSF.
'I disagree with much of Modi's politics, but it cannot be denied that in these years in office, he has carved more than a niche for himself in history,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
The BJP government in Gujarat has formed a five-member committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, to assess the need for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state and to draft a bill for the same. The committee will submit its report within 45 days. The decision has sparked debate with the Opposition claiming it is an attempt to divert attention from pressing issues ahead of the upcoming local body polls, while the government insists the UCC will protect the rights of tribal communities. The committee will consult with religious leaders, including those from the Muslim community.
A student was arrested in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly offering namaz in an open area of a private university. The arrest followed protests by local Hindu groups over a video that surfaced showing a group of students offering namaz on the university campus during Holi celebrations. The university administration suspended the student and three security personnel and called for police action. A case was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.
The apex court, which took notice of the attack and ordered the local authorities to appear before the court on January 5, also directed the board to submit in court details of all functional and non-functional temples and gurdwaras across Pakistan, Dawn newspaper reported.
BJP MLAs Bharat Y Shetty and Vedavyas Kamath had taken up the issue and demanded stringent action against the teacher or else face protests.
The Pune police registered a case against Hindu seer Kalicharan Maharaj, right-wing leader Milind Ekbote and four others for allegedly making inflammatory speeches during an event in Pune and hurting religious sentiments, officials said on Wednesday.
Over 70 Indian Hindu pilgrims returned home on Wednesday after performing religious rituals at the sacred Katas Raj temples in Pakistan's Punjab province.
A loud sound was heard at around 1 am outside Kalia's residence near Shastri Market in Jalandhar, police said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident.
One person was injured on Friday during the Rath Yatra procession in Ahmedabad, when a male elephant, agitated by excessive noise, broke a barricade and rushed into a narrow lane, officials said.
In the last 11 years, India and the world witnessed what he stood for, what he promised and did not deliver, and what he actually stood for and practised without fearing how history would judge him. Modi's tenure has been punctuated with headline-grabbing decisions, symbolic gestures, and stage-managed moments that continue to define his leadership and India's politics, points out Ramesh Menon.
Reacting to the statement, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said "insulting the Sanatan Dharma again and again" has become the habit of the Samajwadi Party and its leaders.
'In India, legal advocates and faith leaders from across the country's diverse religious communities condemned a case of extreme hate speech against Muslims in the city of Haridwar, calling for the country to uphold its historical traditions of pluralism and tolerance'
This is important because he is to be seen as a sure winner before criss-crossing the state to campaign for candidates of the party or an alliance, highlights N Sathiya Moorthy.
A farmer's family in Gujarat's Amreli district has become the talk of the town after they held a grand burial event for their 'lucky' car.
Jindal said that he had tweeted asking a question to those attacking and insulting Hindu deities and it was not aimed at hurting the religious sentiments of any community.
The bill was defeated by a voice vote on February 23 in the upper house, where the Opposition has a majority, after it was passed by the assembly on February 21.
DMK general secretary Duraimurugan announced through a statement in Salem that Manikam has been placed under suspension for violating the party discipline.
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Protests and a partial bandh were observed in the communally sensitive Bhaderwah town of Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday following an objectionable social media post allegedly put up by a leader of a Hindu group. The post drew resentment from members of both Hindu and Muslim communities, prompting authorities to suspend mobile internet services as a precautionary measure. An FIR has been registered against the accused, Virender Razdan, and raids are underway to nab him.
'The Karnataka government should be alert because in Gujarat during the same occasion, the Kar Sevaks were set on fire at Godhra'
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.
'Pakistan will also try to turn Bangladesh into a base for terrorist attacks on India.'
The BJP was leveraging Hindu religious leaders who'd banded under the Vishwa Hindu Parishad for building a Ram temple at the site of a masjid, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The current situation in Kerala politics is perhaps best described as a case of the state's traditional two front politics now seeing a third front (the BJP) muscling in with the potential outcome being either a messy three front affair or a renewed endorsement of the two front pattern but with one of the old fronts compromised or quashed, observes Shyam G Menon.
The apex court also issued notice on the interim relief sought in the plea for restraining the state from appointing or dismissing 'archakas' (priests) at temples and Hindu religious institutions in the state till the disposal of the petition.
Dr Uma Mysorekar, president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America will offer 'responsive prayers' at the special service which will "symbolise America's traditions of religious tolerance and freedom", the Presidential Inaugural Committee said. "The National Prayer Service, which will embody the themes of tolerance, unity and understanding, is a worship service for all Americans," he said.
The Centre on Thursday assured the Supreme Court that it will neither denotify Waqf properties, including "Waqf by user", nor make any appointments to the central Waqf council and boards till May 5.
A female student of primary school was killed in Kaliganj in West Bengal's Nadia district on Monday after bombs were allegedly hurled from a Trinamool Congress victory celebration rally taken out even before the results of the assembly bypoll were officially announced.
BJP and RSS leaders are once again pushing to remove the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution's Preamble, showing a deeper effort to change India's identity from a diverse, multi-religious republic to a Hindu-first nation, even though they don't have the numbers in Parliament to officially change the Constitution, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Several worshippers at temples across the United States on Wednesday sought heavenly blessings for newly-inaugurated President Barack Obama by ringing bells, lighting sacred lamps and reciting from scriptures. The ceremonies were held in response of the Hindu American Foundation's call to Hindu religious leaders to seek blessings for the success of the new administration.
Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Jitendra Awhad on Wednesday filed a police case in Thane city against religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj for using an expletive against Mahatma Gandhi.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has criticized the Karnataka government's decision to provide four per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts, stating that the Constitution does not allow religion-based quotas. He also said that such reservations go against the wishes of B R Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution. He also spoke about the controversy over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's grave in Maharashtra, stating that people who went against the ethos of India were made icons. Hosabale lauded figures like Rajput king Maharana Pratap for resisting Mughal emperor Akbar and said those who resisted invaders were also "freedom fighters". He also spoke about the RSS's idea of 'One Nation, One Culture', stating that it draws inspiration from India's rich cultural heritage and ethos.
The trust members had earlier said they would be sending an official invite to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the event.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
