All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, notes Jyoti Punwani.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat stated that the Sangh's objective is to unite society, not to seek power or become a pressure group. He emphasized that the RSS is not against anyone and aims to support positive efforts in the country.
This new year will bring, once again, a repetition of both intent and apathy, expects Aakar Patel.
Radical Islamist networks are deliberately targeting Muslim youths embedded within the country's professional and academic ecosystems, leveraging their skills, mobility, and digital reach to quietly strengthen operational capabilities. This trend highlights a dangerous evolution in terror recruitment -- one that exploits ideological faultlines, online echo chambers and transnational radical Islamist influences to attract individuals who outwardly embody India's modern and aspirational narrative, points out Dr Kanchan Lakshman.
The hope is that the film raises significant issues about the rights of women, and does not become a diatribe against a minority community that has happened with some recent films, points out Deepa Gahlot.
A woman arrested for allegedly promoting Al-Qaeda's agenda had appealed to Pakistan's Army chief to invade India to unify Muslim lands under Project Khilafat, officials said.
'This is just the beginning. You have to wait and watch to see things getting better.'
For Malegaon's Muslims, Rahul Gandhi's remarks were simply one more indication that the party they once supported no longer cares for them, notes Jyoti Punwani.
His post got a lot of heart emojis and one follower thanked him for taking a stand on the matter of unity.
The Union home ministry on Tuesday asserted that Indian Muslims need not worry as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will not impact their citizenship and has nothing to do with the community which enjoys equal rights as their Hindu counterparts.
'A terrorist has no religion -- they are nothing but the face of evil. When you offer namaz for a terrorist, attend their funeral, or give them a grave, you affirm that they belong to a religion. That must stop'
' Hakim Khan Suri sacrificed his life in the battle of Haldighati, fighting against the Mughals. Madari, a Muslim youth, was Shivaji Maharaj's bodyguard'
He added, "You can never trust Pakistan as long as the Pakistani deep state, Pakistani ISI, Pakistani military's objective is to destabilise Bharat."
'I am ashamed that you and I were born into the same faith -- because we are nothing alike. My religion is humanity. The Islam I know teaches me to protect the innocent. Yours celebrates slaughter, you #&$#@#. 'My Islam teaches me to serve my nation. Yours tells you to tear it apart,' writes Major Dr Mohommed Ali Shah (retd).
'There's no transparency in work (of the Wakf Board), in property transactions (of the Waqf).'
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.
'If Pakistan has fired one bullet at us then we have to respond by firing 10 bullets at them. It is our right to do so.'
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
'Muslims need to work according to strategy and not fall into the trap of Opposition parties.'
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
Asserting that religion should not used to get political mileage, Azad said whoever takes refuge in religion in politics is weak.
'The irony of this country is that the party in Opposition and the party in power both depend on Muslims.'
Pratinav Anil is able to foresee some agency and assertion on the part of India's Muslims. His hope emanates from the citizenship rights movement of Muslims in 2019-2020, notes Mohammad Sajjad.
Shah, in a video that has gone viral on Twitter, said every Indian Muslim must introspect if they want 'reform and modernity' in the religion or live with dated 'barbarian' values.
After being elected president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1999, Najma Heptulla rang up the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from Berlin to convey the news but had to hold the phone line for an hour as a staff told her that 'madam is busy'.
A meeting of the joint committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday witnessed fireworks with members vociferously opposing certain provisions of the draft legislation, leading to a brief walkout by opposition members.
'No country or society ever prospered or remained secure by marginalising more than one-sixth of its own,' warns Shekhar Gupta.
'Whatever you do will spark controversies, so it is best do what your heart tells you to do. Simple.'
'Christians, for example, make up 2 per cent of India's population but an estimated 16 per cent of those who were born in India now reside elsewhere,' said Pew.
'How does relief in the form of citizenship to a persecuted Hindu in Bangladesh put the citizenship of an Indian Muslim in danger?', asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'Nowhere does the CAA state that Muslims will be deprived of their Indian citizenship.'
'Not afraid to look Muslim, not shy of flaunting her nationalism.' 'With a willingness to fight carrying the Constitution, the Flag, the Anthem, Ambedkar, Gandhi and the chant of 'Hindustan Zindabad',' notes Shekhar Gupta.
According to Owaisi, the CAA was only made towards making India a Hindu Rashtra.
Over 100 people in the Washington, DC metropolitan area gathered to hear Indian Muslim leader Syed Shahabuddin at a dinner hosted in his honour by the Association of Indian Muslims of America.
Citing that many Muslims fought in Mewar king Maharana Pratap's army against Mughal emperor Akbar, Bhagwat suggested that in India's history people from all faiths stood together whenever there was an attack on the country's culture.
Bhagwat further emphasised that no Muslim will face any loss due to the citizenship law.
"Everything may look normal in Kashmir. Everything may look normal here. We may be celebrating the victory, although of course some people believe that that victory or that success of 2024 was perhaps only marginal, perhaps a lot more needs to be done," he said.
The United States on Thursday said it is concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in India and is closely monitoring its implementation.
'Episodes of targeted attacks on Muslims established that for a section of people and, sadly, even officials of the State, the election results conveyed no lessons.' 'Opposition parties must not be hesitant in speaking out whenever the mob with tacit State support targets Muslims,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
'We were expecting at least they would be held guilty, but instead they have gone scot-free'
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