The historians expressed concern over the silence of the prime minister on the issue. "And when it is hoped that the head of government will make a statement about improving the prevailing conditions, he chooses to speak only about general poverty; and it takes the Head of the State to make the required reassuring statement, not once but twice."
'It is time for General Musharraf to show the world whether he is a reformer or no different from other military rulers,' the Human Rights Watch said.
'Women are so unsafe in our country... Leaving the country isn't a solution. We need to stand up for ourselves.'
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, whose "leaving India" comments linked to the "intolerance" debate had kicked up a huge controversy, on Monday said he never meant that he wanted to leave the country and asserted that India was intolerant.
The prevailing communal situation in the country does not indicate existence of alleged intolerance in the country, the government said on Tuesday.
Under criticism for withdrawing United States scholar Wendy Doniger's book, 'The Hindus: An Alternative History', from the country, Penguin Books India on Friday said it had an obligation to respect laws even if they were "intolerant and restrictive".
Mumbai police formed 11 teams and also roped in the Crime Branch to nab the 24-year-old son of a ruling Shiv Sena leader after a BMW car the youth was driving crashed into a scooter, killing a woman and injuring her husband, an official said.
The complainant, who is a resident of east Delhi's Vasundhra Enclave area, told the police that he "as a citizen of this country feels that the celebrities should think before speaking."
"What Aamir Khan -- one of the most respected actors -- has said, and in the presence of senior BJP people, is what the whole world is saying, all of India is saying, all right-minded people are saying. I only hope and trust that he will not be referred to as a 'Congressman', not to be told as a biased person, he will not be referred to in derogatory terms," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told ANI.
'As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me, also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened,' she said.
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan feels that the sense of insecurity and fear has been growing in the past six or eight months.
'Every report I filed for Rediff.com on the professor's incarceration, would leave me wondering for days, at the depth of the State's malevolence towards this disabled professor, and his equally deep capacity to tolerate it,' recalls Jyoti Punwani.' 'No country in the world would do what our country was doing to someone so helpless.'
Lamenting the "unfortunate tendency" to take umbrage at the expression of any view considered hostile, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said the "freedom to doubt, disagree and dispute" must be protected.
Playback singer Sonu Nigam on Friday lashed out the Jet Airways for suspending the crew members, who allowed him to perform impromptu on the aircraft's address system.
'...We should first look at and acknowledge what we have done to ourselves.' 'To not do so opens us to the accusation of rank hypocrisy and also reduces the stature of our globetrotting peaceniks,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher sparred during a debate over the limits imposed on freedom of speech and were joined in by a politically divided audience at the Jaipur Lit Fest.
'Days ago, India witnessed the horror of the brutal rape and murder of a woman doctor on night duty at the R G Kar hospital in Kolkata.' 'The crime was so outrageous that any self-respecting chief minister should have resigned, bearing moral responsibility.' 'But then the terms 'self-respect' and 'moral responsibility' do not exist in the modern Indian political lexicon,' argues Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
The government is formulating guidelines on the use of ethylene oxide (ETO) in samples of spices for the domestic market and exports, people aware of the matter said, as it plans to step up efforts to make quality checks more stringent. ETO, a flammable, colourless gas, is typically used as a disinfectant. It is also used as a sterilising agent and an insecticide to reduce microbial contamination in spices. However, its use is considered carcinogenic, beyond permissible limits.
The official further said Mihir Shah's father and Palghar Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah took active part in ensuring his son's escape and also had plans to tow away the offending vehicle.
"In India, we derive our strength from tolerance, and respect our pluralism. We celebrate our diversity," he said.
'At the start of the session, (Prime Minister) bows down at the door of Parliament. This is theatrics'
'Those who are upset by the current government's hard position against agitating Kashmiris should know it is exactly as hard as the position of previous governments.' 'Congress also killed as many, and actually more, but it spoke softly.' 'The BJP uses harsher words, but that is the only real difference,' says Aakar Patel.
The writers, artistes, thinkers and academics had gathered for a "resistance" meet (Pratirodh) against what they described as "attack on reason, democracy and composite culture".
'The darkest days of Indian democracy were (during) the Emergency when basic democratic rights were suspended. For a time it seemed as though India would move along the East Asian model -- everybody works hard, nobody asks questions, certainly not of the government.' 'There are people who say we are headed that way, but I am not persuaded by the evidence,' says Mahesh Rangarajan who recently resigned as director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi.
Inability to fall asleep at night, frequent bouts of insomnia or waking up in the middle of the night are common symptoms of hyperthyroidism, warns Dr Piyush Lodha.
Lyricist Javed Akhtar said that Hindus have always been tolerant, adding that democracy in India existed because of Hindus at an event in Mumbai on Friday.
The Maldives former deputy speaker Abdulla said the remarks by the minister are "simply shameful, racist and intolerable."
'Yes, we engage when those issues come up and try to strike that balance between what is an internal domestic matter for the government to resolve, and what's an issue that actually should be raised on the bilateral level.'
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ousted as the president of Sri Lanka in a popular public uprising in 2022, on Thursday hinted that India was keen on his continuation despite the growing public discontent against him at the behest of certain Western powers.
'I channelise my despair and anger into telling relevant stories and through them, taking on those who have made it a business to be intolerant.'
After eminent writers Nayantara Sahgal and Ashok Vajpeyi, Malayalam novelist and Aam Aadmi Party leader Sarah Joseph today said she would return the Sahitya Akademi award in protest against what she called the "growing communalism" and "life threat faced by writers" in the country after Narendra Modi government assumed office.
Speaking at a rally in poll-bound Bihar, Modi said that the Congress has no right to talk about tolerance after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Despite being 90% handicapped, suffering from multiple ailments and dependent on a wheelchair, the former Delhi University professor has not been able to step out of the anda cell of the Nagpur Jail at all since his conviction.
Another former Congressman and the current BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said nothing has changed in the Congress since he was 'forced out' of the party for 'speaking against dynasty'.
The leaders of the grouping who met under India's presidency in New Delhi adopted the Delhi Declaration in which they emphasised the freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly.
'Those who hope for a strong united Opposition are disillusioned at the way in which the INDIA alliance has already been caught in debilitating squabbles.'
The President asked, "Is tolerance and acceptance of dissent on the wane?"
The Congress has been in the crosshairs after demeaning remarks on Ranaut and Mandi were posted on the social media handles of its leaders Supriya Shrinate and H S Ahir.
The monk, Amogh Lila Das, criticised Swami Vivekananda for eating fish, stating that a virtuous person can never harm a living being.
India abstained in the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution introduced by Pakistan and co-sponsored by China on Islamophobia, asserting that the prevalence of 'religiophobia' against Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and other faiths facing violence and discrimination must also be acknowledged rather than singling out just one religion.
