'First they will say Kashmiris are not good enough to be Indians, then it will be Muslims are not good enough to be Indians, then they will start a conflict within Hindus that Dalits are not Indians'
'The BJP's all-India plans can be expected to become clearer around 2022-2023, particularly if -- as some anticipate -- the senior Congress leadership cracks, broadly as between the Nehru-Gandhi loyalists and those who may be termed 'pro-changers',' observes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
The two met during a training in Mussorie and it was love at first sight.
'When those who took oath in the name of the Indian Constitution are not acceptable, where do the other Kashmiris stand?'
'...by stopping its promotion of turmoil, its aid and abetment to militancy.' 'Mr Vajpayee paved the road for peace by engaging Pakistan tirelessly while also reaching out to Kashmiri leaders and people at large.' 'Like so often in the past, this government does not have a policy. No consistency in approach.'
Amid growing tensions in Jammu and Kashmir, Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed has pledged full support to the Kashmiris in their struggle for freedom and said he backed 'jihad' in the troubled state in concert with Pakistani government and the army.
'.. if the cost is its own survival,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Who put the fear of god into Imran Khan and how it happened we do not know, but the great cricketer panicked and called Mahathir to regret that he cannot attend the KL Summit,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The biggest danger is that majoritarianism is getting normalised, insidiously and overtly... We are bringing the worst, not the best in us... We are looking for new enemies - Muslims, urban Naxals, tukde tukde gang, some enemy or the other which keeps this majoritarian wheel turning,' says journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.
An opinion is steadily gaining ground in Muslim countries in India's 'extended neighbourhood' that the Modi government is adopting State policies that are decidedly 'anti-Muslim', warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The people of the state can be won over by love, and not by swords.'
The dreaded Kashmiri terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen may be receiving money through a Pakistan-based agency from an Islamic charity in Canada engaged in helping the poor and needy in this country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said peace in the world is not possible if the factory of terrorism continues like this.
Six Kashmiri Muslim students belonging to Sarhad, an organisation which brings semi-orphans from strife-torn regions to live and study at their school and college in Pune, share their hopes for their state and their experiences outside it. Jyoti Punwani reports.
'India's reputation is not and cannot be dependent on the whimsical opinions of some obscure foreign advisory committee packed with Hindu-phobic acolytes,' declares Vivek Gumaste.
'They know it can embarrass them, as this surely isn't 1962.' 'They also know the moment they fire the first shot, all insecure powers in their front-yard, Australia to Japan and all the way westwards to India, will be brought together overnight, not something the deputy superpower wants,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Giving economic aid to Kashmir is like giving TB medicine to a patient suffering from cancer and expecting it to work, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
She also advised people not to watch debates on television channels which only foment hatred between the two warring nations as well as the Muslims of Kashmir and the rest of the country.
Here's a collection of some of the best photos from around the world shot in the last 24 hours.
'Once the violence is contained, the politicians must play their role, but unfortunately that is not happening.'
'I have only seen conflict since I was born. I want it to stop. I am longing for peace.'
'Raazi is being hailed for breaking the glass ceiling for Daughters of Bollywood Inc,' says Sunil Sethi.
'This is not a cricket match where one side lost and the other side won! Kashmiris are our own.'
'As of now, this one move seems to have precariously altered the balance of forces on the volatile ground, between separatists and the mainstream. 'The landscape today presents a fearsome picture of the future of mainstream politics in Kashmir. 'Conversely, the separatist ideology looks to have got an unearned boost,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs
'We are not marketing (the) Modi name but the work and trust that it projects.'
Rediff.com brings you glimpses of how Muslims across the globe are observing the month of fasting and the holiest period for the Islamic faith.
Real Kashmir FC co-owner Sandeep Chattoo, on Friday, said his side is now on a mission to make the 'paradise on earth' a paradise for the beautiful game.
'Washington's silence about India's Article 370 move tells us all we need to know: It doesn't want to rock the boat of a relationship that has navigated some choppy waters but remains a highly important one.'
Shehla doesn't and has never shied away from talking the tough talk and walking the tough walk, says Gurmehar Kaur.
'The Post's coverage is not an authentic public discourse guided by unbiased Western intellectuals, but a slanted doomsday propaganda orchestrated by Indians and expatriate Indians,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
In its attempt to clinch majority in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party is trying to make inroads in Jammu by raking up "regional discrimination" and secularism card to woo the Hindu voters of the region.
'Criticism that Amnesty is interested in those in favour of independence for Kashmir is unfounded.'
Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded immediate arrest of separatist leaders who had waved Pakistani flags during a rally in Srinagar, saying it was not satisfied with the "mere registration" of a police case against them.
'Treating our ethnic cleansing with budgetary measures and financial doles is - one, not a prudent solution and second, an insult to our cause. Please understand the gravity of the situation. Our exodus is just a symptom of the malaise that has affected the valley. We would prefer to stay in exile than being sent back to be slaughtered again in a few decades. Please treat the disease and not the symptoms,' writes Lalit Koul 'Sharnarthee'.
'Vajpayee was the first prime minister to visit the battlefield at the height of conflict,' recalls Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The spirit of religious faith in Kashmir is inclusive.' 'There an inclusiveness of Islam in Kashmir.' 'An ordinary Kashmiri can be a political fundamentalist, but he can never be a religious fundamentalist.'
A PDP-BJP alliance would have been formed on the evening of December 28 had the BJP agreed to let Mufti Mohammad Sayeed become chief minister for the first three years and allow the BJP to nominate its chief minister for the next three years.
Al Qaeda, which has announced the creation of a separate wing for India, wants to portray Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an enemy of Islam and as such India should take its threat "very seriously", a well-known American counter-terror expert said on Friday even as the United States tried to downplay the terrorist outfit's capabilities.
Narendra Modi and the father-son duo of Farooq and Omar Abdullah were on Monday engaged in bitter sparring, with the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate alleging that the biggest blow to secularism in the country was delivered in Kashmir from where Kashmiri Pandits were forced out due to their religion.
What used to be confined to homes as a winter garment has become a political and cultural symbol, with most leaders and many citizens donning the long cloak at offices and their places of work, observes Athar Parvaiz.
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