Can ordinary citizens counter this backward march? Can peace activists ensure that the two communities retain their bonds? Do they have a choice, asks Jyoti Punwani.
All 32 accused in the 28-year-old Babri demolition case, including BJP's founder-members LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, have been acquitted by a special CBI court in Lucknow.
A minaret of Khajoor ki Masjid in Gudri Bazaar in the heart of Faizabad city is said to be encroaching on the proposed Ram Path by three metres.
Maharashtra has witnessed 823 incidents of communal unrest since January this year, with demands for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb and the spread of distorted facts on social media fomenting fresh trouble. Districts like Nandurbar, Pune (Rural), Ratnagiri, Sangli, Beed, and Satara have seen communal unrest in recent days due to right-wing organizations' demands for the demolition of the Mughal emperor's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The state witnessed 4,836 Hindu-Muslim related communal crimes in 2024, with 170 incidents classified as cognisable and 3,106 as non-cognisable cases. The violence in Nagpur, triggered by protests demanding the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb, highlights the role of social media in spreading inflammatory content and instigating people. While the state has taken measures to curb the spread of misinformation, concerns remain over the impact on communities and the need for promoting peace and understanding.
The court granted bail to Advani, Joshi and Bharti after they appeared before it.
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday ordered a halt to the demolition drive in violence-hit Nuh and asked if it was an "exercise of ethnic cleansing".
Katiyar, however, made it clear that a final decision on these contentious matters will be taken by saints.
As a judge of special Central Bureau of Investigation court, Yadav had on September 30, 2020 acquitted all the 32 accused, including BJP veterans LK Advani, M M Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh, in the case of demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed authorities to remove a mosque from the premises of the Allahabad high court within three months, telling the petitioners that opposing the demolition that the structure stood on a terminated lease property and they can't claim it as a matter of right to continue.
The former CM said his party's Hindutva is "nationalism" and the Bharatiya Janata Party should explain what is its Hindutva.
The Babri mosque demolition trial is presently at the stage of the recording of statements of 32 accused in the case under Section 313 of Code of Criminal Procedure during which they also get an opportunity to refute the prosecution evidence against them.
While closing the contempt proceedings, the bench observed that the matter ought to have come up for hearing earlier.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that forcibly seizing someone's faith and trampling over their beliefs is "unacceptable," especially "when we know the truth about Sambhal" which predates Islam, with the Vishnu temple there being destroyed in 1526. He said that Sambhal has been mentioned in scriptures that are 5,000 years old, which contain references to Lord Vishnu's future incarnation. He also mentioned that a temple of Lord Vishnu in Sambhal was demolished in 1526, and two years later, in 1528, the Ram temple in Ayodhya was destroyed, both acts carried out by the same person.
Facing criticism over his remarks on Babri mosque issue, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Saturday said he never tried to equate the demolition of the shrine with 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The way the Bahraich riot has played out should worry the BJP. The party has emboldened Hindu youngsters to such an extent that its MLAs feel the need to go to the police against their party members. Is this what the BJP wants, asks Jyoti Punwani.
A Muslim cleric asked why the government was punishing the family members of those who were allegedly involved in the riots.
'If there is a big dome flanked by two smaller domes on either side, it is a mosque'
'Vijaya Raje Scindia had assured the prime minister that nothing would happen to the Babri Masjid'
A Lucknow bench of justices Ramesh Sinha and Saroj Yadav passed the order on the appeal by two Ayodhya residents -- Haji Mahmood Ahmad and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi reacted to the court acquitting them in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party over its attempt to reach out to the minorities, questioning whether it will take action against Narendra Modi for the Gujarat riots or L K Advani will accept his "crime" in the Babari Mosque demolition.
The Allahabad high court on Monday deferred till October 31 the hearing of an appeal challenging the acquittal of all 32 accused, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani and the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, in the Babri mosque demolition case.
Questions are being raised on the future of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as differences among its constituents come to the fore and several parties call for serious introspection by the Congress after a string of debilitating electoral losses.
With the recent arrest of two Bharatiya Janata Party activists who had taken part in the Ayodhya agitation back in 1992 snowballing into a controversy, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said a criminal is always a criminal unless acquitted by a court of law.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have announced that they will mark the day as Shaurya Diwas and Vijay Diwas (day of victory) and have asked the people to light earthen lamps as on Diwali.
A curfew was imposed in Haldwani on Thursday after local residents set vehicles and a police station on fire and hurled stones, injuring more than 60 people, over the demolition of an 'illegally built' madrasa and an adjoining mosque, officials said.
Sources said that Shah was accompanied by a battery of government lawyers as he met Advani at the 92-year-old leader's residence in connection with the case.
Owaisi said the CBI should appeal against the judgment "to protect its independence."
'Despite our being a part of a welfare state, benefits are not trickling down to the intended beneficiaries at the desired levels. People's aspirations about leading a dignified life are often met with challenges. One of them, primarily, being poverty'
It further said the UK government must not remain a mute bystander.
The 1992 Babri Mosque demolition was an "act of planned sabotage" and not a by frenzied mob of Hindu outfits, a news portal claimed on Friday on the basis of a sting operation it had carried over a period of two years.
We will follow the SC order and there will be no further action in Jahangirpuri, the mayor said.
The UP CM's visit comes a day after senior BJP leaders were charged with conspiracy in the Babri Masjid case.
Bulldozers demolished several structures at Jahangirpuri on Wednesday amid a heavy paramilitary and police presence during the NDMC's anti-encroachment drive that was stopped within hours following a Supreme Court order.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana ordered status quo in the present situation, and said the petition would be listed before an appropriate bench.
A generation has passed and the demolition appears to be a story of an era gone by, says Sharat Pradhan, who shares his experience as a witness in court in the Babri Masjid demolition case. On the 25th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, we republish this 2011 special.
The accused include former deputy prime minister Advani, former Union ministers Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, besides Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara.
The EC takes action for her remarks on former anti-terror squad chief Hemant Karkare and Babri mosque demolition
A generation has passed and the demolition appears to be a story of a era gone by, says Sharat Pradhan, who shares his experience as a witness in court in the Babri Masjid demolition case
Maintaining that BJP leaders accused in the Babri mosque demolition fully co-operated with the Liberhan Commission, party president Rajnath Singh today said the report has been submitted after a long delay.
