News for 'religious coercion'

UCC Bill tabled in Assam; polygamy ban, live-in registration proposed

UCC Bill tabled in Assam; polygamy ban, live-in registration proposed

Rediff.com25 May 2026

The opposition parties, including Congress, Raijor Dal and Trinamool Congress, opposed the move and demanded wider consultation with all the stakeholders before its introduction.

TCS rejects conversion, misconduct complaints at Nashik facility

TCS rejects conversion, misconduct complaints at Nashik facility

Rediff.com17 Apr 2026

TCS has denied receiving any complaints of religious conversion or sexual misconduct at its Nashik unit through its internal channels, amid a police probe into the allegations. The company has announced an oversight panel and engaged external entities in its internal investigation.

Maharashtra Government Enforces POSH Act For Workplace Safety

Maharashtra Government Enforces POSH Act For Workplace Safety

Rediff.com8 May 2026

The Maharashtra government has directed strict implementation of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act to protect women in the workplace, following a serious incident at a TCS unit in Nashik. Establishments with 10 or more employees must set up Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) and register on the Centre's She-Box portal, with failure to comply resulting in penalties.

Tata Consultancy Services Harassment Case: Two Accused in Custody

Tata Consultancy Services Harassment Case: Two Accused in Custody

Rediff.com16 Apr 2026

A local court in Nashik has remanded two accused in the Tata Consultancy Services harassment case to police custody. The case involves allegations of sexual harassment and forced religious conversion at a TCS unit. An investigation is underway, and TCS has suspended employees allegedly involved.

Tata Consultancy Services Harassment Case: Two Accused in Custody

Tata Consultancy Services Harassment Case: Two Accused in Custody

Rediff.com16 Apr 2026

A local court in Nashik has remanded two accused in the Tata Consultancy Services harassment case to police custody. The case involves allegations of sexual harassment and forced religious conversion at a TCS unit. An investigation is underway, and TCS has suspended employees allegedly involved.

TCS Employee Accused Of Harassment Seeks Anticipatory Bail

TCS Employee Accused Of Harassment Seeks Anticipatory Bail

Rediff.com18 Apr 2026

A female employee of TCS in Nashik, accused of religious conversion and sexual harassment of women colleagues, has applied for anticipatory bail, citing her pregnancy. Police are investigating the allegations, and TCS has launched an internal probe.

Nashik TCS case: 'Accused concealed marriage, put pressure to convert'

Nashik TCS case: 'Accused concealed marriage, put pressure to convert'

Rediff.com18 Apr 2026

Nashik police is probing multiple FIRs alleging sexual harassment and forced religious conversion at a TCS unit, with eight arrests so far.

Nashik TCS case: Accused seeks bail citing pregnancy

Nashik TCS case: Accused seeks bail citing pregnancy

Rediff.com18 Apr 2026

A TCS employee accused of religious conversion and sexual harassment in Nashik has applied for anticipatory bail, as police continue to investigate the alleged misconduct at the IT firm.

AIMIM corporator's properties razed for sheltering TCS accused Nida Khan

AIMIM corporator's properties razed for sheltering TCS accused Nida Khan

Rediff.com13 May 2026

The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation demolished alleged illegal constructions at the residence and other properties of AIMIM corporator Matin Patel, who is accused of harbouring Nida Khan, wanted in connection with a TCS case.

TCS HR, AGM ignored 70 messages of harassment

TCS HR, AGM ignored 70 messages of harassment

Rediff.com15 Apr 2026

The HR manager at TCS Nashik is under investigation for allegedly suppressing complaints and shielding the accused in a harassment case involving multiple employees.

Mirwaiz drops Hurriyat title from X bio, alleges coercion

Mirwaiz drops Hurriyat title from X bio, alleges coercion

Rediff.com26 Dec 2025

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key religious and separatist figure in Kashmir, has removed his designation as 'Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference' from his X profile, signaling a potential shift in the region's political landscape.

TCS case: Kin of accused alleges 'office politics' behind harassment case

TCS case: Kin of accused alleges 'office politics' behind harassment case

Rediff.com19 Apr 2026

The family of a TCS employee arrested in connection with sexual harassment and conversion allegations at a Nashik unit claims he is a victim of internal professional rivalry and office politics. They allege a coordinated conspiracy driven by his academic and professional success.

Corporate India's Conduct Conundrum: Bridging Policy and Practice

Corporate India's Conduct Conundrum: Bridging Policy and Practice

Rediff.com30 Apr 2026

Recent controversies at major IT firms like TCS and Infosys have highlighted a persistent gap between workplace conduct policies and their implementation in corporate India. While companies assert zero tolerance for harassment and discrimination, employees and experts point to uneven enforcement and the need to embed ethical behaviour into organisational culture.

Corporate India's Conduct Conundrum: Bridging Policy and Practice

Corporate India's Conduct Conundrum: Bridging Policy and Practice

Rediff.com29 Apr 2026

Recent controversies at major IT firms like TCS and Infosys have highlighted a persistent gap between workplace conduct policies and their implementation in corporate India. While companies assert zero tolerance for harassment and discrimination, employees and experts point to uneven enforcement and the need to embed ethical behaviour into organisational culture.

Winning Bengal Was The Hard Part For The BJP... Governing It May Prove Even Harder

Winning Bengal Was The Hard Part For The BJP... Governing It May Prove Even Harder

Rediff.com5 May 2026

A BJP government in Bengal inherits more problems than it might care to admit at its moment of triumph, points out Ramesh Menon

'Is It True Our Daughters Are Being Forcefully Fed Beef?'

'Is It True Our Daughters Are Being Forcefully Fed Beef?'

Rediff.com23 Feb 2026

'The real #KeralaStory is how pork, beef and fish coexist with vegetarian sadya and all of them live in harmony.'

'Going By The BJP's Style, A Surprise Can't Be Ruled Out'

'Going By The BJP's Style, A Surprise Can't Be Ruled Out'

Rediff.com25 Mar 2026

'The BJP is keeping its options open and that the final decision is still tightly held.' 'That is consistent with the party's tendency to preserve suspense, avoid premature factional conflict, and use leadership selection as a way of resetting internal hierarchies.'

Mohan Bhagwat calls for Hindu unity, backs three-child norm

Mohan Bhagwat calls for Hindu unity, backs three-child norm

Rediff.com18 Feb 2026

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat emphasized the need for Hindu unity, vigilance, and social harmony, advocating for family values and addressing concerns about infiltration and social divisions.

US lawmakers seek visa ban on Pakistani officials

US lawmakers seek visa ban on Pakistani officials

Rediff.com4 Dec 2025

Forty-two members of the United States Congress, led by Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Congressman Greg Casar, have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding immediate sanctions against senior Pakistani officials for what they termed an 'escalating campaign of transnational repression and worsening human rights crisis in Pakistan' under the military-backed government of Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.

Who is VHP to decide?: Union Minister on 'Hindu only' garba diktat

Who is VHP to decide?: Union Minister on 'Hindu only' garba diktat

Rediff.com21 Sep 2025

The Union minister said such calls were tantamount to "inviting violence".

Constitution doesn't support forced or fraudulent conversion: HC

Constitution doesn't support forced or fraudulent conversion: HC

Rediff.com19 May 2025

Justice Vinod Diwaker made the observation while rejecting a plea to cancel an FIR against four people accused under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021.

China, Pak listening, Jaishankar reminds SCO of its '3 evils' pitch

China, Pak listening, Jaishankar reminds SCO of its '3 evils' pitch

Rediff.com15 Jul 2025

Jaishankar said the UN Security Council condemned the attack and underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of the reprehensible act and bring them to justice.

Conversion to Islam bona fide if done by free-will, with sound mind: HC

Conversion to Islam bona fide if done by free-will, with sound mind: HC

Rediff.com2 Apr 2025

The HC said this while dismissing a petition by Taufik Ahmad who had sought quashing of proceedings against him on charges of rape and unlawful religious conversion of a Hindu girl to Islam through misrepresentation under the UP anti-conversion law.

New rules heavily restrict religious conversion in Haryana

New rules heavily restrict religious conversion in Haryana

Rediff.com20 Dec 2022

The state assembly had passed the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill in March this year.

Upholding constitutional ethos hallmark of CJI Sanjiv Khanna's tenure

Upholding constitutional ethos hallmark of CJI Sanjiv Khanna's tenure

Rediff.com13 May 2025

Some of his directives had the Supreme Court judges disclose their assets whereas the row over the discovery of cash from a sitting judge's official residence paved way for inquiry.

13-year-old girl becomes sadhvi at Maha Kumbh Mela

13-year-old girl becomes sadhvi at Maha Kumbh Mela

Rediff.com7 Jan 2025

A 13-year-old girl from Agra, who dreamt of becoming an IAS officer, has renounced worldly life and become a Sadhvi at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. The girl, Rakhi, was influenced by the teachings of Mahant Kaushal Giri Maharaj of Juna Akhara, who had been conducting Bhagwat Katha sessions in her village for the past three years. Rakhi's parents, accepting her decision as divine will, entrusted her to the Juna Akhara. The family, who had rented a home in Agra specifically to educate their daughters, say that Rakhi experienced detachment from worldly life during the Maha Kumbh. The girl will be formally inducted into the ashram on January 19 after religious ceremonies.

MP cabinet approves law against religious conversion

MP cabinet approves law against religious conversion

Rediff.com26 Dec 2020

The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Saturday approved the Religious Freedom Bill 2020, which provides for prison term of up to 10 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh for conversion through marriage or by any other fraudulent means, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra said.

UP anti-conversion law applies to both marriages, live-in relationships: HC

UP anti-conversion law applies to both marriages, live-in relationships: HC

Rediff.com14 Mar 2024

Justice Renu Agarwal made the observation while rejecting a Hindu-Muslim couple's plea for police protection.

US conveys concerns to India over religious violence

US conveys concerns to India over religious violence

Rediff.com11 Aug 2016

The Indian govt has been slow to react when violence has taken place, the US said.

US places Pakistan on Special Watch List for violations of religious freedom

US places Pakistan on Special Watch List for violations of religious freedom

Rediff.com4 Jan 2018

The announcement came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson decided to re-designate about 10 countries as 'Countries of Particular Concern'.

Sandeshkhali: IPS officer claims BJP workers called him Khalistani

Sandeshkhali: IPS officer claims BJP workers called him Khalistani

Rediff.com20 Feb 2024

A Sikh Indian Police Service officer, who was deputed at Dhamakhali to prevent senior West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari from visiting restive Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, got agitated after a group of activists of the saffron party allegedly hurled the 'Khalistani' jibe at him.

Sikhs protest near Kolkata BJP office over cop being called Khalistani

Sikhs protest near Kolkata BJP office over cop being called Khalistani

Rediff.com21 Feb 2024

Around 200 people belonging to the Sikh community staged a demonstration in front of the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Kolkata on Wednesday, expressing solidarity with an Indian Police Service officer who had alleged that West Bengal party leader Suvendu Adhikari labeled him as a 'Khalistani'.

Freedom of religion does not include right to convert others, govt tells SC

Freedom of religion does not include right to convert others, govt tells SC

Rediff.com28 Nov 2022

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that religious freedom does not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion and that it certainly does not embrace the right to convert an individual through fraud, deception, coercion or allurement.

Conversion a silent invasion, shouldn't be allowed: Bommai

Conversion a silent invasion, shouldn't be allowed: Bommai

Rediff.com20 Dec 2021

Terming religious conversion a silent invasion, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said the menace of conversion should not be allowed to grow in society.

Haryana assembly passes anti-conversion bill amid Congress walkout

Haryana assembly passes anti-conversion bill amid Congress walkout

Rediff.com22 Mar 2022

Similar bills in the recent past have been passed in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

Karnataka Cong govt repeals BJP era anti-conversion law

Karnataka Cong govt repeals BJP era anti-conversion law

Rediff.com15 Jun 2023

The government will introduce a bill in this regard in the upcoming legislature session, which starts on July 3.

Freedom of religion doesn't include right to convert: Gujarat in SC

Freedom of religion doesn't include right to convert: Gujarat in SC

Rediff.com4 Dec 2022

The Gujarat high court had through its orders dated August 19 and August 26, 2021 had stayed the operation of section 5 of the state government's Freedom of Religion Act of 2003.

Anti-conversion bill passed in Karnataka Council

Anti-conversion bill passed in Karnataka Council

Rediff.com15 Sep 2022

The 'Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill' was passed by the Legislative Assembly in December last.

The Politics of Population

The Politics of Population

Rediff.com6 Feb 2024

In the Interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a high power committee would be set up to consider the challenges arising from 'fast population grown and demographic changes.' 'But who wants data? It pays to feed people's fears, insecurities and apprehensions. If such fears don't exist, they must be created,' her husband Parakala Prabhakar says in this fascinating excerpt from his book, The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis.

Uttarakhand passes stricter anti-conversion law with 10-year jail term

Uttarakhand passes stricter anti-conversion law with 10-year jail term

Rediff.com30 Nov 2022

The Uttarakhand assembly on Wednesday passed a stricter anti-conversion Bill making unlawful conversion a cognisable and non-bailable offence punishable with imprisonment for a term of at least three to a maximum of 10 years.