As of now, there is nothing to suggest that the 'Michaelpatti episode' has the potential to polarise Dravidian Tamil Nadu on religious lines, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'What is it about the institution of faith that makes somebody get a sense of impunity, that they believe they can get away with anything?'
Taking note of a Hindu outfit's assertion that a large number of people will be converted on December 25, district authorities on Friday issued a warning to those trying to disturb communal amity while asking citizens not to get provoked.
Samajwadi Party leader and Kairana MP Iqra Choudhary has moved the Supreme Court seeking effective implementation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This move comes amidst several petitions challenging the law's validity, including those filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay. The Supreme Court, in December 2022, had restrained all courts from examining fresh suits and passing interim orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places. The Act aims to maintain the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, but the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was kept out of its purview. The court has listed Choudhary's plea with other pending pleas for February 17.
'Modi's charisma may have weakened as last year's Lok Sabha poll results showed but in the eyes of the Sangh Parivar, it has not waned.' 'Minus a strong BJP government at the Centre for another decade and more, there is apprehension that an anti-Hindutva government could reverse many of the ideological gains that the Modi dispensation has achieved through its three terms,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has vowed to reclaim every inch of land taken under the pretext of Waqf, stating that the state government will actively investigate all "occupied" land. He also criticized the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its leaders, alleging that they failed to uphold the principles of socialist leader Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. Adityanath praised the Maha Kumbh, highlighting its significance as a symbol of India's spiritual heritage and national unity.
Pooja Oad was said to have been shot in the middle of the street after she put up resistance to the attackers in Rohi, Sukkur.
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi was on Wednesday suspended from the Maharashtra legislative assembly till the ongoing budget session ends on March 26, over his remarks eulogizing Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Can a culture survive as a way of life, even as the language and writing at its core, alter with time? Can we be rational and Malayalee or do we have to necessarily be religious and proudly cultural to be Malayalee? asks Shyam G Menon.
The Gujarat high court on Thursday put a stay on the operation of some sections related to interfaith marriages of the state's new anti-conversion law.
Punishment under the new law is a jail term from one and five years, and a fine of Rs 15,000.
From the standoff with China to the government's response to the farmers' protest, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds a freewheeling talk.
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the 'love jihad' controversy.
The million dollar question that begs for an answer is: Why is it that an amateurish attempt to convert a handful of Muslims by fringe Hindu elements garners so much attention while large scale systematic attempts to subvert Hinduism go unnoticed or are deliberately overlooked? If this is not double standards then what is, asks Vivek Gumaste.
Communal tension has been brewing in Purola and some other towns of Uttarkashi district after two men, one of them Muslim, allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu girl on May 26.
'For three months Raj Thackeray becomes a staunch Hindu and for the next three months he becomes anti-Hindu.'
She also claimed that her daughter had checked the mobile phone of Khan, with whom she was in a relationship but broke up recently, and found his WhatsApp chats with some other woman, and when Tunisha confronted Khan about it, he slapped her, stating that she was free to do whatever she wanted.
Kamalrukh said she is a Parsi who got married to the "Dabangg" composer under the Special Marriages Act.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress remain the most dominant political forces in Chhattisgarh, though the state has several regional outfits that have pockets of influence, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making a determined bid to challenge its well entrenched rivals and make a mark in polls to the 90-member House.
The alleged forced reconversion of about 100 people to Hinduism in Agra by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate set off a chorus of criticism against the government today by the opposition inside and outside Parliament with its leaders calling it illegal and demanding 'strict' action.
'The government is saying 88 Hindus have been killed, but it could be much more.' 'Their properties are being looted, their businesses have been ransacked. I am getting distress calls from there.' 'Muslims who believe in the philosophy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are also under attack. Most of those who have fled Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina's fall are Muslims.'
Swami Darshan Bharti, the founder of "Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan" which had allegedly pasted threatening posters on shops run by Muslims in the communally tense Purola, on Friday claimed that he has received a death threat.
For a country with a huge atheist vote bank, relatively few claim to be irreligious, says Devangshu Datta
'It never was and will never be.'
The incident occurred in Takkarpura village of Patti town on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, they said.
Muslims' share in the reservation will keep on increasing also because of "conversion and infiltration because they are having a secular cover from them (the Congress)", he added.
"We are appalled to notice the recent trend in this state to sensationalise every case of inter-religious marriage as either 'love jihad' or 'ghar wapsi' even if there was platonic love between the spouses before," the court said.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Anti-conversion laws are needed since thrusting the idea of a competitive battlefield of religion onto India's pluralistic traditions can only lead to greater communal conflict, says Sankrant Sanu
"Eleven people have been sent to jail. In three cases the girls were not minor, they said that they are in a relationship with boys of other religions of their own free will," Mohit Agarwal, Inspector General, Kanpur Range told reporters.
Three Indians have joined a Sikh rights group in filing an amended lawsuit appealing a US court to designate the RSS as a "terror group".
The committee will hold regular meetings with district officials and collect information of registered and unregistered inter-faith and intercaste marriages; on such marriage that took place in places of worship and marriages took place after elopement.
At least one commentator felt that both the BJP's reach and popularity had been underestimated in Kerala. They have shown systematic gain; one that seems personality-neutral and therefore institutionalised, explains Shyam G Menon.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking to prevent a 'mahapanchayat' called by Hindu outfits in Uttarakhand and registration of an FIR against hate speeches allegedly targeting members of a particular community.
Former Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar is one of the few Indian police officers to speak to Dawood Ibrahim at length after the fugitive gangster fled India. A gripping excerpt from his new book, Dial D For Don: Inside Stories Of CBI Missions.
Pakistani students today formed a human shield for Hindus celebrating Holi at a temple in Karachi to protect and show solidarity with the minority community.
The Tamil Nadu government has told the Supreme Court it has not issued any order imposing a "shadow or implicit ban" on The Kerala Story, a multilingual film that has triggered a massive controversy over religious conversions.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have photos of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi on currency notes.
'Whom do I want to marry and what decisions I make for marrying the person I love are totally personal decisions, in which neither the State nor the courts have any right to interfere.'
