The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, with the ruling NDA defending it as beneficial for minorities while the opposition called it "anti-Muslim". All amendments moved by the opposition were rejected and the bill was passed with 288 votes in favor and 232 against. Union Minorities Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that India is the safest place in the world for minorities, refuting claims of their insecurity.
NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad said that the number of 'love jihad' cases cited by Lodha two days ago was factually incorrect and that there have been nearly 3,000 cases of interfaith marriages.
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.
'In a world which is full of categories, hatred and ideologies, there was this basic decency.'
The Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits lawsuits to reclaim a place of worship or change its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947. The pleas, including one filed by Ashwini Upadhyay, argue that these provisions violate the right to judicial remedy and create an arbitrary cut-off date. The matter will be heard in the backdrop of several ongoing cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura. The Muslim side has cited the 1991 law to argue that such suits are not maintainable. The Supreme Court had previously sought the Centre's response to Upadhyay's petition, which alleged that the law creates an "arbitrary and irrational retrospective cut-off date" for maintaining the character of places of worship.
'Mamata needs to address the anger and resentment among various sections of the Hindu community because low-scale communal violence has always paid richer electoral dividends for the BJP.'
A four-member team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) conducted a survey of the recently-discovered Shri Kartik Mahadev temple, five pilgrimage sites, and 19 wells in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, India. The survey followed the discovery of three damaged idols inside a well of the Bhasma Shankar temple, which was reopened after being shut for 46 years. The Shri Kartik Mahadev temple, also known as the Bhasma Shankar temple, was reopened on December 13 after authorities found the covered structure during an anti-encroachment drive. The temple houses an idol of Lord Hanuman and a Shivling and had remained locked since 1978. The district administration has requested carbon dating of the temple, including the well, from the ASI. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has restrained courts across India from entertaining new lawsuits or passing any orders in pending ones seeking to reclaim religious places, especially mosques and dargahs, until further notice. This action halts proceedings in approximately 18 lawsuits filed by Hindu parties seeking surveys to determine the original religious character of 10 mosques, including the Gyanvapi at Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid at Mathura, and the Shahi Jama Masjid at Sambhal, where four individuals died in clashes. The Supreme Court will examine the legality, scope, and boundaries of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits the conversion of places of worship and ensures the preservation of their religious character as it existed on August 15, 1947.
In six hours, the police identified the accused and nabbed them, he said, adding that a police station in-charge has been removed from the field duty in connection with the incident.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on release of the movie The Kerala Story on grounds that it's a "worst kind of hate speech" and an "audio-visual propaganda".
The Opposition members on Monday strongly raised the issue of religious conversions, and a controversial statement made by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Yogi Adityanath on the Ayodhya issue and a report that government schools have been asked to observe Good Governance Day on Christmas Day, in the Rajya Sabha.
'You have to separate the concept of India as a nation State which is very young and the Upanishadic wisdom which is timeless.'
Bill Aitken came to India nearly 60 years ago. He never returned. An Indian citizen since 1972, he tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih how India changed his life forever.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and P S Narasimha made the important observation during an hour-long hearing of the Gyanvapi mosque dispute and said that it has dealt with provisions of the Places of Worship Act in its 2019 Ayodhya verdict and section 3 does not expressly bar ascertaining of the religious character of the place of worship.
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.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the 'love jihad' controversy.
Pastor Domnic D'Souza and his wife Joan were arrested on Thursday night after separate complaints were lodged against them by two persons, who accused them of indulging in religious conversions, the official of Mapusa police station said.
Addressing the concluding session of the two-day meeting of the Vishva Hindu Parishad's (VHP) Kendriya Margadarshak Mandal in Haridwar, Dhami said, "Uttarakhand shares its borders with two countries (China and Nepal). A particular community had illegally encroached land and raised structures in the border areas of the state which are being removed as part of a drive."
Kamalrukh said she is a Parsi who got married to the "Dabangg" composer under the Special Marriages Act.
Ansar Burney, a top Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist, said that Ghulam Haider, Seema's Pakistani husband, had approached him for help in getting custody of his four children.
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to promulgate an ordinance to give effect to the contentious law against religious conversions.
'I am determined now to celebrate all festivals together.' 'People don't respond much when you try to convince them by talking about principles of secularism etc. But if we revive our shared cultural practices, specially food, we may get a better response.'
Narayanpur district Superintendent of Police (SP) Sadanand Kumar was attacked during the protest that took place in the afternoon and was being treated at a hospital, an official said.
'For three months Raj Thackeray becomes a staunch Hindu and for the next three months he becomes anti-Hindu.'
Earlier, it was alleged that a poster of Ganga Jamuna Higher Secondary School in Damoh showed girls, including Hindu students, wearing headscarves that looked like hijab.
'Unless Justice Chandrachud's judgment is (over)turned, there is no end to it.'
State Congress president D K Shivakumar even tore papers on his table, in protest against the introduction of the bill, which his party called 'draconian and anti-constitution'.
The term 'love jihad' is used by right-wing groups to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
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.
With such announcements grabbing the voters' attention, critical issues like pollution, especially the smog that chokes Delhi every winter, remain largely unaddressed. Many residents have raised concerns over the lack of concrete action plans to combat air pollution, which continues to pose a severe health risk to Delhiites.
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 Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Monday passed a bill that penalises religious conversion through marriage or any other fraudulent means and provides for a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
The rulers of the day need to be sensitive and involved in managing the identities of sacred spaces and the ongoing dialogues about the past in diverse societies, suggests Colonel Nikhil Apte (retd).
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.
The petitions filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board had also challenged a Varanasi court order of April 8, 2021 to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.
A united opposition on Monday cornered the government in Parliament, accusing it of focusing on issues like religious conversions instead of fulfilling promises of bringing back black money and creating jobs.
"There was absolutely no need or necessity to mount a visceral attack on the religious beliefs of the Hindus. It was unwarranted and utterly unrelated to the occasion. That is what makes it deliberate and malicious," Justice G R Swaminathan of Madras High Court said.
The pastor was allegedly taken to Fatehpur chowk where the men tied his hands with ropes and started punching and kicking him again on the roadside, the police said.
'The message is loud and clear: "If you're not falling in line, we will open a line of understanding with the MNS, and then the Shiv Sena will be in trouble".'
The fall of the Assad regime that brutalised, tortured and killed thousands of innocent Syrians over the past half a century is a historic opportunity for the people of the country, outgoing United States President Joe Biden said on Sunday.
rediffGURU Kanchan Rai counsells individuals about how they can navigate complex relationships in their personal and professional lives.
