All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, notes Jyoti Punwani.
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.
The Supreme Court has agreed to list for final hearing the pleas challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
During the inspection of the child care centre in Raisen (on Saturday), it has come to light that its manager changed the religion of three children and their names are also changed, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said in a tweet.
'No one can wipe-off our glorious collaboration in The Kerala Story and Bastar, from Indian cinema.' 'When we create history and are scrutiniSed in public, we must be extremely responsible in our behaviour and conduct.'
Bhadohi (UP), Jun 27 (PTI) A shocking incident of forced religious conversion, sexual exploitation, extortion, blackmailing and humiliation of a woman came to light in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi district on Friday, a senior police official said.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has announced that his government will introduce a new stringent law to prevent religious conversion of tribal people, and possibly others. He also advocated for the delisting of tribals, removing them from the Scheduled Tribe category if they convert to another religion, saying it will prevent proselytisation.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other UDF MPs protest the arrest of Catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh, alleging religious persecution by the BJP government and demanding their immediate release.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma announced plans for a new anti-conversion law following the arrest of two nuns from Kerala on charges related to religious conversion and human trafficking. The announcement comes amid political tensions and accusations of wrongful arrest.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the state government's intention to introduce strong provisions to deal with religious conversions done using force or cheating. A panel has submitted recommendations, and the government will study and implement necessary changes. The move comes amid claims of misuse of religious freedom and concerns about conversions through coercion and deceit.
Madhya Pradesh Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Inder Singh Parmar has sparked controversy by saying that social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a 'British agent' who started a 'vicious cycle of religious conversion', prompting the Trinamool Congress to call the remarks an insult to Bengal.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
'Banning conversion would harm Hinduism by taking away the need for reform.'
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.
Uttar Pradesh Police data reveals a significant increase in the number of alleged criminals killed in encounters in 2025, along with details of actions against illegal religious conversions, cow smuggling, and property recoveries.
There has been an increase in violence against Christians over the past 12 years -- from 147 cases in 2014 to 706 in 2025 (till November).
A Durga Puja committee in Ranchi modified its Vatican City-themed marquee after objections from a Hindu group. The image of Jesus Christ was replaced with Lord Krishna.
The officials said several "incriminating" documents have been seized during the searches, which reveal the "large-scale conversion" allegedly carried out by Umar Gautam and his organisations across India.
A madrassa principal in Uttar Pradesh has been arrested for allegedly converting a minor boy and enrolling him under a changed name. The incident came to light after the boy's father, recently released from jail, created a disturbance at the madrassa.
'Dating someone during divorce proceedings is legally permissible as long as it does not involve provable physical intimacy,' says lawyer Navaneet Kumar.
Astrologer Chirag Daruwalla, who is following in the footsteps of his famed astrologer father, the late Bejan Daruwalla, helps you navigate the Naya Saal.
Right now, the most important thing is clarity -- for you and for her, advises rediffGURU Kanchan Rai.
RSS-linked weekly Organiser has accused US e-commerce giant Amazon of financing a "Christian conversion module" in India's northeastern states and being involved in suspected money laundering.
Two Union Ministers visited the family of a 23-year-old woman in Kothamangalam who allegedly took her own life due to harassment by her lover. The family is demanding an NIA probe into the incident, alleging forced religious conversion.
The Chhattisgarh State Women Commission has directed the Director General of Police to file FIRs based on complaints from three women who allege assault and molestation by Bajrang Dal workers. The women were initially involved in a human trafficking and forced conversion case.
'The implementation of the judgment has largely been left to the discretion of the very executive authorities it sought to restrain.'
The Chhattisgarh high court has disposed of two petitions seeking the removal of hoardings prohibiting entry to pastors and 'converted Christians' in eight villages, holding that they were installed to prevent forced conversions through allurement or fraudulent means and cannot be termed as unconstitutional.
A special NIA court in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district has reserved its order on a bail application filed by three persons, including two nuns from Kerala, arrested on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion.
The face-off between Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee and West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose intensified further on Wednesday after the politician lodged a counter-complaint against the state's Constitutional head at the Hare Street Police Station within 24 hours of the latter having filed a first information report (FIR) against the former at the same PS.
'The nuns were subjected to abusive language and all types of mental torture.'
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The programme proposed by local political group Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) to conduct a mass marriage of men and women of other religions who have converted to Islam has been postponed after the Bareilly district administration denied permission for the event.
In May, 40 Rohingyas were blindfolded and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar islands and then thrown into the sea and made to swim to an island in Myanmar. And after the Pahalgam attack, at least 300 Muslims were 'pushed back' to Bangladesh from Assam.
The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
Ahead of the Maha Kumbh, a senior cleric has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressing fears that mass conversions of Muslims will take place during the event, while other community leaders have flagged the alleged demand raised by some Hindu seers' body to keep Muslims out of the mega gathering.
India has slammed Pakistan at a UN debate by drawing attention to the heinous crimes of gross sexual violence against women in erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971, adding the pattern continues with impunity to this day.
The court had warned a "very difficult situation" will emerge if proselytisation through deception, allurement and intimidation is not stopped.
'They should be given a strong message that they are not the ones who decide the rule of the land, and they are not the ones who decide what justice is.'
Justice Rohit Rajan Agarwal made the observation while rejecting the bail application of one Kailash, who is accused of being involved in the religious conversion of several people from a village here.
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