'Anantkumar Hegde will be pleased that those thousands who formed a long line to enter the grounds of St Paul's Cathedral on Christmas Eve night were both aware of their 'parentage' -- to use his insulting term -- and would describe themselves as Hindu,' says Rahul Jacob.
'The BJP had ruled earlier too, but nothing of this sort happened then... I don't say the government is behind the attacks, but they don't do anything to stop the attacks.' 'The prime minister has to tell the perpetrators that it is not in the interest of the government that such incidents happen.' 'When somebody says all Indians are Hindus, responsible people should ask him to stop and assure the country that this is not the opinion of the government. But it is not happening and it is quite unfortunate,' Cardinal Baselios Cleemis tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
'When the BJP first came to power in the late 1990s we heard of anti- Christian incidents perpetrated by members of the Sangh Parivar, the majority of which proved to be blatant falsehoods.' 'We need to recall those events to give a reality check to a similar campaign of unsubstantiated calumny that is raising its head again to discredit the BJP government.'
Mark Tully on the India he loves.
'The majority community needs to accept that the Indian Muslim is peace loving, not communal and treat them accordingly.'
Breaking the logjam in their ties, India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced that they have decided to engage in a "comprehensive" dialogue that will include peace and security and Jammu and Kashmir.
There is a great danger of the government getting stampeded into actions in Kashmir that could result in long lasting damage, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Under severe attack for his remarks that Bengaluru International airport should have been named after 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan rather than the city founder Kempegowda, Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad on Wednesday offered his apology.
K Vaitheeswaran, co-founder of Indiaplaza, one of India's first e-commerce companies, shares the lessons he learnt from its failure.
'If the BJP wants to build a minimally inclusive and secure society, in which vulnerable groups and religious minorities don't feel persecuted, then the Sangh Parivar, the party and its government must change their ways. Or else, they risk dividing India further -- violently and irreparably -- for narrow political ends,' argues Praful Bidwai.
Despite criticism of a lack of transparency and communication from the Modi-led government, BJP leaders point to "good beginnings" on several fronts to defend its performance. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reports.
After an Intelligence Bureau report warning the PMO against non-profit bodies, the home ministry is likely to order an SIT probe into their functioning, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
'I am sure the BJP can find a highly educated, respected, non-controversial party man from the North East to be elected India's vice-president,' says Sudhir Bisht.
In a significant departure from tradition, the United States has decided to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi by working out a "special gesture date" around the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly meeting that is scheduled to take place on September 26 in New York.
Jamida K is the first Indian Muslim woman to lead the Friday prayer.
If you have to take the daunting step of joining a conversation of strangers, always pick a duo.
The history of the Cauvery and Mullaperiyar cases has shown how helpless the constitutional processes and judicial verdicts have been in enforcing the law of the land in inter-state and state-Centre disputes, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Mulk questions the very principle, of good-Muslim exceptionalism.' 'That, of course, we adore Abdul Hamid, A P J Abdul Kalam and Bismillah Khan and if only more Muslims were like them.' 'Anubhav Sinha sticks his neck out to say that these are no exceptions.' 'Most Muslims are like them. It is the terrorists who are exceptions,' says Shekhar Gupta.
A serving army personnel was on Sunday arrested by Delhi Police from Siliguri in West Bengal in connection with the alleged ISI-linked espionage racket, taking to five the number of people taken into custody in the case.
Given the Indian electoral system, the racecourse totaliser (tote) would be a near-ideal model for election betting.
In conversation with Karan Thapar, former Vice President Hamid Ansari takes on one of the most sensitive issues of our times.
'Gandhi has not become out of date, we have.'
Here's a spoiler-filled recap of the key players in the riveting saga!
'Whether I die in Calcutta or in Paris, on a Wednesday or a Saturday, it does not matter, but you would not want me to come to India's door and then return to France without having visited India.' 'Either I will die or I will visit India!' Claude Arpi hails Georges Clemenceau, French prime minister during the Great War, a great man who loved India.
Director Karan Malhotra overstuffs a simple family story about strained ties into a nearly three-hour long cacophonous music video, writes Sukanya Verma.
'We ask all Americans to stand against homophobia as well as against Islamophobia.'
After the court exonerated him in the case, a happy Prof Joseph told Rediff.com over the phone, "I am very happy. I had no intentions of hurting anyone. When the protests happened I had given an unconditional apology to both the public and the college but it was not accepted. Today they know that I was innocent."
Though the worker strike at the Gorakhpur-based publisher of Hindu religious texts has been called off, it hints at an underlying financial crisis, says Manavi Kapur
Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje breaks her silence.
Kolkata Gives brings together the city's philanthropists and deserving NGOs in a structured interface. Subir Roy walks away with fascinating stories from this year's do.
Opposing Tipu birth anniversary celebrations, Bharatiya Janata Party and pro-Hindu organisations had called for a bandh on Tuesday even as the district administration had made arrangements for the celebration.
This is one bill that will ensure that no politician, official or person can play politics with the lives of any other person and if they do, they will be arrested. It is time for such a bill to protect the minorities, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
'I don't give a f****. I am old enough now.' 'You just have to white-knuckle it and ride through it.' 'But really, who cares?' 'At the end of the day, just get on, feel the pain, embrace the suck.'
'For the likes of Zomato or Swiggy or Foodpanda or similar others, the customer has been sensitised for all times to the perils of the food pack being pilfered.' 'An important matter of trust has been exposed. And that really has been the biggest downer of this entire episode,' points out marketing guru Sandeep Goyal.
The verdict could impact a range of life choices of Indians, including food habits and sexual orientation.
In the light of the efforts being made to forge electoral unity between scheduled castes and Muslims, Mohammad Sajjad examines what the architect of our Constitution, B R Ambedkar, had to say about the Muslim community.
'The BJP must realise that a resurgent Rahul Gandhi will take the battle straight into its camp.' 'He is not going to be held back by the misdeeds of UPA 1 and 2, so there is no point harping on them,' says Sanjeev Nayyar.
The priest-turned-politician is not someone who minces his words.
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