A vacation bench of the Madras high court on Friday admitted a public interest litigation plea to stop forcible conversion of students in schools and ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu government, returnable in four weeks.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has strongly criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for alleging his involvement in the attack on nuns in Chhattisgarh, calling the remarks ignorant and excessive.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has accused the BJP of attempting to intimidate bishops and church leaders in Kerala to gain their support, asserting that such tactics will not succeed in the state.
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that individuals converting from Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism cannot retain Scheduled Caste status, reinforcing existing constitutional provisions.
'This is a major rupture in Tamil Nadu's political order.' 'For the Dravidian parties, the message is clear: The old DMK-AIADMK binary is no longer guaranteed a future.'
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating the assets and finances of Jalaluddin alias Chhangur Baba, the alleged mastermind of an illegal religious-conversion racket in Uttar Pradesh. The ED has written to various authorities and banks to gather information and is expected to seek custodial remand for questioning.
The father of two sisters in Agra, whose missing persons complaint exposed an illegal religious conversion racket, claims his daughters were 'brainwashed' by some Kashmiri girls. Ten people have been arrested from six states in connection with the case.
When Bangalore-based Arjun* agreed to an arranged marriage, he believed he had found the perfect balance between tradition and modernity. But a quiet conflict over religion at home soon began to test the relationship.
The trailer of the film, produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and directed by Kamakhya Narain Singh, released on Tuesday and landed straight into controversy. It tracks the stories of three Hindu women from three different states going against their families to marry Muslim men and then being forced to convert.
The upcoming Hindi film 'The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond' is embroiled in controversy, similar to its predecessor, with accusations of hate propaganda and defenses of legitimate concern over religious conversion.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Wednesday accused the Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Orissa of working under "pressure" from missionary elements and the Centre to protect real "killers" of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and demanded a central law to ban religious conversion.
Lok Sabha takes up FCRA Amendment Bill amid opposition protests.
Police in Maharashtra's Amravati district arrested a pastor from Kerala and seven others on charges of hurting religious sentiments after allegations of offering money for conversion to Christianity. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan criticized the arrests.
'The real fault line in Assam is not Hindu versus Muslim. It is Assamese versus Bengali -- and within that, the specific anxiety about undocumented Bangladeshi settlers claiming land and altering the demographic balance of the state.'
India has rejected a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that criticised India's record on religious freedom and called for linking US security assistance and trade to improvements in this area.
The Supreme Court has sought the Uttar Pradesh government's response on a plea challenging certain provisions of the 2024 amended UP law on unlawful religious conversion, citing concerns about free speech and religious propagation.
A US federal government commission has raised concerns about the state of religious freedom in India, recommending its designation as a 'Country of Particular Concern' and suggesting targeted sanctions.
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.
What is missing in the BJP's armour is dominance over 50 percent of the electorate: Women. And this is a gamble Modi-Shah have indicated that they are willing to take, explains Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
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.
'The real #KeralaStory is how pork, beef and fish coexist with vegetarian sadya and all of them live in harmony.'
The Supreme Court has voiced concern over a 'new type of fraud' involving individuals from dominant upper-caste backgrounds in Haryana converting to Buddhism solely to claim minority reservation benefits. The court has sought a report from the chief secretary of Haryana on the issuance of minority certificates.
A US Congressman has introduced a resolution urging the US government to recognise the 1971 atrocities committed against Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh by the Pakistani Army as a genocide, seeking justice and historical acknowledgement.
'I cannot imagine that any NSA before Ajit Doval would have given us this kind of time and this kind of engagement. They would have offered slogans, or nothing at all. That, too, tells you something.'
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.
'Banning conversion would harm Hinduism by taking away the need for reform.'
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.
The construction of a Babri Masjid-style mosque in West Bengal's Murshidabad district has become a focal point in the upcoming elections, reshaping voter loyalties and raising communal tensions.
Around 2 million commercial and domestic LPG cylinders will be required to meet demand from hotels, restaurants, and roadside eateries during the upcoming Char Dham Yatra 2026, according to Prajapati Nautiyal, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for the Char Dham Yatra Administration Organisation.
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.
'Jews are very much safe in Iran. They are our brothers. There is a difference between a Jew and a Zionist.' A conversation around a tea table in Mumbai serves as an eye-opener for Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The three principles he taught in particular -- Ahimsa, Anekantavada and Aparigraha -- are as alive and necessary today as they were then. Perhaps more so.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
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.
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.
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.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances