One would not think that a Facebook status or a tweet could land you in jail, at least not in India -- the world's largest democracy. However, the reality is a lot more brutal in India, which has a shameful history of locking up its citizens for dissenting viewpoints. According to Mint, at least 50 people have been arrested through 2017 and 2018 for posts on social media. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com presents some of the most prominent cases.
The police arrested four men on Tuesday after they chanted Hanuman Chalisa at an idgah, a day after namaaz offered on the premises of a temple in Mathura triggered a row.
When the team later reached the flat where they were staying, Chhota Rajan asked them to leave immediately, saying the operation was leaked to Dawood Ibrahim.
'If someone comes out to kill an innocent person and he is challenged by police, then either he or the policemen have to die'
Sheela Bhatt narrates the behind-the-scenes action in the Delhi headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat that finally forced the religious sect's compliance with the coronavirus shutdown.
The relative ranking of castes can vary across regions and localities and depends on a number of factors including control over land, wealth, and political power. Castes have often tried to 'upgrade' themselves (a process sociologists refer to as Sanskritization), and sometimes get 'downgraded'. A revealing excerpt from Upinder Singh's Ancient India: Culture Of Contradictions.
A gurdwara in California has been vandalised and the word "terrorist" scrawled on its walls in an apparent hate crime, days ahead of the first anniversary of the Oak Creek gurdwara shooting in Wisconsin.
He was allegedly involved in the killings of Asaram's personal doctor Amrut Prajapati in June 2014, his assistant-cum-cook Akhil Gupta in January 2015 and another key witness, Kripal Singh, in July 2015 in different parts of the country, said the release.
Religious minorities in India have been subjected to "violent attacks, forced conversions" and 'Ghar Wapsi' campaigns by groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after the Modi government assumed power in 2014, a US Congress-established panel has said.
Seven university students and chief of a banned Islamist group were charged for the murder of an atheist blogger in 2013.
The families were traced to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Syria's antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said on Sunday that sources in Palmyra had confirmed that the Arch of Triumph, a jewel in the exquisite collection of ruins in the city, had been blown up.
McAllister, the son of Union City Police Chief Darryl McAllister, and the juvenile have been charged with attempted robbery, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.
Addressing a rally in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Kanpur, Adityanath said, "These people do not have courage to participate in the protests themselves. They know if they indulge in vandalism, their property will be seized. Now what have they done? "They started making the women sit at roads. The children have been made to sit. It's such a big crime that the men are sleeping under the quilt and the women are made to sit at roads. It is shameful," he said.
Officials said the addition shows the measure was set on the basis of security and was not a 'Muslim ban'.
A group of Indian workers in the US have filed a lawsuit in a district court against the Swaminarayan sect BAPS, accusing it of human trafficking and wage law violations during the construction of a massive temple in New Jersey.
'The response to savagery and mass injustice is never a persistent howl.' 'There will be, among the victims, those who choose to forget the scars, those who go on living, those who challenge the overall environment of sentimentality.' 'And the more effort you put into including these other voices, into assimilating these spoilsports, the more balanced your depiction of the tragedy in question will be,' observes Sreehari Nair.
A 71-year-old nun was allegedly gang-raped inside a convent in Nadia district of West Bengal early Saturday, triggering protests.
'Why do the English-speaking class feel they are the only ones who are efficient in work?' 'My own mother was from a village and she was more efficient than me. She used to handle crises better than me.' 'We will have to come out of our elite perception of governance.'
Aseem Chhabra brings you the Best of the Berlinale.
What has not changed in a decade is the character of Rizwan Khan. He is complex, multi-dimensional and lovable. In fact, his character continues to grow on you, notes Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
"Recent threats targeting Jewish Community Centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week's shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms," Trump said in his address to the joint session of US Congress.
Two men, who were apparently part of a demonstration by Jamia Millia Islamia students on Sunday, have been admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital with "gunshot injury", sources said on Monday.
'There has been a marked increase in four types of cases.' 'One is fraud related to online deliveries, online shopping and online groceries and liquor.' 'Second fake news, third hate speech and fourth sextortion.'
He is now in the custody of Rajasthan Police for further probe, city Crime Branch's Assistant Commissioner of Police K N Patel said on Monday.
The Mumbai Police has also issued an advisory to citizens to be alert during the festival season after the two terrorists, identified as Kalimuddin Khan and Hafiz Sarif, sneaked into the city.
Although earlier reports indicated that five people had been detained in connection with the case, Nadia SPsaid no arrests or detention have so far been made in the case.
Ethnic slurs were also spray-painted on the property, the Sikh Council on Religion and Education said.
There will remain those, though, who will remain in opposition to this massive endeavour for world peace with an aim not to improve, but to scuttle the project. But for the rest of us, a cultural and spiritual event of this significance and scale is a feast for the mind and soul, say Sankrant Sanu.
Tech Mahindra said the company believes in diversity and inclusion, and condemns "discrimination of any kind in the workplace".
Exploiting the killings to ratchet up the tension in the region and harden negotiating positions with the central government serves nobody, least of all the people of Nagaland. The peace process must not be stalled because of this incident or distracted by calls to repeal the AFSPA, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Indian authorities failed to "prevent many incidents of religious violence and contributed to tensions through polarising speeches", Amnesty International said.
46-year-old Robert Bowers, yelled "all Jews must die" before gunning storming into Synagogue was charged with 29 counts of federal crimes of violence and firearms offense
'If Mamata Banerjee doesn't want, then violence cannot be stopped.'
With most political parties failing to articulate the concerns of Muslims, who account for 15 per cent of the population and can swing the electoral outcome in 21 constituencies, the AIMIM hopes to make a mark in the ongoing assembly elections, says Shafeeq Rahman.
Police said the six allegedly attempted to kill an RSS worker on December 22 for taking part in a pro-CAA rally. The matter has now been handed over to the ATS and an SIT will also be formed to ensure that such people do not create any disturbance, police said.
Making such publication mandatory would invade in the fundamental rights of liberty and privacy, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court said.
Relationship problems? Let Love Guru help.
'Hinduism is the mother of all religions; communal hatred should not be spread in its name.'
'The existence of Section 295A on the Indian statute books sits uneasily with India's ambitions to be seen as a progressive democracy,' says Kanika Datta.
