Voicing concern over the slow pace of proceedings in punishing perpetrators of the 2002 Gujarat riots, a United States report on international religious freedom has said that Muslims in the state "still fear" persecution.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought the stand of the Centre and city government on a public interest litigation seeking a direction to the authorities to use the "proper meaning" of the term "religion' and not use it as a synonym of "dharma" in official documents.
The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday gave nod to an ordinance on the bill against religious conversion through fraudulent means, including those for the sake of marriage, that stipulates a jail term of up to 10 years for violators.
'Women all over India want a safer atmosphere at the place where they go to pray or meditate.'
It then went on to ask whether a lion could be named after Swami Vivekananda or Ramakrishna Paramahansa.
'Imagine what the BJP's urges would be if India's electorate awarded it truly brute majorities like the 400 plus seats the prime minister called for in the 2024 general elections?' asks Shyam G Menon.
The apex court pulled up the Centre for its "evasive" and "brazen" affidavit on the issue.
Usman Australia's Usman Khawaja was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday for sporting a black armband after the global body's rules prevented him from wearing shoes with messages of support for Gaza in a Test against Pakistan.
India is the birthplace of four major world religions -- Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is home to the world's third largest Muslim population, a diverse community of sects that includes Sufis, Shia, and Bohra. Roughly three per cent of India's citizens are Christian, and notably, Christians are the religious majority in three of India's 29 states, she said.
Amid opposition Congress's protest and walkout, the Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday okayed the anti-conversion bill, passed by the legislative council last week with minor amendments, that seeks to replace the ordinance that was in place to give effect to the bill.
The programme is focussed on highlighting the teachings of the ninth Sikh guru who sacrificed his life to protect religion and human values, ideals and principles in world history, it noted, adding that he was executed for supporting the religious freedom of Kashmiri Pandits on the orders of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.
'Are we supposed to look the other way as Islamists go on a rampage against Hindus and the Hasina government pay lip service to secularism?' A revealing excerpt from Avishek Biswas and Deep Halder's book, Being Hindu In Bangladesh: The Untold Story.
The networking giant said it has taken steps to reduce the visibility of hashtags containing harmful content, which included prohibiting them from trending and appearing as recommended search terms.
Released by secretary of state Antony Blinken, the annual human rights reports of the state department is a mandatory requirement of the US Congress giving details of human rights status in countries across the world.
A top American official has opposed grant of visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi because of the "very serious" doubts that remain over his role in the "horrific" 2002 riots in the state.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday called Mahatma Gandhi 'a great strategist' and said that the revered Indian leader knew the importance of utilising soft power against the brute forces during the freedom struggle.
The Congress on Wednesday questioned the Election Commission's move to get a post on electoral bonds scheme deleted from social media platform X and said that the issue raised in the post makes the government 'extremely uncomfortable'.
The court will consider issues related to entry of Muslim women into mosques, female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and barring of Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, from the holy fire place at Agiary.
Maurya had the right to give his own independent explanation different from explanations of many scholars but he cannot use such language which may disturb the religious feelings of a community, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court said.
India comes under attack over religious intolerance, human trafficking and slavery at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
Though Beijing asserts the Dalai Lama's successor needs its approval, observers say it remains concerned as the present Panchen Lama, the number two spiritual leader who was appointed by it after unseating the boy nominated by the Dalai Lama, has not gained much traction in Tibet.
'He had to change them because he recognises that even with his popularity....could lead to a problem. So, democracy has this way of offering corrections and telling the ruling party or the prime minister that you need to take some steps to compensate for excesses'
The report shows that there has been a deep and disturbing decline in respect for media freedom at both the global and regional levels.
Top Congressional leaders on Wednesday met Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, reaffirming their support to the Tibetan cause.
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.
Mumbai Ranji Trophy captain Ajinkya Rahane has praised the BCCI 'for giving importance to domestic cricket.'
The action came Sunday evening at the joint complaint of Vishva Hindu Parishad, Hindu Jagran Manch, and Bajrang Dal.
A United States commission on religious freedom on Tuesday expressed deep concern over links between Pakistan's extremist groups and the Inter Services Intelligence, saying some of the madrasas in the country are creating 'an atmosphere of intolerance'. The commission is also concerned about the alleged role of Pakistan's Islamic schools, or madrasas, in providing ideological training to religious extremists and in creating an atmosphere of intolerance.
The overtures by CPI-M state secretary MV Govindan had upset the Congress that had, subsequently, accused the Left party of turning the UCC into a Hindu versus Muslim issue for gaining political mileage.
The court made the observation while refusing to grant interim protection from arrest to a woman booked by the Mumbai and Palghar police for allegedly making offensive remarks on Twitter against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray.
Responding to media queries on the development, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that "such interference in India's internal affairs is unacceptable, and reflects a colonial mindset".
United States should continue to maintain a visa ban on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as there was "significant evidence" linking him to the violence in the state in 2002, a Congress-established independent panel on religious freedom has recommended.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi accused the prime minister of twisting his words and said he was speaking about the power of which Modi was wearing the mask.
The film falsely claims Hindu women converted, got radicalised and were deployed in terror missions in India and the world, according to the ruling CPI-M and opposition Congress in Kerala.
ICC rejected Khawaja's application to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.
They all seem to forget that the Music Academy is as much an independent institution as T M Krishna is an individual musician. In drawing those red lines for the Academy management, they do not even seem to recognise that they too have crossed a red line themselves, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It was a machinery of death. A large number of Hindus were first converted and then persecuted from 1560 all the way to 1812!' says novelist Richard Zimler.
'We are writing to request that you join us in signing the attached letter that we are sending to Secretary (Robert) Gates regarding a fundamental issue of fairness, justice, and religious freedom: the right of Sikh Americans to abide by their religious articles of faith while serving in the United States Armed Forces,' wrote Congressmen Rodney Frelinghuysen and Carolyn Maloney in a 'dear colleague' letter.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances