The carving work by artisans had been carried out uninterrupted since 1990 when Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
After eminent writers Nayantara Sahgal and Ashok Vajpeyi, Malayalam novelist and Aam Aadmi Party leader Sarah Joseph today said she would return the Sahitya Akademi award in protest against what she called the "growing communalism" and "life threat faced by writers" in the country after Narendra Modi government assumed office.
'Lives are lost and the social fabric is torn. The progress of the nation comes to a grinding halt.'
Religious differences have never been a barrier among Bollywod's famous couples, says Bharathi Pradhan in her book, Colas, Cars & Communal Harmony.
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen ran into another controversy when protest by Muslim fundamentalists forced a Bengali channel to postpone the broadcast of a TV serial based on a story written by her.
Mahathir said his govt would always ensure it looked into all factors.
The White House and State Department commemorate other religious traditions, including a Jewish Passover Seder, as well as Christmas and Easter holidays.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it will "unequivocally" oppose the Communal Violence Bill when it comes up for discussion and passage in Parliament as it is a "threat" to communal harmony and an "attack" on the federal structure.
'Sukh Pal Singh is not very rich where money is concerned, but his heart is rich.'
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has too decided against observing the 27th anniversary of the demolition as "Shaurya Diwas".
The Art of Living foundation will hold a three-day World Culture Festival in New Delhi (March 11-13), a mega event celebrating the foundation's 35 years. It hopes to bring together 3.5 million global citizens
Religious differences have never been a barrier among Bollywod's famous couples, says Bharathi Pradhan.
Religious differences have never been a barrier among Bollywod's famous couples, says Bharathi Pradhan.
Major mosques and idghas, which see tens of thousands of people offering namaz on Eid and then embracing each other, remained mostly empty perhaps for the first time on the festival as the government has prohibited all kinds of religious gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The NIA has questioned around 20 associates of Naik, including his sister Nailah Naushad Noorani, in connection with its investigation, they said.
The noted publisher of Hindu religious and spiritual texts, which has seen tough times in the recent past, hopes the new UP CM's spiritual background will boost sales.
The Constitution is a terrific document, but it is also one that has suppressed the Hindu majoritarian sentiment. We are living through times when this suppression is being popularly rejected, notes Aakar Patel.
The politicisation of ethnic sentiments in the state has coincided with the ascent of the BJP and increased activities of far right Hindu outfits, which organised rallies and other events on religious occasions such as Ram Navami a festival not very popular in West Bengal- unlike states in north India.
The synod of Syro-Malabar Church has alleged that scores of women from Christian community from Kerala were being lured into the trap of Islamic State and used in terror activities. The VHP welcomed the Church statement.
'Once the common man realises that living in harmony, respecting, loving and protecting each other is the real meaning of secularism, and treating everyone equally to safeguard our Constitution and motherland is patriotism, there will be no opportunity for communalism.'
In a televised address, Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said that her country does not fear the scrutiny of the international community, as more than 400,000 minority Rohingya have fled violence in the country's northern Rakhine State.
Congress MP Sushmita Dev said that speeches given by Modi and Shah are also punishable under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code as they "blatantly promote disharmony and feelings of enmity on the grounds of religion and such acts are also likely to prejudice the maintenance of public harmony and tranquility between religious communities".
The NIA has asked him to him to appear before it on March 30 in a case filed against him under an anti-terror law.
Bhagwat said a sense of idealism is good and described himself not as 'anti-modern', but as 'pro-future'.
Amid tight security, the 137th edition of Lord Jagannath's rathyatra began in Ahmedabad on Sunday morning from the ancient Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur area.
'The JD-U has become an ideology-less accessory to the BJP,' says Ambassador Pavan Varma, who has been expelled from the JD-U.
Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph has declined to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dinner for top judges on Saturday on the ground that the event and the ongoing judges conference clashed with Good Friday and Easter weekend.
The inter-faith ceremony, where there was a traditional Hindu-style 'hawan' and chants of Sikh 'kirtan', saw participants also reading out the Preamble of the Constitution and taking oath to preserve its "socialist, secular" values.
The EC on Saturday had issued a show-cause notice to Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast accused currently out on bail, over her remark made during an interview to a news channel.
While Ayodhya resembled a city under seige earlier during the day, the scene was no different elsewhere in the state with police and central forces keeping an eye over the security situation and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally monitoring it from a hi-tech control room in the state capital.
Wearing garlands, the farmer leaders, who had called for observing 'Sadbhavana Diwas' (Harmony Day) on Saturday after the immense outrage over violence by protesters during their Republic Day tractor rally, sat on the dais during the fast, as crowds of supporters swelled, especially in Gazipur where the Bharatiya Kisan Union is leading the protest.
All educational institutes across the state are closed for the second consecutive day, the officials said.
The Samajwadi Party on Thursday justified the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to ban a proposed yatra by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to garner support for the construction of the RamTemple at a disputed site in Ayodhya.
'We must begin dialogue with openness and goodwill, but we will not proceed very far without trust and good faith. The alternative is the violence of 'might is right,' which settles very little and destroys so much of real value,' says Dr Rudolf C Heredia, author of Religious Disarmament -- Rethinking Conversion in India.
'Mohan Bhagwat's reaffirmation of the RSS's Hindu rashtra ideal has shown that nothing has changed, that it remains firmly rooted in its fundamental beliefs, that the willingness to listen to voices from outside its fold was a pretence about being openminded,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
The Punjab government on Saturday decided to put a ban on the screening of the controversial movie 'Messenger of God' featuring Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, in apprehension of breach of peace.
The Dalai Lama is a huge charmer, knowing how to say things that will please an audience in his gentle avuncular manner.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday raked up the issue of BJP leader Rajnath Singh's alleged meeting with 2008 Malegaon blast accused Pragya Thakur.
The National Investigation Agency carried out searches at the premises of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, his NGO and a few associates for the third consecutive day on Monday, even as it blocked the website of outlawed Islamic Research Foundation founded by him.
