The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has distanced itself from controversial remarks made by its senior leader and West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim regarding the Muslim percentage in the population. Hakim, in a speech, had claimed that Muslims constitute 33 per cent of the population in West Bengal and 17 per cent nationwide, adding that they could become a numerical majority if they empower themselves. The party issued a statement on Monday condemning Hakim's remarks, asserting that they do not reflect its ideology and commitment to communal harmony. The remarks have sparked a political storm, with the opposition BJP accusing Hakim of attempting to stir communal sentiments. Hakim later clarified that his remarks were misinterpreted and that he was advocating for the empowerment of minorities through education and skill development. However, the controversy has caused ripples within the TMC and complicated the party's messaging.
The depiction of hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has kicked off a row with a section of viewers objecting to the 'humane' projection of the perpetrators.
Members of the right-wing outfit burn PK posters.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a "transparent" and expeditious probe into cases lodged against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair in various districts of the state, a senior official said.
Rammu Guru, the head priest of the temple, said, "Sai Baba was being worshiped without proper knowledge, which is forbidden according to scriptures."
An advertisement showing two women talking about Cars24's promise that you can test drive the car and return it with full refund in seven days if it doesn't work for you has upset a section of men. In the ad, the women say there should be such a policy for husbands, too. "Will same return policy be taken so laughingly as this one if we reverse the #gender? (sic)" asks a complainant to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). Another complaint, this time against a FreshToHome ad, reads: "Suggest to ban gory and repulsive photos of animal parts in ads - just as photos of accident victims."
As a hugely divisive debate raged over Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's "eradicate Sanatan Dharma" remark, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking its direction for registration of an FIR against him.
The Supreme Court on Monday imposed an interim stay on directives passed by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments that eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route must display names of owners.
The Supreme Court on Monday extended the relief granted to filmmaker Leena Manimekalai of no coercive action in connection with multiple FIRs registered against her in various states over a controversial poster of her upcoming documentary film showing goddess Kali smoking a cigarette.
A complaint petition was filed in a court in Bihar's Muzaffarpur against State Information Technology Minister Mohammad Israel Mansuri for visiting the Vishnupad temple in Gaya.
They are booked by Rewa police on a complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national secretary Gaurav Tiwari who demanded apology from Netflix and makers of the series, and removal of 'objectionable scenes', which he stated were also 'encouraging love jihad'.
Umesh Kolhe, a pharmacist from Amravati in Maharashtra, was murdered by "radicalised Islamists of Tablighi Jamaat" to avenge the alleged dishonour of Prophet Mohammed, as per the National Investigation Agency's charge sheet filed in a Mumbai court.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday a plea filed by comedian Munawar Faruqui, who is accused of hurting religious sentiments by allegedly passing objectionably remarks about Hindu deities during a show, challenging the Madhya Pradesh high court order denying him bail.
However, in some markets of the city meat is anyways not sold on Tuesdays as this day of the week is considered auspicious by many Hindus.
The officer's remarks in effect contradicted the state home minister's conjecture, according the which the violence was engineered and had a mastermind behind it.
Earlier this week, Twitter users dug out screenshots of jokes of some comics, including Varun Grover, Aditi Mittal, Abish Mathew, which they had cracked in the past.
Delivering the sermon, he said election and "resolution of the Kashmir issue" were two different things.
The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on Sharma for her controversial comments, saying her 'loose tongue' has "set the entire country on fire" and that she is "single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country".
Ram Rahim, lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria Jail, is serving a 20-year sentence handed out to him in 2017 for allegedly raping two of his disciples.
The police made the statement after a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal said the issue involved the larger question of Ranaut's fundamental right to free speech and that the court will have to grant her some ad-interim relief.
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
'Days ago, India witnessed the horror of the brutal rape and murder of a woman doctor on night duty at the R G Kar hospital in Kolkata.' 'The crime was so outrageous that any self-respecting chief minister should have resigned, bearing moral responsibility.' 'But then the terms 'self-respect' and 'moral responsibility' do not exist in the modern Indian political lexicon,' argues Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
The anonymous Twitter handle, a complaint from which led to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair's arrest, does not exist on the microblogging website anymore.
Former Aligarh Muslim University student Sharjeel Usmani, accused of hurting religious sentiments with his comments at last week's Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune, will be arrested from whichever state he is in, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday.
Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of six FIR lodged against him in several districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The Supreme Court on Monday termed as "absolutely frivolous" a petition filed by former UP Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi seeking the removal of 26 verses from holy Quran and dismissed it with a cost of Rs 50,000.
A BSNL spokesperson said Fathima was suspended from service in view of the police investigation against her.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has asserted there were no lapses on the part of the government in handling cases relating to the alleged sexual abuse of women by Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and that the Special Investigation Team was probing them from all angles.
'Faith, and the notion that it has been 'outraged', is used to justify the most outrageous, illiberal and regressive acts,' notes Shuma Raha.
It clarified that its interim bail order is with respect to the FIR lodged in Sitapur and has nothing to do with a case registered against him in Delhi.
'It is not a controversial subject like the first part. It's a sweet, innocuous look at God and his relationship with human beings.'
Apparently distancing itself from the Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur episode, the Hindu Mahasabha has said it does not support terrorism by anyone and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of encashing on Hindu sentiments by coming out in support of the Malegaon blast accused."The BJP is encashing on religious sentiments of Hindus again for their politics. Earlier they had encashed on the Ram janmabhoomi issue and this time it wants to encash on Malegaon," the ABHM said.
Police had sought an extension of Zubair's custody by five days.
The court restrained the movie's director, producer and Central Board of Film Certificate from releasing the film on July three till further orders. The film stars Sunny Deol, Ravi Kishan, Sakshi Tanwar among others.
Minutes after the Delhi CM posted the cartoon, which had been published in a national daily, that #Kejriwalinsultshanuman started trending.
A communication to Sharma from the party's disciplinary committee said she has expressed views contrary to the party's position on various matters, which is in clear violation of its constitution.
All We Imagine As Light remains heart-warmingly affecting because you know experiences like this are few and far between. Payal Kapadia's film-making voice must be cherished, asserts Mayur Sanap.
The MV Ganga Vilas will traverse through 27 rivers over 52 days, covering over 3,200 km.
Bakshish Singh, a resident of Talli Gulam village, allegedly tore some pages of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, after entering the premises of the gurdwara in Bandala village, they said.
Comedian Kiku Sharda was arrested by Haryana police on a complaint alleging he hurt religious sentiments by mocking Dera Sacha Sauda sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.