Here's a recap of moments captured in India in the last week.
'As Indians, we should be claiming and celebrating 'Bhartiyata' rather than seeking commitment to beliefs which are divisive and exclusionary.'
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad was on Monday refused permission by the Uttar Pradesh government to organise a yatra from Ayodhya to push for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site, just days after it asked Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to work as a bridge between Hindus and Muslims on the issue.
'Bhagwat, aware of the advantages of keeping the BJP in power, is wary about the RSS taking steps that would undermine the popular standing of either the PM or the party.'
Some jewellery shops in the famous Shringaar Haat area turned into places for community television spots as passers-by and even some security personnel and mediapersons joined shopkeepers to watch the live telecast of 'bhoomi poojan' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the temple and his speech. Many recalled that these scenes were similar to ones quite common in late 1980s when 'Ramayana' serial was telecast on Doordarshan and people used to gather at few houses and shops having TV sets.
As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday sent a general advisory to all the states and Union territories asking them to deploy adequate security personnel at all sensitive places, political leaders made fresh calls to people not to indulge in making provocative remarks or spreading rumours.
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.
In a state where Hindu social identity continues to remain in the overarching Dravida umbrella, the 'Hindutva' political identity does not have the same, or even near-similar electoral purchase, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Thousands of people hailing 'Puratchi Thalaivi Amma' (Revolutionary Leader Amma) walked with the cortege.
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.
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.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar described the engagement between Modi and Xi on the first day of the Informal summit as 'highly productive'.
The last auspicious day of the ongoing Kumbh Mela was full of action
Acharya Satendra Das, the chief priest of the makeshift temple at the dispute site in Ayodhya, alleged that VHP's yatra from here was politically motivated and not religious and that saints were being used for "vested interests".
Tired of living under the restive shadow of communalism, Ayodhya residents, be it Vijay Singh or Mohammad Azim, do not want any fresh political trigger for communal disharmony.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing the Muslim parties in the case, tore up a pictorial map.
Modi said India had been a "cradle of all major religions in the world".
Those who withdrew called off the blockade on the Sarita Vihar-Kalindi Kunj road and alleged "politicisation" of their "peaceful protest".
Leaders, including the President and Vice President, react to the bhoomi pujan of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
As we wave goodbye to 2019, we look back at the highlights of the year, in the numbers that made it memorable.
Hindu and Sikh leaders will share stage with Pope Francis during a prayer service in New York
'The most important thing is that medical aid reaches people whenever required.'
Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was elected president and Champat Rai general secretary of the Ram Temple trust at its first meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The filmmaker, at the forefront of the criticism against the amended citizenship act, assured the students that he and many others stood behind the students in their long fight.
The arguments in the matter were the second longest after the landmark Keshvanand Bharti case in 1973 during which the proceedings for propounding the doctrine of basic structure of the Constitution continued for 68 days.
Recently, Hindu religious seers had threatened to boycott the ceremonial Kumbh snan if the Ganga was not clean.
The NIA questioned him for over two days before handing him over to the state police.
An alert has been sounded by the Assam police after receiving intelligence inputs about the sinister design being hatched by a fundamentalist outfit to strike terror in the famous Shakti Shrine Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, a must visit site for any religious Hindu.
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
'It all runs on sugar-coated lies. If I like something, I will want to believe it.'
In its efforts to re-establish itself as a party espousing the RSS' core Hindutva ideology, the BJP has declared Ayodhya and Vande Mataram its election issues in Uttar Pradesh where Assembly polls are due next year.
"I am supporting the Hindu side," lawyer M C Dhingra, appearing for Shia Wakf Board, told the bench.
The top court said there are serious infirmities in the oral accounts of Nirmohi witnesses that the disputed structure was not a mosque but the Janmabhoomi temple.
About 2,000 activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah and the Sunni Tehreek Pakistan for more than two weeks have been blocking the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road that connect Islamabad with its only airport and the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
The apex court lashed out at the law enforcing agencies for allowing the 'instigators of violence' to get away and said they should act as per law without waiting for somebody's nod.
Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, said on Twitter that the threats appear in an essay carried by the Islamic State's Al Hayat media centre that declares terrorists "have come to slaughter you and smash your ballot boxes."
Trump said his visit to Saudi Arabia will include a gathering of leaders from 'across the Muslim world' to unite against extremism.
The MHA on Friday, while extending the lockdown for two more weeks till May 17, lifted many restrictions in green and orange zones. There are no restrictions on sale of non-essential items by e-commerce platforms in green and orange zones, a home ministry spokesperson said, adding barber shops and salons are also allowed to open in these areas.
The government has identified three circuits -- Ramayana Circuit, Krishna Circuit and Buddhist Circuit - to boost religious tourism. The Ram museum will be a part of the Ramayana Circuit for which the Centre has sanctioned Rs 225 crore, with Rs 151 crore exclusively for Ayodhya, which is the hub of the circuit.
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.
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