"There was absolutely no need or necessity to mount a visceral attack on the religious beliefs of the Hindus. It was unwarranted and utterly unrelated to the occasion. That is what makes it deliberate and malicious," Justice G R Swaminathan of Madras High Court said.
The issue of denial of permission to Mansiya V P to perform Bharatanatyam at Koodalmanikyam temple, Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district has become a matter of debate in the state.
Sen also observed that invasion of Iraq itself was a 'grave mistake.'
The aftermath of Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan has led to an argument that there was no religion as Hinduism in Chola times.
Instead, there was only Saivism, Vaishnavism, etc, and that the Cholas were Saivites, and hence not Hindus, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The BJP is scared it may lose the Delhi municipal elections where they have been in power for the last 15 years.'
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday told the Bombay high court that the defamation suit filed against him by Dhyandev Wankhede, father of Narcotics Control Bureau zonal director Sameer Wankhede, was only an attempt to cover-up the 'illegalities' committed by the IRS officer and claimed none of his statements against them was false.
This is the second such incident in the city in last few days.
'Segregation suits the BJP at the moment. It will not suit them forever.'
'Communalism was the biggest enemy of a free society and Bhagat Singh imagined a future without it. Did we succeed in bringing alive such a future?'
As the campaign peaked, AAP leaders evidently realised they had to deflect their chief opponent's attempts to polarise the electorate over religious identity, explains David Devadas.
'Section 153A is not meant to protect fragile sentiments of the majority Hindu community who choose to get offended by slogans celebrating the success of the Pakistani cricket team.'
'Nehru's inability to take religion seriously as a category led to serious errors of judgement in his dealings with the Muslim League, and later, also with the Hindu right.'
As the tussle appeared getting out of hand, the two lawmakers disengaged and went their separate ways.
'Instead of developing the capacity, capability and strength to fight our external enemies, we are turning our own people against each other.'
In the letter dated July 23, the celebrities have said that "exemplary punishment" should be meted out "swiftly and surely" in such cases.
'Anyone can come and anyone can go.' 'There is no ideology or vision that differentiates one party from another.'
Was the impeccably articulate actor speaking from his heart or was he trying to manipulate a touchy issue for some newsprint?
Internal strife and tribalism is endemic to Afghanistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Such is the force of his oratory that many Muslims, even those who don't vote for him, have come to believe that Asaduddin Owaisi is the first and only politician who speaks up for Muslims since Independence, observes Jyoti Punwani
'In other parts of India, people may feel their religious identity is more important, but here in Assam, we are Assamese first and then, anything else. So, we are against this CAB (now CAA). It will hurt the interests of us Assamese'
In the unlikely event of the BJP-NDA losing all five states going to the polls in February-March, the Presidential electoral college numbers could be significantly altered, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
From playing to the Sikh vote bank because Punjab elections are round the corner, to ensuring that a discordant 'us versus them' note was struck, whatever could be done to exploit every last drop of communal appeal, was done, observes Jyoti Punwani.
As leaders go, while Modi's visits to the state will be watched with curiosity, Rahul will need to be dislodged from the popular consciousness -- Tamil Nadu is one state where he's present, notes Aditi Phadnis.
If the BJP wins by getting Hindu voters to consolidate, its opponents can't beat it by bundling together the Muslims and some of the 'others', observes Shekhar Gupta.
According to Owaisi, the CAA was only made towards making India a Hindu Rashtra.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist has said the party was opposed to communalism not religion, and faith was no bar for anyone to join the party if he or she was willing to work in accordance with its programme and constitution.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Look at Kejriwal. With his work, he's made a place in our hearts. But the BJP leaders have only abuses for us," protesters at Shaheen Bagh tell Jyoti Punwani.
Bengal, where the electoral discourse has mostly steered clear of divisive agenda, has been drawn into the vortex with the TMC and the BJP accusing each other of fanning communal sentiments ahead of elections.
'One one hand, the BJP puts Uniform Civil Code as a goal in its manifesto, and on the other, it pushes massive discrimination against Hindus.' 'This is not sabka saath, sabka vikas. Rather it is "Haj ka saath, church ka vikas",' argues Sankrant Sanu.
'In this election, the only thing that is going to matter is which caste aligns with which coalition.'
It claimed that the Act is violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution and thus, is liable to be struck down.
'...It won't help the party run a peaceful and equitable India,' warns Vir Sanghvi.
In the petition, the government stated that the act violates "Articles 14, 21, and 25 of the Constitution of India" and is violative of the basic structure principle of secularism as well.
'Are we seeing the beginning of the communalising of one of the most iconic film industries in the world?' asks Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
'If Mamata Banerjee doesn't want, then violence cannot be stopped.'
'The BJP will be the ruling party.'
Director Shivaji Lotan Patil does no justice to the story.
Having failed to wear down the protesters, the government has now resorted to a bare-knuckle campaign to discredit them by portraying them as pawns in a wider plot bankrolled by shadowy 'anti-national' and 'Islamist' forces, notes Hasan Suroor.
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