In a major victory for the Hindu side, a Varanasi court on Wednesday allowed Hindu devotees to offer prayers inside the 'Vyas ka Tekhana' area inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
Around 10 hoardings have been put up near the disputed land which says that Muslims want the construction of the Ram Mandir
Communal tension over the disputed temple next to historic Charminar continued for second day in Hyderabad as stray incidents of violence took place soon after the Friday prayers.
The SC underlined that it has no control over what Mughal ruler Babar did.
The Varanasi district court arrived at the decision of allowing 'puja' in a Gyanvapi mosque cellar in "haste", the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said on Friday, asserting it would pursue the matter right up to the Supreme Court.
The petitioners seeking reconsideration by a larger bench, the observations made by it in a 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to Islam.
The three-judge special bench comprising Justice S U Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and D V Sharma pronounced the verdict on September 30 at 15.30 hours.
Udhayanidhi's 'untimely' elevation as deputy CM may be used against the party, for critics to argue that the DMK's 'first family's is not concerned about anything else but their clan's welfare. If packaged and delivered properly, some of the sting may stick at election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered mediation to settle the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute by a three-member panel comprising of Justice Kalifulla, advocate Sriram Panchu and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar. The panel has been given eight weeks by the Supreme Court to arrive at a conclusion and four weeks to give a status report. Here's all you need to know about the panel of mediators:
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the proceedings before the Allahabad high court on suits related to the Sri Krishna Janambhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute, saying it will not be fair to interfere with the high court order without hearing both the sides.
'Muslims should not justify demolition of temples by foreign invaders.'
Justice Padia stayed the Varanasi civil court order, ruling that the subordinate court passed its order ignoring the fact that the high court had reserved its verdict on the plea challenging the maintainability of the suit which had been filed earlier in the lower court for the survey.
The fresh initiative for settlement of the Ayodhya dispute, led by a former High Court judge, has been signed by more than 10,000 Hindu and Muslims.
Thackeray recalled former prime minister Vajpayee as saying, Ab Hindu maat nahi khayega (Hindus will not be defeated now), and added, "Hindus will not sit silent."
Bangladesh is in turmoil, which is not good news for India, which shares a porous 4000 km border with it. There is a danger of fundamentalism growing there, and India has to move in to reset its ties with the new dispensation before China and Pakistan make capital out of it, alerts Ramesh Menon.
When the temple issue predominated BJP's discourse, its victory margins have been narrow.
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.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should avoid visiting the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva at Batadrava on January 22, as there can be no competition between Lord Ram and the medieval age Vaishnav saint revered as an icon in the state.
Hindu bodies except Nirmohi Akhara have opposed the suggestion of the apex court to refer the issue for mediation, while Muslim bodies have supported it.
'The Mahabodhi temple is the only example in the world where a religion's most sacred place is controlled by people belonging to another religion.'
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
A revealing excerpt from Mani Shankar Aiyar's fascinating new book, The Rajiv I Knew.
RSS on Thursday made a series of tweets quoting Bhagwat on the issue.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) began working on a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi premises in Varanasi on Friday to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have announced that they will mark the day as Shaurya Diwas and Vijay Diwas (day of victory) and have asked the people to light earthen lamps as on Diwali.
Without naming the BJP, Joshi added, "We are not begging for it. We are expressing our emotions. The country wants 'Ram rajya'."
According to the counsel for the Hindu side Madan Mohan Yadav, the ASI sought more time due to non-availability of the technical report.
The apex court rejected an appeal challenging a July 10 decision of the Allahabad high court which had also dismissed the plea finding no error or illegality in the order of a Mathura civil judge who had decided to first hear the issue of maintainability of the suit as raised by management committee of the mosque.
Thousands of Shiv Sainiks are expected to accompany Eknath Shinde on his visit to Ayodhya on Sunday, his first such visit after being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in June last year.
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.
Arguing that the Bharatiya Janata Party did not accept his offer for "land" at a place "other than the disputed site" for building the Ram temple, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav accused the saffron party of using the temple issue for electoral gains.
Swamy has contended that the pendency of the appeals in the SC has restricted his fundamental right to worship and enjoy dignity of life.
The ASI told the court on November 2 that it might take some more time to compile the report, along with the details of the equipment used in the survey work, following which additional time till November 17 was granted for the submission of the document.
Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas was formed by the members of the VHP on December 18, 1985, with the aim of constructing a grand temple at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.
'Modi is trying avenues to convince people why they should vote for the BJP.'
"Bring an ordinance on Ram temple and fulfil at least one promise made to Hindus," said the party.
The Shankaracharya said the sadhus will begin their march to Ayodhya from Allahabad after Basant Panchami, which falls on February 10.
Centre's counsel Lala Ram Gupta told the Liberhan Commission that the issue is whether a temple existed on the disputed site before the construction of the Babri Mosque.
'The saffron party is under pressure from RSS and other Hindutva quarters to move swiftly on construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.'
'Not only are Muslim homes and shops being bulldozed, but the cops are filing random FIRs even against people who died two-three years ago, against those who have moved to neighbouring states since almost two years to work there.'
