AN INDIAN state where prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power is set to introduce contentious common personal laws that will apply across religions this month, a template other state officials said they will look to follow. Currently, India’s Hindus, Muslims, Christians and large tribal populations…
India has unveiled plans to revamp its colonial-era penal code in a bid to eradicate any remnants of "the slavery of the British Raj." Addressing the lower house of parliament on Thursday (21), after the passage of three new criminal justice bills, Amit Shah, the minister of home affairs, emphasised…
Authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have taken the step of closing a private school following an incident where a teacher instructed her students to slap a Muslim classmate. Neha Public School in Khubbapur village was subjected to closure by officials who cited its failure to meet the…
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at the BJP on Wednesday over the showering of flower petals on Kanwariyas in Uttar Pradesh, saying this warmth is not for Muslims, whose houses are bulldozed. Talking to reporters in the Parliament complex, the Hyderabad MP said all communities should be treated equally.…
Opposition parties slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday over the unveiling of a cast of the national emblem atop the new Parliament building, hurling a slew of accusations ranging from the absence of opposition leaders, conducting a religious ceremony on Parliament premises and "subverting" the principle of constitutional separation…
THE All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the ouster of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal from the party's primary membership was done to please the leaders of foreign countries. Speaking at the press conference in Hyderabad in Telangana, Owaisi said,…
ALLEGING that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh participated in the demolition of Babri Masjid "disrespecting" the Supreme Court and later defended the action saying it was necessary for "historic reasons", AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi questioned if the RSS would follow a similar method in the Gyanavapi issue. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's…
THE All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has said that "India belongs to Dravidians and Adivasis", and not to him, or Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP head Sharad Pawar and prime minister Narendra Modi. Addressing a rally in Bhiwandi town here in Maharashtra on Saturday (28) evening, the…
FRESH bouts of legal battles over places of worship in India have raised concerns that they could potentially turn religious flashpoints in the Hindu-majority country.The disputes over the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and another structure in Mathura – both in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh – are decades old.…
A proposed Indian law on the collection and use of genetic data to tackle crime can violate privacy, and target minorities and marginalised communities disproportionately, according to technology experts and human rights groups. The DNA Technology Regulation Bill allows the profiling of victims, those accused of crimes, and those reported…
LORD SHIVA had a berth reserved for Him probably for the first time ever on a train, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Kashi Mahakal Express from Varanasi on Sunday (16). Railways authorities are mulling if they should make the reservation for the "Bhole Baba" a permanent feature of the…
THE Indian government and women's groups hailed "historic" legislation Wednesday (31) that criminalised "instant divorce" for Muslims, but an influential Islamic group said it would launch a legal challenge. India's upper house passed a bill Tuesday (30) banning the centuries-old practice that allowed men to separate from their wives by…
THE ruling TRS in Telangana was ahead of its rivals in 11 Lok Sabha constituencies among the total 17, according to trends available from the Election Commission. AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi was leading in Hyderabad. TRS nominee BB Patil was leading in Zaheerabad by 680 votes over his Congress nominee…
At their usual evening gathering, six retired Muslim academics outdo each other with gloomy predictions if Narendra Modi is re-elected prime minister in India's polls ending Sunday. "We are one step away from being turned into second-class citizens," Mohiuddin Azad told AFP in Azamgarh, a northern city long associated with…
Narendra Modi is making a first visit to Israel by an Indian prime minister next week, in a public embrace of a country that he has long admired for its military and technical expertise but which his predecessors kept at arm's length. India has traditionally trodden a careful diplomatic line in the region, analysts…
Indian police have arrested a man for allegedly stabbing a Muslim teenager to death on suspicion of possessing beef, an officer said on Sunday (25), an attack that has drawn anger across the country. Cow slaughter is banned in most Indian states whose predominantly Hindu population consider the animal to…
INDIA’S parliament is set to pass legislation that gives federal agencies access to the world’s biggest biometric database in the interests of national security, raising fears the privacy of a billion people could be compromised. The move comes as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cracks down on student protests…