Category Archives: Communalism
India, Pak back to square one on J&K
Forget those tennis volleys; the verbal salvoes have returned. India and Pakistan have moved back to their 20th century positions on Kashmir, virtually erasing a decade of incremental progress that had brought the contentious issue off the boil and closer to resolution.
Ayodhya’s verdict: This is Ramjanmabhoomi
While the Supreme Court has postponed until September 28 its hearing on a plea to defer the Allahabad high court’s verdict in the Ayodhya title suit, in the pilgrim town itself, there’s no dispute: The place was, and is, Ramjanmabhoomi for its Hindus.
18 years on, have we learnt the lessons of Ayodhya?
The Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992. The act triggered weeks of communal riots and a decade of distrust between Hindus and Muslims, culminating in carnage in Gujarat in 2002. Now, the ghost of the Babri Masjid has been stirring again.
Ayodhya: Beyond ground zero
The six-lane national highway from Lucknow cuts through green paddy fields. Faizabad arrives without warning. The city is one straight road with narrow lanes radiating from it and vanishing into a jumble of old, half-built houses.
Ayodhya: The Redefining of India
The Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute has been one of the biggest influences in the shaping of independent India. It appears almost unreal to remember that this is, in legal terms, a mere dispute over the title to a small plot of land in a nondescript historical town of north India.
Kandhamal Probe a Failure, Say Activists
A top official of National Commission for Minorities concluded his visit to Orissa yesterday but rights activists say he is unable to assess the situation of anti-Christian violence.
Kandhamal’s Child Victims
The Association of Survivors of Kandhamal Communal Violence (ASKCV) has urged the Orissa Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, to protect the rights of children of Kandhamal, especially those severely affected by the aftermath of December 2007 and August 2008 pogrom.
Babri Masjid demolition: HC refuses to defer verdict
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has refused to defer the verdict in the Ayodhya title suit case. The verdict will be pronounced on September 24. The court rejected the petition filed by Ramesh Tripathi, who had cited a law and order fallout after the verdict.
The legal case behind the Ayodhya issue
It is the longest running legal dispute in India. Call it by any name – Babri dispute or Ram Mandir dispute, but it all simply boils down to just who owns the 60 sq feet by 40 sq feet land in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid used to stand till December 6, 1992.
‘Liberhan report soft on Advani, pulls up Rao govt’
The Liberhan Commission report on the circumstances leading to the Babri Masjid demolition has reportedly gone soft on BJP leader L.K. Advani but taken a stern view of the role of the then Narasimha Rao government at the Centre.