'A family was evicted by fellow patrons at a cinema hall here on November 29 for allegedly not standing up when the national anthem was played. As per a State government order passed in 2003, cinema halls in Maharashtra are required to play the national anthem before the start of each movie. The incident came to light when a moviegoer in the same theatre (PVR Cinemas in the suburb of Kurla in central Mumbai) filmed the altercation and posted it on Twitter and Facebook, leading to an online uproar...
'A leading Marathi newspaper group, Lokmat's office was attacked in multiple places in Maharashtra. The copies of the Sunday edition of the newspaper were also burnt at several places because of a blasphemous cartoon which was published in Lokmat's supplement Manthan. The article titled 'ISIS cha Paisa' (ISIS' money) and its accompanying image irked the members of the Muslim community and hundreds of Muslims in Dhule, Nandurbar, Malegaon and other parts of Maharashtra staged various protests...'
'Prominent Sunni Muslim leader Kanthapuram Aboobacker Musliyar Saturday said gender equality was “against Islam”. Addressing a Sunni students’ camp in Kozhikode, the orthodox Sunni leader said, “Where has man-woman equality taken place? It is not going to happen. Gender equality is against Islam, society and human kindness.” “The world is controlled by men. Women have strength in other areas… They can deliver babies. Only women can nurture babies. Her duty is to rear children and feed the husband,’’ Musliyar said...'
'For all its rhetoric, the two-day special discussion in Parliament on “Commitment to the Constitution” has done little to dispel the concerns of civil society over growing intolerance. But it should be no surprise, for in his earlier avatar as chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi has a record of disclaiming knowledge of such a warning even from one of his own trusted police officers.
'Even by the bogus standards of what makes for a “controversy” in these days of hyper-media, the noise around Aamir Khan’s statement is quite phony. It birthed countless hysterical panel discussions and hashtags and allowed the vast barmy army of trolls to come out and attack the actor. Much of the criticism was ad hominem – Aamir Khan (and his wife) were on trial, not the issue he raised.
'V.P. Rajeena, a journalist based in Kozhikode, has become the target of organised online abuse, after she shared her personal experiences of studying in a madrasa in her younger days. Facebook closed down her profile on Wednesday after mass reporting by her detractors. On Sunday, Rajeena put up a post in the social network on alleged instances of immoral conduct of madrasa instructors, which she claimed to have witnessed. The post touched a raw nerve and set off a torrent of abuses and open threats on her Facebook page and in her message box.
'Film star Aamir Khan found himself at the centre of a raging controversy on the issue of tolerance on Tuesday with saffron parties attacking him for stoking “fear” and telling him to “go to Pakistan” if he felt insecure in the country... “He was a celebrated actor till now. But now it seems that we handed over milk to a snake. If he does not want to stay here, he can go to Pakistan,” Maharashtra Environment Minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam said.
'A Shiv Sena minister in BJP-led Maharashtra government has said actor Aamir Khan "can go to Pakistan" if he didn't love India and that people such as Aamir, Shah Rukh and Dilip Kumar were like "snakes", considering their statements... "From Dilip Kumar to Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir, we gave everyone of them a lot of love. However, the statements coming from them make us feel as if we have nurtured snakes," said Mr Kadam...'
'Liberal, rebellious and progressive to the core, Ismat Chughtai (1915-1991), enfant terrible of Urdu literature, fought parochialism all her life. She led from the front and lived by her own principles. One of her daughters was married to a Hindu while the other was married to a Parsi. She didn't consume beef, not because of the Hindutva diktat, but to respect the sentiments of her Hindu grandson. And when she died she was cremated at Chandanwadi because she had willed so.
'Assam Governor P B Acharya was caught in another controversy on Sunday as he said that Indian Muslims are free to go anywhere, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. His remark came a day after he was reported to have said that “Hindustan is for Hindus”. As his reported statement — quoted by a section of the local media — came under fire, Acharya held a press conference on Sunday, where he claimed that he had been misquoted. However, he stirred a fresh row, with his response to a question on Indian Muslims who face persecution. “They (Indian Muslims) are free to go anywhere.
