'“Those people from three neighbouring countries who belong to minority communities and have fled to India to escape persecution, have been provided a measure of help and relief by the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019; they have been shown some leniency. These concessions are not necessarily the outcome of Modi’s thinking. It is not that the idea materialised in Modi’s mind overnight and Modi made it happen. These concessions conform to the very spirit of Gandhi’s thought.
'An FIR was filed against Magsaysay Award winner and human rights activist Sandeep Pandey for allegedly making inappropriate comments against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar during his speech at the Aligarh Muslim University. On Tuesday, national vice president of Hindu Mahasabha Rajiv Kumar filed a complaint alleging that Pandey made the comments while addressing anti-citizenship law protestors at AMU on Sunday, police said.
'Historian Irfan Habib was slapped with a notice by an Aligarh Civil Court advocate for taking a jibe at the Prime Minister during a speech at the Aligarh Muslim University, calling him “illiterate”.
'West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, while addressing a science and engineering fair in Kolkata on Tuesday, said that mythological character Arjuna’s arrows had nuclear power and chariots mentioned in the Mahabharata actually flew. He immediately drew flak from scientists and scholars. “In Mahabharata, we had a situation where Sanjay narrated everything and not from the field (the battle between the Pandavas and Kauravas).
'Mainstream Indian historiography – whether it is nationalistic, Left or liberal versions – has a problem dealing with the battle of Bhima Koregaon. It doesn’t fit into the narrative of Hindu nationalism or the classic anti-colonialism frame. This historical dilemma is the reason why it is easy for the BJP and the Narendra Modi government to dub an anti-caste battle commemoration as the handiwork of ‘Urban Naxals’ and dangerous. Because Indian history has largely been silent on it... What makes this war complex for Indian historians was the composition of the British Army.
'Tremors of discontent are being felt across Punjab on the issue of Citizen’s Amendment Bill (CAB) passed by Parliament earlier this week. Protests have started in the state and are expected to intensify in the days to come. Significantly the protests are seeing a sizeable number of Sikhs speaking out against the CAB along with progressive students and civil society organizations. Punjab is a state where a national minority is in majority and geographically it borders Muslim dominated Pakistan. The Sikhs, however, have been protected under the CAB.
'Home minister Amit Shah on Monday piloted the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha with the contention that the legislation would not have been necessary had the Congress not divided the country on religious lines... The Opposition protested vociferously, but their voices were drowned out by the treasury benches’ desk-thumping. Shah’s claim on the Partition flies in the face of known facts, and the strongest rebuttal came outside the House from Sudheendra Kulkarni, an aide to L.K. Advani who had nurtured the current crop of BJP leaders.
'Cracking down on serial-offender and terror accused MP Pragya Thakur, who hailed Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a ‘patriot’ in the Lok Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday barred her from attending its parliamentary party meeting in the ongoing session and removed her from the consultative committee on defence. BJP working president J.P. Nadda announced the disciplinary action against her and condemned the controversial Hindutva leader’s remarks in a bid to defuse the political crisis triggered by her remarks in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday...'
'BJP leader Pragya Singh Thakur has once again stirred up a controversy with her remarks on Nathuram Godse in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. She termed Nathuram Godse, the one who killed Mahatma Gandhi, a 'deshbhakth'. Her comment drew crticism from various quarters and the Congress left no stone unturned to take on the BJP. "Repeatedly referring to Nathuram Godse as a "deshbhakt" is a perfect representation of BJP's deplorable hate politics. Will PM Modi condemn Pragya Thakur's remarks or continue to stay silent?" the Congress tweeted...'
'The February 2002 Sabarmati train fire, which killed 59 kar sevaks and triggered large-scale riots, was part of a "conspiracy" hatched by Congress's elected members from Godhra, according to a reference book on political history of Gujarat published by a state board... The book, titled ''Gujarat Ni Rajkiya Gatha'' (Political Saga of Gujarat) and published in December 2018, is edited by Bhavnaben Dave, a former BJP MP and current vice-chairperson of the board... "To destabilise a stable government, a conspiracy was hatched on February 27, 2002.
