Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on October 20 spelt out its stand that Babri Masjid belonged to Muslims and the community was duty bound to struggle for getting possession through peaceful and judicial process. The decision taken by its national executive said “there is room for challenging the verdict in the Supreme Court” and decided to set up a committee saying many aspects of the judgment require a deep study. Maulana Mahmood Madani along with newly elected Jamiat president Maulana Qari...

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said that the Ayodhya court verdict in no way condones the demolition of the Babri Masjid for which the perpetrators must be brought to justice. In a letter to Congresspersons in the September issue of party mouthpiece Sandesh, Gandhi reiterated that the 1992 razing of the 16th century mosque in Ayodhya can never be condoned. “It is important to underline that the verdict in no way condones the demolition of the Babri Masjid, which was a sh...

A 57-year-old sadhvi along with six others was arrested for allegedly kidnapping minor children and then selling them to childless couple. The police has so far traced and rescued nine victims who were kidnapped to be sold to childless couples in four states. The price fixed for a child reportedly varied between 50,000 and 60,000. “We are yet to trace three to four kids. A team has already been dispatched to Hardwar to rescue one of them,” a police officer said. Police said the ...

Sikh and Hindu organisations besides Kashmiri leaders have strongly denounced a failed attempt to attack Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Shah Gilani, allegedly by hooligans of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, at a seminar on Kashmir in New Delhi. The spokesmen of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Muslim Khwateen Markaz, Democratic Political Movement (DPM) and Tehreek-Hurriyet, in their statements are reported to have said that such acts exposed the treatment meted out to the peop...

The Delhi-based Human Welfare Foundation (HWF) and PM Foundation Kerala felicitated 394 meritorious students belonging to Muslim community at an Award Distribution Ceremony held at Baradari Qaisar Bagh, Lucknow. Besides, three schools – Faiz-e-Aam Inter College Faizabad, Jafar Memorial Girls School Faizabad and Iqra Public School Phoolpur Azamgarh – were also felicitated and given mementos and citation for their good performance in the last three academic sessions. The awardee s...

Gordhan Zadaphia, former junior home minister, has accused Gujarat CM Narendra Modi of playing an active role in 2002 riots. Zadaphia was questioned for seven hours on October 22 by the SC-appointed SIT in connection with the 2002 communal riots. Zadaphia has told the SIT that it was Modi who kept in touch with senior police officials and bureaucrats during rioting. The former minister alleged that he was sidelined by Modi and was not called for official meetings which were conducted by Mod...

The CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case on October 22, saying that the conspiracy to eliminate the gangster may go much beyond the alleged role of the marble lobby in Rajasthan. This chargesheet was filed against former minister of state for home Amit Shah and owner of Arham Bungalow in Gandhinagar, Rajendra Jirawala. Arham is where Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauser Bi were lodged before their killing. The chargesheet confirms the fact that Shah...

Azam Khan, a key witness in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, has given a sensational disclosure in a statement before a magistrate in Mumbai that he was kidnapped on September 21 by officials of Gujarat police from Gitamandir bus stand. He was asked to get into a vehicle and driven towards Narol crossroads. He has alleged that he was threatened that they would make his condition worse since he had given statement against Abhay Chudasma. Moreover, he was taken to a hotel called Ca...