Devotees line up to enter the Kashi Vishwanath temple next to the Gyanvapi mosque (background) in Varanasi on February 3, 2024. | Photo Credit: AFP The story so far: The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, is once again in focus, albeit in a context in which its objectives are being ignored. Civil suits … Read more
Dr. Muzaffar Khan, a clinical psychologist, addresses a religious congregation about drug abuse at the Magam Imambara in north Kashmir in August 2023. Photo: Special Arrangement Religious centres and educational institutions are assuming a new role in Kashmir by doubling up as counselling and testing centres to curb the fast-spreading menace of drugs. These rare … Read more
Jerusalem CNN — Dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said, in a major escalation that comes amid regional tensions over Israeli police raids at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Some 34 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, with … Read more
CNN — Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, one of Islam’s holiest sites, during Ramadan prayers early Wednesday, arresting hundreds of Palestinians and sparking retaliatory rocket fire from militants in Gaza. Footage shared on social media showed Israeli officers striking screaming people with batons inside the darkened building. Eyewitnesses told CNN that police … Read more
Islamabad, Pakistan CNN — The death toll from a suspected suicide bomb that ripped through a mosque at a police compound in northwestern Pakistan Monday has risen to at least 88, as the Pakistani Taliban gave conflicting claims of responsibility for one of the deadliest attacks in the country in years. Mohammad Asim Khan, spokesperson … Read more
Mumbai: Stakeholders would be consulted before Maharashtra issues fresh guidelines to regulate the use of loudspeakers, home minister Dilip Walse Patil has hinted. The state government was concerned about communal clashes in the state and would seek inputs from the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing to check if there was a conspiracy, … Read more