Page 18 - Religion Belief
Thousands attend Iftar organised by AMU students
In the holy month of Ramzan, the Student Association of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) organised an Iftar party on the campus which was attended by as many as 27,000 people.Setting an example of communal harmony, students, teachers and dignitaries, cutting across religious lines, were invited to the Iftar on Monday.People offered prayers before sitting down in long rows to relish the meal.Speaking to ANI, Chairman of AMU Student Association, Salman Imtiaz, said: "This party has been organised for people of all religions. Nobody was stopped from attending it. Allah showers you with more if you feed people with love."During this month, the devout observe rigorous fasting for about 30 days and do not consume food or water from dawn to dusk. They eat Sehri (a pre-dawn meal) and break the day-long fast with Iftar in the evening.Eid ul-Fitr marks the end of the fasting month of Ramzan. The festival is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the 10th month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
Lanka govt appeals to parents to send their children to school without fear
Sri Lankan government on Monday appealed to all parents to send their children to school without fear, as the country tightened security ahead of the reopening of some Catholic schools Tuesday for the first time since the Easter bombings. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe requested all students to return to school and resume academic activities as usual since the country's security has been restored to normalcy. The Prime Minister made this request while addressing a press conference at Temple Trees today. During the briefing, Wickremesinghe also emphasised that permission will not be granted to set-up Sharia universities in the country, the Sunday Times reported. We can only permit the establishment of degree awarding institutes. A legal order must be issued to bar any institution from functioning as a Sharia university, Wickremesinghe noted. He also added that all Madarasa institutions will be brought under the Education Ministry in future. Several private Catholic schools will ...
Sabarimala issue didn't affect polls in Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday asserted that Sabarimala issue did not affect polls in Kerala.He in a veiled attack on the BJP said that it was the latter party which created trouble in the state.Addressing media persons, he said, "We are going to win big. Sabarimala issue did not affect polls in Kerala. All of us know who created troubles there."Asserting that those who created trouble during Sabarimala row are facing in-fighting now, Vijayan said, "Now there is in-fight within those people. Some among them have said that a group of people intervened with the intention of creating trouble there."The Sabarimala temple and surrounding areas witnessed a string of protests since October last year over the Supreme Court's decision to quash restrictions on the entry of women between 10 and 50 years.Nearly four months after the apex court permitted women of all ages to enter the temple on September 28 last year, two women aged below 50 years entered the Lord Ayyappa temple .
Pope ordaining 19 men to priesthood in St. Peter's Basilica
During his homily, he told them to carry out their mission "in joy and charity" and to never "tire of being merciful" toward the faithful
Christians protest over desecration of graves in Pakistan's Punjab province
Members of the Christian community on Sunday protested after police failed to make a breakthrough in a case desecration of graves in a cemetery in Pakistan's Punjab province. The incident happened on May 12, when over 30 graves in a village in Okara district of Punjab province, about 200 km from Lahore, were found desecrated. Following the incident, there were reports of tension between Muslim and Christian communities. After police failed to make any breakthrough in the case, even after six days, the local Christians on Sunday held demonstration outside the Okara police station, demanding action. Protest ended after District Police Officer (Okara) Athar Ismael assured the protesters that police would soon arrest those involved in the incident. "Some miscreants could be behind this incident whose sole purpose seems to cause violence," he said, adding that police was investigating the matter He said recently some influential people from an adjoining village had stopped the Christians ..
PM offers prayers at Badrinath temple
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the Badrinath temple on Sunday, the last day of his two-day visit to Uttarakhand. He reached Badrinath after spending around 20 hours at the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath. Modi offered prayers at the innermost sanctum in Badrinath, another temple in Uttarakhand's "char dham" religious circuit, dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee chief Mohan Prasad Thapliyal said the prime minister offered prayers at the temple for around 20 minutes and was given a greeting card made on a "bhojpatra" (birch leaves) by the temple's priests. He was also given a shawl by the residents of Mana village, he said. The prime minister took a walk inside the temple complex and later, shook hands with the devotees and locals, Thapliyal said, adding that Modi also met pilgrims waiting near the shrine. Members of the committee met the prime minister at the shrine's guest house and submitted a memorandum stressing upon the need to expand the .
Even corrupts have confidence, doesn't mean they will win: Anupam Kher
Even corrupt people like Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal 'can have confidence but that does not mean they will win,' said veteran actor Anupam Kher on Sunday after casting his vote."Even the corrupt people can have confidence, they (Pawan Bansal and party) rely on their corruption while the honest ones rely on their honesty. Doesn't mean they will win," Kher said talking to reporters here.He also said he is feeling a major shift had come in the mood of the nation in the ongoing elections with people actively supporting the development done by the BJP and supporting candidates beyond the boundaries of caste and religion."People all across India are looking for a kind of leaders who can bring their dreams to life. This is true for Chandigarh, in Punjab and the rest of the country. Development is the agenda in this election while caste, creed and religion have fortunately taken a backseat and this is a great sign," he added.Kher's wife and BJP MP Kirron Kher is contesting against ..
PM performs puja at Badrinath temple
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday paid obeisance and performed puja at Badrinath temple on the second day of his two-day visit to Uttarakhand. He reached Badrinath after spending around 20 hours in the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath. Modi offered prayers at innermost sanctum in Badrinath, another temple in Uttarakhand's 'char dham' religious circuit, dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
Modi offers prayers at Badrinath
After Kedarnath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday offered prayers at the Badrinath temple in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
Modi says fortunate to visit Kedanath; thanks EC to grant its nod to visit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday thanked the Election Commission for granting him permission to visit the Kedarnath shrine at a time when the model code of conduct is in force. Modi, who spent around 17 hours at a holy cave near the shrine, offered prayers and performed puja at the temple. He told reporters he did not ask for anything while praying as it is not his nature. "God has given us capacity to give and not demand," he said. He said may the almighty bless not only India but the whole humankind with happiness, prosperity and welfare. "I am fortunate to visit the temple on multiple occasions," he said while thanking the media for taking out time to visit Kedarnath at a time when the poll process is underway. The media's presence, he said, will send a message that the town has been developed well. Referring to the ongoing development works at the temple town, Modi said development should be a mission in which nature, environment and tourism should not be affected. He said he ..
Modi offers prayers at Kedarnath
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday offered prayers at the Kedranath temple.
PM performs puja at Kedarnath after meditating for 17 hrs, will also visit Badrinath
Prime Minister Sunday performed puja at the Kedanath shrine after meditating for 17 hours at a holy cave near the temple. He reached the shrine situated at a height of 11,755 feet near the Mandakini river on Saturday and paid obeisance. He also took stock of development work in the temple town. Later in the day, he is expected to be in Badrinath, another temple in Uttarakhand's 'char dham' religious circuit. This is Modi's fourth visit to the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in the last two years. The portals of Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines reopened for devotees earlier this month after the winter break. The prime minister arrived at the Jolly Grant airport Saturday morning and then went directly to Kedarnath, officials said.
Salvadoran priest found murdered in parish church: police
A priest was found murdered in his church in a small town west of San Salvador, a police source said Saturday. The Catholic cleric, identified as Cecilio Perez, was found by parishioners in the San Jose La Majada church in Juayua, an agent of El Salvador's National Civil Police told AFP, on condition of anonymity. The officer said an investigation was in its earliest stages and it was not yet known who might have killed the priest. The Catholic Church in El Salvador has so far issued no statement on the killing. El Salvador last year tallied 3,340 homicides. That was 15 per cent less than in 2017, but still amounted to a rate of 51 killings per 100,000 inhabitants, making it one of the world's most violent countries not at war. Feared gangs are blamed for much of the violence. With an estimated 70,000 members, they make a living mainly from drug trafficking and extortion.
Tgana BJP leaders perform 'yagam' seeking Modis return as PM
BJP leaders in Telangana Saturday performed a 'Yagam' at Warangal seeking divine blessings for Narendra Modi to become Prime Minister again. The Raja Syamala Maha Yagam (religious ritual) was performed at Hanmakonda in Warangal district, seeking the blessings of Goddess Bhadrakali for Modi, the BJP said in a release. Modis rule has been popular and pro-people, but he had to face some obstacles, it said. Prayers have been offered to the goddess so that Modi would have her blessings in his second stint as PM and all obstacles are removed, it said. State BJP president K Laxman attended the event as chief guest. Prayers have also been offered, wishing that Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are freed from the rule of 'Chandras (Chief Ministers K Chandrasekhar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu) and BJP expands, the release added.
Hindu-Muslim unity stands tall in Malerkotla amid poll cacophony
In Punjab's only Muslim-majority city of Malerkotla, a mosque and a temple share a common wall, a Muslim man sells prasad outside a Hanuman Mandir and a Brahmin-owned press prints greeting cards for Ramzan. Azan blends with the aarti and clerics and priests recount tales of love and brotherhood, unfazed by the political hustle and bustle in the city in the election season. Mohammad Yaseen, 33, who sells prasad outside the Hanuman Mandir in the bustling Tajpora market, says Malerkotla did not witness a single communal clash even at the time of Partition. "The incidents you have heard of were the handiwork of outsiders. Here, Muslims attend Mata ki chowki and Hindus prepare sharbat for Iftar," he says. "The recent burning of Guru Granth Sahib in Hathoa village of the city was accidental. In 2016, some outsiders desecrated our holy book. Earlier too, inimical elements tried to breach the peace in the city but failed. Our brotherhood has withstood the tests of time," he says. Across the ..
Month after Easter attack, Sri Lanka invokes Gautam Buddha on Vesak
As Sri Lanka recovers from the deadliest terror attack in a decade and episodes of communal violence that followed, President Maithripala Sirisena, while conveying his greetings for Vesak or Buddha Poornima, urged the nation to "recollect the teachings of Buddha" and build a "society with boundless peace"."On this momentous day of Vesak, we must recollect the teachings of the Buddha to build a society with boundless peace by shunning all attempts to destroy each other for the greed for power," Colombo Page quoted Sirisena as saying."For a society to blossom without fear, danger and mistrust, the Buddha has preached. 'Hatred will not heal hatred but kindness will heal hatred'. It is the time we became strong enough to, truly, meaningfully and honestly relate this eternal truth," he added.More than 70 per cent of the country's population follows the Buddhism faith.Echoing the message, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Buddha's teachings will "open the way for ...
Kovind, Naidu, Modi greet nation on Buddha Purnima
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the nation on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.
Word 'Hindu' not native to India, given by Mughals and endorsed by British: Kamal Haasan
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan who drew flak from all political quarters and Hindu groups for his remarks on Nathuram Godse, on Saturday once again stoked a possible controversy by saying that the word "Hindu" is of foreign origin and not native to India.Taking to Twitter, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Haasan shared a poem on Friday in Telugu saying "the name Hindu was given by foreign rulers".Haasan said the term 'Hindu' was given by Mughals or by others who came earlier to rule, adding that the British who later ruled the nation seconded the term.He said that neither the Alwars and Nayanmars, poet-saints in southern India during the first millennium CE, gave the religious note "Hindu".Citing a Tamil proverb - "Living in harmony has a million benefits", the MNM chief opined that shrinking the nation within religion is commercially, politically and spiritually wrong."Neither 12 Alwars nor 63 Nayanmars gave the religious note "Hindu". We were named "Hindu" either by Mughals .
President Kovind, PM Modi extend greetings on Buddha Purnima
As scores of devotees today celebrate Buddha Purnima, the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha, political leaders greeted the nation on the occasion and highlighted the importance of Lord Buddha's teachings.In his message, President Ram Nath Kovind said that Lord Buddha's message of peace; non-violence and compassion hold greater significance in today's time. "Greetings and good wishes to fellow citizens and to the global Buddhist community on #BuddhaPurnima. Lord Buddha's message of peace, non-violence and compassion hold even greater significance today. May his teachings guide us towards universal fraternity #PresidentKovind," he tweeted.Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to micro-blogging site Twitter and wished the countrymen on the occasion."Greetings to all the countrymen on Buddha Purnima. I wish Lord Buddha's great messages on Truth, non-violence, mercy, compassion and peace continue to inspire countrymen," the Prime Minister tweeted.Modi also shared pictures from his ...
President Kovind greets nation on Buddha Purnima eve
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday extended greetings and good wishes to the nation on the eve of Buddha Purnima.In an official statement, the President said, "On the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima, I offer warm greetings and good wishes to all fellow citizens as well as followers of Lord Buddha across the world.""The values of non-violence, peace, compassion and service to humanity embodied in the teachings of Lord Buddha have profoundly influenced human history and the course of civilization. These teachings have become even more relevant in the present times," he added.President Kovind went on to say in the statement, "May Lord Buddha's message infuse our thoughts, words and deeds and guide us towards greater compassion, love and fraternity."Buddha Purnima, which falls on May 18 this year, marks Gautama Buddha's birthday. On this day, devotees of Buddha visit temples to listen to monks give talks and recite ancient verses. Many devotees also wear white robes and only eat ...