Page 196 - Religion Belief
Advocate Ehsan Ali released on bail amid protests
Amid widespread protests in Gilgit-Baltistan and parts of Pakistan, advocate Ehsan Ali, the detained President of Supreme Court Bar Association and founding leader of Awami Action Committee, was released from jail by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) here on Monday.Accepting Ehsan Advocate's bail application, the ATC Judge, Raja Shahbaz, ordered the release of the lawyer leader whose arrest over sharing of a post on Facebook had triggered national and international outcry.Awami Workers Party, several leftist groups, and lawyers community of Gilgit-Baltistan had been protesting for the last week against the detention of Advocate Ehsan Ali.A protest was held at Skardu on February 14 against the illegal detention of Advocate Ehsan Ali. The protest was jointly organised by Baltistan Student Federation (BSF), Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) and Gilgit-Baltistan Youth Alliance (GBYA).The protesters stated that the allegations are concocted and were registered with the intention of ...
Plea seeks direction to police to file case against Kanimozhi
A petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking that the police be directed to file a case against DMK MP Kanimozhi, lyricist Vairamuthu and Dravida Kazhagam leader Veeramani for delivering speeches that allegedly hurt Hindu religious sentiments. The petition was filed by G Radhakrishnan, who described himself as a social worker campaigning for the rights of deprived Hindus. The petitioner alleged speeches by the three had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. When the plea came up today, Justice M S Ramesh directed the government to give its reply on March 1, and adjourned the matter till then. The petitioner submitted that hurting the feelings of any religion was against the Constitution of India. Despite filing a complaint, the police did not take any action which prompted him to move court, the petitioner said.
Devotee from Malaysia offers Rs 1 crore to TTD run Trust
One persons from from Malaysia today donated Rs one crore to the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near here with a request to utilise money for the temple run Praanadaana Trust here The trust was established in 2001 with an aim to provide free medical facilities at the temple run super speciality hospital to the poor suffering from life threatening diseases, temple sources told PTI. The devotee Kevin Sugumaran handed over DD for the amount to K S Srinivasa Raju, Joint Executive Officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, that governs the hill temple, they said. Last week Shobhana Ramachandhran, Managing Director, TVS Srichakra Limited, Madurai, made an offering of Rs one crore here with a request to use the donation for a temple-run Trust managing a hospital meant for handicapped patients, they said. Earlier this month the Chennai based Sri Guru Chandrikananda Samiti Trust had donated Rs one crore with a request to utilise the offering for a ...
Canadian PM visits Jama Masjid with family
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family members today visited the historic Jama Masjid here. Trudeau, who is on a week-long visit to India, was accompanied by his wife and their three children during the tour of one of the largest mosques in the country. The Canadian prime minister spent nearly 30 minutes on the premises of the Old Delhi monument. Yesterday, Trudeau met Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. He also offered prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar yesterday.
Hinduism a cultural concept of India: Naidu
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said Hinduism is not a religion but a cultural concept of India.
Chinese scholar slams claim that Buddha was of Chinese origin
A Chinese scholar on religions has slammed an article that claimed Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was actually of Chinese origin, saying it lacks evidence and amounts to abuse of patriotism. State-run Global Times today reported that an article has gone viral on the Chinese Internet since January 1, claiming that a Nepalese scholar named Amuhanson discovered that Sakyamuni (Buddha) was actually Chinese and not of "Indian nationality". The report said the same article was carried by Chinese news portal sohu.com in November last year without mentioning the name of any Nepalese scholar. The sohu.com article suggested that it was originally written by Li Liangsong, a professor from the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and an expert on Buddhist medicine. Li listed 10 main reasons for his claim, such as the fact that Nepal, where Lumbini, the birthplace of Budha, was located used to be a "special district" of the ancient Chinese empire, and the content of Buddhist Scriptures .
US' Christian evangelist dies aged 99
America's well known religious figure the Rev Billy Graham, popularly known as the Christian evangelist died due to his prolonged illness on Wednesday.The Guardian quoted Graham's spokesman Mark DeMoss as saying that he was suffering from cancer, pneumonia and other ailments, died at his home in North Carolina on Wednesday morning. He was 99.Graham, who abandoned narrow fundamentalism to engage broader society, had a huge following.He had also been a counsellor to many U.S. presidents.
Three drown in water-pit
Three men today drowned in a water pit at Mandaripeta village here, police said. The incident occurred when the trio had gone to the water-pit to wash their clothers, said K Naresh, Sub Inspector of Police, Shayampet. The deseased have been idenrtified as M Krishna Vamshi (21), Sai Krishna (19) and Suneel (18). Their bodies were fished out and sent for post-mortem, he said, adding a probe was on.
Trudeau, family visits 'Langar Hall', perform 'sewa' at Golden Temple
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau along with family, visited the 'Langar Hall' at the Golden Temple, where thousands of devotees partake langar (community food) and also perform'sewa' (voluntary service).The Golden Temple's Langar Hall is the biggest community kitchen in the world.Trudeau and his family sat down on small stools inside the Langar Hall to knead flour and roll chapatis.Trudeau also did 'parikarma' before entering the sun-soaked and glittering all-gold sanctum sanctorum. His family bowed before the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.Soon after that, the Trudeaus touched their foreheads on the ground inside the sanctum sanctorum. They were given 'Siropa' (traditional robe of honour) by the head priest inside the shrine.Elated Trudeau also wrote in the visitor's book at the temple.Trudeau was accompanied by Canadian federal ministers Harjit Singh Sajjan and Amarjit Bains.He was received at the Golden Temple entrance by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ...
Trudeaus offer prayers at Golden Temple, perform 'sewa'
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accompanied by his wife and two children, offered prayers at the Golden Temple on Wednesday, underlining the significance of the large Sikh and Punjabi community settled in Canada.
Protests erupt in Pak over Christian man's alleged blasphemy
Scores of activists of religious parties surrounded a Christian colony in Lahore, demanding the arrest of a Christian man who allegedly posted blasphemous content on the social media.According to local media reports, the mob demanded Masih be handed over to them, called for beheading of the boy and threatened to burn Christian homes if the boy wasn't handed over.Many Christian families have fled the area fearing for their lives, the reports said.The activists of Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) and other religious parties gathered in Shahdara area in Lahore and surrounded the Christian families living there.Pakistan journalist Naila Inayat took to Twitter and said that the boy's father has been arrested."In Lahore, 17-year-old Christian boy #PatrasMasih is accused of #blasphemy on social media by a local cleric. An angry mob led by Tehreek-e-Labaiak gathered outside Masih's house in Shahdara. Police lodged FIR under 295-C and the boy's father Indreas was arrested yesterday," ..
Goa Church asks Catholics to pray for Parrikar's health
Goa's Roman Catholic Church has asked its followers to fervently pray for the good health of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, hospitalised at Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital since February 15 for pancreas-related ailment.
File case against seer if cognisable offence made out: Madras HC to police
The Madras High Court today directed police to register a case if a cognisable offence was made out in a complaint filed by a fringe group against a seer in Tamil Nadu for making some controversial comments. Justice M S Ramesh was passing orders on a plea filed by the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam seeking registration of a criminal case against the seer for making the comments while condemning Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu for his 'objectionable' remarks about Goddess Andal. The group's Namakkal district organiser, Vairavel, submitted that the recent remarks of Satagopa Ramanuja Jeeyar of Manavala Mamunigal Mutt at Srivilliputhur that he too knew "how to hurl soda bottles" amounted to instigating violence. Addressing a meeting last month to condemn Vairamuthu's remarks, the seer had allegedly said: "The saints had kept their silence all these days. We will not keep mum anymore. We all know how to hurl soda bottles." He later said he had apologised to Goddess Andal for his remarks since it .
Protests in Pak after Christian man commits blasphemy
Hundreds of activists of religious parties surrounded a Christian colony in Lahore, demanding arrest of a Christian man who allegedly posted blasphemous content on the social media, police said today. The Christian youth was accused of allegedly posting blasphemous content about Muslim holy places. The activists of Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) and other religious parties gathered in Shahdara area in Lahore and surrounded the Christian families living there, demanding them to hand over the man to them. They said they would not leave the place till the youth hiding there was handed over to them. The activists of Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) and other religious parties gathered in Shahdara area in Lahore and surrounded the Christian families living there, demanding them to hand over the man to them. They said they would not leave the place till the youth hiding there was not handed over to them. After over 12-hour standoff we managed to persuade the protesters to .
Another Baha' is leader released in Iran after 10-year imprisonment
Saeid Rezaie, one of the seven members of the former leadership group of the Baha'is in Iran who were imprisoned due to religious beliefs, has been released at the completion of his sentence, an organisation representing the community in India said today. Rezaie and six of his colleagues were arrested in 2008 after an early-morning raid on their homes, it said. They were part of the ad hoc group known as the Yaran, or the friends, which tended to the basic spiritual and material needs of the Iranian Baha'is community, said the statement issued by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of India. Rezaie is the fourth member of the group to complete his sentence. He was released in Iran on Friday. Three other members -- Mahvash Sabet, Fariba Kamalabadi and Behrouz Tavakkoli -- were released in September, October and December 2017 respectively. In the past years, economic persecution against the Baha'is has escalated in what the Baha'is international community has called, in ..
Why have a beef festival, asks Naidu
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today questioned the rationale behind holding a "beef festival", saying one could eat beef if one wanted, but there was no need to organise a festival for it. "You want to eat beef, then eat. Why (a) festival? Similarly, a 'kiss festival'. If you wish to kiss, why do you need a festival or anyone's permission for it," he said. Speaking at the platinum jubilee celebrations of R A Podar College of Commerce here, Naidu also hit out at those who raised slogans in support of Parliament attack convict Muhammad Afzal Guru. "Then you have Afzal Guru. People are chanting his name. What is happening? He tried to explode our Parliament," Naidu said. In July 2017, the students of IIT-Madras had held a "beef festival" on the campus to protest against the cattle-slaughter ban. Similarly, an advisory was issued in Jammu and Kashmir earlier this month in connection with the death anniversaries of Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Maqbool ...
SAD urges Swaraj to make more efforts for awareness about Sikhs
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today urged External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to make efforts for greater awareness about the Sikh religion saying the death threats received by Mayor Ravinder Bhalla in the US underlined the need for the same. In a statement here, the SAD chief said all Indian embassies and high commissions in the United States could work in tandem to create awareness about the Sikh religion and its tenets so that its followers do not become hate targets. "Although a lot has been done in this regard, it seems we need to do more as Sikhs are still being misunderstood in the United States. The SAD will also contribute to this effort", he added. Badal condemned the radicals who had issued death threats against New Jersey's Hoboken City Mayor Ravinder Bhalla. The SAD chief said it was unfortunate that even during the campaign for the mayor's office, Bhalla was targeted as a "terrorist". "I appeal to all right thinking people to condemn this ...
Don't let money overpower our Naga identity: NPF leader
The ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) on Monday called upon the state's people to choose between preserving the Naga identity and money in the February 27 Nagaland Assembly polls.
Adapting well to new contexts is Indian society's strength: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today saints and seers have always served the Indian society and made a positive difference to it. He said the strength of Indian society lay in its ability to change with times. "Many people believe that in our country there is greater religious temperament than social temperament. This perception is not correct. "Even today we have such a great tradition of saints making relentless efforts....whether it is towards providing health, education or de-addiction," he told a gathering here at the famous Jain pilgrimage centre. He was speaking after inaugurating the newly carved 630 steps at Vindhyagiri Hill where the statue of Lord Gommateshwara Bahubali stands. The steps have been carved by the Archaeological Survey of India. He also inaugurated a 50-bed Bahubali General Hospital. Modi said the strength of Indian society lay in the fact that it "always changed with the times and adapted well to new contexts". He said seers and saints showed people
Ayodhya case: 3 plaintiffs rule out out-of-court settlement
Three plaintiffs in Babri Masjid/Ram Janmbhoomi case have said they will not accept any out-of-court settlement. At a gathering of local Muslims here in which the plaintiffs - Haji Mahboob , Iqbal Ansari and Mohammad Umar -- were present, a resolution was passed that the"Muslims will not shift the mosque" to any other site or gift the land to any party, according to a press statement issued after the meeting which was held on Saturday. It said the Hindus can build Ram temple on Ram Chabootra in the outer court yard of Babri Masjid. The resolution also rejected any out-of-court settlement in Babri Masjid/Ram Janmbhoomi case and said that Muslims will only obey the Supreme Court verdict, it said. Among those who signed the resolution were the three plaintiffs, the statement said, claiming that the meeting was attended by the representatives of Barelvi , Deobandi and Shia sects of Muslim community. The development comes amid efforts by Art of Living founder Sri Sri Sri Ravishankar ..