New Delhi: Freedom of religion and belief is among the most fundamental of human rights. It safeguards human dignity, allowing individuals to practice their faith without fear and enabling diverse communities to coexist peacefully. Nowhere is this principle more significant — and more contested — than in South Asia, a region that is home to some of the world’s oldest religions and an extraordinary mosaic of beliefs including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism. While most …
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New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan, called on Patrick Herminie, President of the Republic of Seychelles, in New Delhi on Monday with the two leaders exploring avenues to further strengthen bilateral cooperation across a wide range of sectors. According to the Vice President’s Secretariat, during the meeting, the two leaders discussed key aspects of India–Seychelles bilateral relations and noted that the two countries are marking 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic…
Dhaka, Jan 31 (IANS) Bangladesh’s radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami’s founding principles contradict its “moderate” narrative as its constitution declares that God, not the people, holds the sovereignty with the ultimate goal of “Iqamat-e-Deen”, the establishment of Islam as a complete system of life. “Jamaat has mastered the art of the ‘dual message’. In the air-conditioned rooms of diplomatic missions, senior leaders offer soothing platitudes. They speak of constitutionalism a…
Dhaka/New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) The killing of Hindu minorities across Bangladesh is part of a long, painful history shaped by political unrest, shifting alliances and the fragile promise of minority protection, a report has detailed. It added that understanding the present crisis necessitates examining the history of displacement, the current geopolitical realignment and the lawful, non-violent strategies to defend human rights ahead of the February polls in the country. “When 32‑year‑old …
Dhaka: The rise of religious extremism in Bangladesh did not happen overnight. It has been designed gradually — through years of falsification, cultural delegitimization, and the systematic replacement of plural values with rigid identity politics. In the 1990s, children going to schools in Bangladesh were increasingly exposed to distorted historical claims that Rabindranath Tagore stole the tune of the national anthem, Bengali culture was un-Islamic and traditional festivals were influenced b…