Tag: Religious

Religious leaders can change mindset of those involved in violence: Bommai

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Chickmagalur: With violence and militancy are happening in present times in the name of religion, the mindset of those who are involved in such activities has to be changed, and that can be done only by religious leaders, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Sunday.
In his speech after inaugurating Sri Jagadguru Renukacharya Jayanthi Yugamanotsava, Sri Veerabhadra Swamy Maharathotsava, and the foundation stone for the 51-foot tall statue of Sri Renukacharya here, he said it is lucky that they have Rambhapuri in south India just like Kashi in north India.
The preaching, ideology, and culture of Jagadguru Renukacharya are a strong foundation for a bright future, he said, adding that the pontiff always propagated the ‘Manava Dharma’ saying that those who tread the path of truth and act to their conscience are the real human beings.
The Siddartha Shikamani shows several ways to keep their mind in control. They must adopt these two in their lives. The seers are undertaking the campaign continuously to remove differences among the castes and communities, and for the establishment of social harmony, ommai said.
The CM said Sri Jagadguru is playing an important role in creating awareness about the religion. Former CM, B.S.Yediyurappa, irrespective of caste or community, released the grants to the Rambhapuri Peet, Kaginele Gurupeeta, development of Baada (the birthplace of Saint Kanakadasa), and Rs 40 crore for Haj Bhavan. The mutts are offering shelter, food, and education to the children. This has helped in the development of the state, he added.
Bommai said everyone must understand that it is possible to ensure world peace only through religion. The need of the hour is to build an equal society. It is a matter of happiness that the Jagadguru Renukacharya award has been presented to Yediyurappa in recognition of his contribution to the people.
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#Religious #leaders #change #mindset #involved #violence #Bommai

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 5, 2023
HC rejects ‘love jihad’ claim, says interfaith relations can’t have religious angle by default

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Mumbai: A relationship cannot be dubbed as a form of ‘love jihad’ just because the boy and the girl belong to different religions, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has said while granting pre-arrest bail to a Muslim woman and her family.
A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Abhay Waghwase in the order passed on February 26 granted anticipatory bail to the accused who were denied relief by a local court in Aurangabad.
The woman’s former lover had alleged she and her family forced him to convert to Islam and undergo circumcision.
The man’s lawyer, while opposing the pre-arrest bail applications of the woman and her family members, also argued that it was a case of `love jihad’.
‘Love jihad’ is a term used by Hindu right-wing organisations to claim, without evidence, that there is a widespread conspiracy to lure Hindu women and convert them to Islam through marriage.
Here, though, the accuser was a man.
The high court rejected the love jihad argument, pointing out that the man, in the First Information Report (FIR), had admitted he was in a relationship with the woman and did not end the relationship despite having several opportunities.
“Merely because the boy and girl are from different religions, it cannot have a religious angle. It can be a case of pure love for each other,” the court said.

“It appears that now the colour has been tried to be given of love jihad, but when love is accepted then there is less possibility of the person being trapped just for converting him into the other’s religion,” it added.
As per the prosecution case, the man and the woman were in a relationship since March 2018. The man belonged to a Scheduled Caste community, but did not disclose this to the woman.
Later, the woman began insisting he should convert to Islam and marry her, after which the man disclosed his caste identity to her parents. They did not object to his caste identity and convinced their daughter to accept it.
But the relations later turned sour, following which the man lodged a case against the woman and her family in December 2022.
The HC, while granting pre-arrest bail to the woman and her family, said the probe into the case was almost over and hence their custody would not be necessary.
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#rejects #love #jihad #claim #interfaith #relations #religious #angle #default
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 2, 2023
Jews, Sikhs, Muslims: Top 3 religious groups under attack in US

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Washington: Jews and Sikhs were the two most targeted religious groups in the hate-motivated crime in the US in 2021, according to the annual compilation of nationwide incidents by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A total of 1,005 hate crimes related to religion were reported in 2021, the FBI said.
The largest categories of religion-based crime included anti-Jewish incidents at 31.9 per cent followed by anti-Sikh incidents at 21.3 per cent. Anti-Muslims accounted for 9.5 per cent of religion-based hate crimes. Anti-Catholic incidents accounted for 6.1 per cent and anti-Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Other) for 6.5 per cent.
Overall, law enforcement agencies reported 7,262 total incidents and 9,024 victims, demonstrating that hate crimes remain a concern for communities across the country, the FBI said.
The overall number of agencies reporting decreased to 11,834, from 15,138 in 2021, so data cannot reliably be compared across years, it said.
According to the FBI data for the year 2021, 64.8 per cent of victims were targeted because of the offenders’ bias towards race/ethnicity/ancestry, which continues to be the largest bias motivation category.
Anti-Black or African American hate crimes continue to be the largest bias incident category, with 63.2 per cent of all single-bias incidents in 2021. Additionally, anti-Asian incidents represented 4.3 per cent of incidents reported in 2021.
The other largest categories of hate crimes include anti-Hispanic or Latino incidents, with 6.1 per cent of incidents, and anti-White incidents, with 13.4 per cent of incidents.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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#Jews #Sikhs #Muslims #Top #religious #groups #attack
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 23, 2023
Herath Celebrated With Religious Fevour

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Srinagar, Feb 18 (GNS): The Mahashivratri, the marriage anniversary of Lord Shiva and Goddess Uma, which is most important festival of the Kashmiri Pandits, locally known as “Herath”, was celebrated with religious fervor and gaiety in the Kashmir valley on Saturday.
Kashmiri Pandits paid obeisance at temples and offer puja on the occasion. The biggest gathering was held at Shankaracharya Temple overlooking the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar.
The special prayers were also held at Ganpatyar and Hanuman Temple at Amira Kadal in Srinagar.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had extended his greetings to the people on Mahashivratri.
On the auspicious occasion of Mahashivratri, I convey warm greetings and good wishes to all. The festival, which is celebrated as ‘Herath’ by Kashmiri Pandit community is harbinger of peace, prosperity and happiness,” he had said, adding, “May Lord Shiva guide us on to the path of justice, truth and wisdom and strengthen our faith in the goodness of mankind.”
National Conference Party President and Member of the Parliament from Srinagar Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Omar Abdullah had also extended warm greetings and best wishes to people on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivratri observed as Herath by Kashmiri Pandits.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar extended his warm greetings to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the Kashmiri Pandit brethren on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri (Hearath).
In his greetings, Advisor Bhatnagar had said that this day is an auspicious occasion to rededicate ourselves to live a virtuous life. He had added that this is the festival of convergence of Shiva and Shakti which is celebrated across India to worship Lord Shiva and marks remembrance of “overcoming darkness and ignorance”.

The Advisor had also prayed for peace, progress and prosperity of the entire Jammu and Kashmir. (GNS)
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#Herath #Celebrated #Religious #Fevour
( With inputs from : thegnskashmir.com )

February 18, 2023
Herath Celebrated With Religious Fevour

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Srinagar, Feb 18 (GNS): The Mahashivratri, the marriage anniversary of Lord Shiva and Goddess Uma, which is most important festival of the Kashmiri Pandits, locally known as “Herath”, was celebrated with religious fervor and gaiety in the Kashmir valley on Saturday.
Kashmiri Pandits paid obeisance at temples and offer puja on the occasion. The biggest gathering was held at Shankaracharya Temple overlooking the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar.
The special prayers were also held at Ganpatyar and Hanuman Temple at Amira Kadal in Srinagar.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had extended his greetings to the people on Mahashivratri.
On the auspicious occasion of Mahashivratri, I convey warm greetings and good wishes to all. The festival, which is celebrated as ‘Herath’ by Kashmiri Pandit community is harbinger of peace, prosperity and happiness,” he had said, adding, “May Lord Shiva guide us on to the path of justice, truth and wisdom and strengthen our faith in the goodness of mankind.”
National Conference Party President and Member of the Parliament from Srinagar Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Vice President Omar Abdullah had also extended warm greetings and best wishes to people on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivratri observed as Herath by Kashmiri Pandits.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar extended his warm greetings to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the Kashmiri Pandit brethren on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri (Hearath).
In his greetings, Advisor Bhatnagar had said that this day is an auspicious occasion to rededicate ourselves to live a virtuous life. He had added that this is the festival of convergence of Shiva and Shakti which is celebrated across India to worship Lord Shiva and marks remembrance of “overcoming darkness and ignorance”.

The Advisor had also prayed for peace, progress and prosperity of the entire Jammu and Kashmir. (GNS)
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#Herath #Celebrated #Religious #Fevour
( With inputs from : thegnskashmir.com )

February 18, 2023
Telangana govt to look into moving religious monuments to widen roads

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Hyderabad: Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) minister K T Rama Rao on Thursday stated that the state government would investigate the issue of relocating religious monuments that hinder road-widening projects around the state.
The Minister added that if legislation is required to alleviate traffic congestion, the government may do so.
The minister said this while responding to concerns expressed by K P Vivekanand, A Gandhi, and D Sudheer Reddy on the impact of these structures on road-widening operations in the Assembly.
KTR said that similar regulations existed in Gujarat and the issue will be brought to the attention of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Rama Rao further remarked that neither the gods nor the worshippers would want the temples to be built on dusty, busy roadways.
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#Telangana #govt #moving #religious #monuments #widen #roads

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 10, 2023
SC seeks Centre, 6 states reply on transfer of religious conversion cases from HC

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from Centre and six state governments on a plea by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind seeking transfer of over 20 cases, challenging laws regulating religious conversion, to the top court.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, issued a notice on the Muslim body’s plea moved through advocate M.R. Shamshad.
The bench, also comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha, said: “Issue notice in petitions, in which no notices have been issued till now, including the transfer petition.” The bench also asked Attorney General R. Venkataramani to file a reply.
Five petitions are pending in Allahabad High Court, one petition in the Karnataka High Court, three in the Gujarat High Court, three in the Himachal Pradesh High Court, three in the Jharkhand High Court, and six in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. These petitions have challenged the respective state laws. The Muslim body has sought transfer of all these petitions from the high courts to the apex court.
Also, two separate petitions have been filed by Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat governments challenging the interim orders of the respective high courts, which put on hold certain provisions of the state laws on conversion.
The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing after three weeks.
On January 30, the top court had agreed to examine a clutch of pleas challenging the controversial state laws regulating religious conversions.
NGO “Citizens for Justice and Peace” of activist Teesta Setalvad, had also moved the apex court in the matter but Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had challenged the locus standi.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a written response to a petition filed by NGO ‘Citizens for Justice and Peace’, said: “The petitioner is guilty of collecting huge funds exploiting the agonies of riot affected people for which criminal proceedings are going on against Teesta Setalvad and other office bearers of the petitioner.”
It further added, “under the guise of serving public interest, the petitioner deliberately undertakes, and consciously and surreptitiously espouses, divisive politics in an attempt to divide the society on religious and communal lines. Similar activities/endeavors of the petitioner organization are also found in other states. Presently this activity is going on in the state of Assam”.
The NGO has challenged the laws passed by the Uttar Pradesh government and Chhattisgarh government.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani had submitted that the high courts concerned should hear these petitions instead of the apex court.
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#seeks #Centre #states #reply #transfer #religious #conversion #cases
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 3, 2023
ED files chargesheet against 6 in case of religious conversion of deaf children

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New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a chargesheet before a court here on Friday against six accused for allegedly laundering money received from Pakistani intelligence agency ISI for the alleged conversion of deaf students and poor people to Islam in Uttar Pradesh.
The chargesheet named Mohammad Umar Gautam, Sallahuddin Zeinuddin Shaikh and Mufti Qazi Jehangir Qasmi, who are currently lodged in judicial custody in Lucknow, as the accused in the case.
The federal agency also named three organisations — Islamic Dawah Centre, Fatimah Charitable Foundation and AFMI Charitable Trust — as the accused in the chargesheet filed before Additional Sessions Judge Rajinder Singh, who put up the matter for consideration on February 17.
According to the document, the agency is tracking proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 3 crore.
The chargesheet, filed by ED’s Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta, alleged that the accused were involved in getting people of another religion converted into Islam on a large scale.
About 1000 non-Muslims have been converted and married to Muslims, the agency said.
Further, it was stated that the accused were running an organisation — Islamic Dawah Centre (IDC) — for the purpose of carrying out conversions and huge funds were provided to it from different sources, including those in foreign countries, the ED said.
It further came to light that students of the Deaf and Dumb School of the NOIDA Deaf Society have been illegally converted through misrepresentation, allurement and fraudulent means, the agency, also represented by advocate Mohammad Faizan Khan, said.

According to the complaint, the accused were involved in promoting enmity between different religious groups and disturbing the sovereignty and integrity of India by influencing non-Muslims to embrace Islam.
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#files #chargesheet #case #religious #conversion #deaf #children
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 3, 2023
Amicus Curiae appointed for PIL on illegal religious structures

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Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has appointed senior advocate Vikram Huilagol as amicus curiae in the public interest litigation (PIL) it has initiated against illegal religious structures on public land.
The division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi heard the PIL on Wednesday. It took cognisance of the case after a Supreme Court direction to remove all unauthorised religious structures from public properties.
The State had submitted an affidavit before the court stating that 1,563 unauthorised religious structures have been removed so far. Another 457 have been retained and 48 of them have been relocated. Only 17 structures have been regularised.
The HC noted that a large number of interim applications have been filed in the PIL and each one had to be studied. It directed the Amicus Curiae to prepare a new list of the unauthorised structures taking into account the structures that the State has dropped from its initial list.
The State was directed to provide all relevant documents to the Amicus Curiae and the matter was adjourned by three weeks.
The Supreme Court through an order on September 29, 2009 directed removal of all unauthorised religious structures from public places.
Following this, the HC in its order on September 5, 2019 directed the State to submit its action-taken-report on the SC order. The State has been submitting updated reports at regular intervals.

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#Amicus #Curiae #appointed #PIL #illegal #religious #structures
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
Basavaraj Bommai courts controversy after grabbing mic from religious seer

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Bengaluru: An incident of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai grabbing the microphone from a religious seer after the latter flagged Bengaluru’s ‘severe civic issues’ came to light on Friday.
Photos and video of the incident, which took place during a religious event organised at a temple in the Garudacharpalya area of Bengaluru on Thursday, have gone viral on social media.
Eshwaranandapuri Swami from the Hosadurg Kanaka Peetha, while addressing the gathering, said that there is water-logging due to heavy rains at many places in Bengaluru.
“There is no permanent solution to this. I fail to understand why the authorities don’t get into action and solve these issues. Don’t they understand what the problem is when it rains? Many Chief Ministers said they will find a permanent solution. But I won’t agree with just assurances,” the seer said.
At this point, a visibly upset Bommai grabbed the mic from the seer and started making clarifications.
“I don’t give assurances just like that. The funds have been released and work is under progress. I don’t make shallow promises. I will only assure you when something can be done, otherwise I will say no,” Bommai said.
The Chief Minister added that he does not fear anyone.
“I am not like others,” he said.

After getting the mic back from Bommai, the seer said he agreed with what the CM Bommai said, adding that this has been his experience too.
“CM Bommai has granted funds before making promises. He only makes concrete promises. I was about to tell this but he had taken the mic,” he said.
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#Basavaraj #Bommai #courts #controversy #grabbing #mic #religious #seer
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 27, 2023