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CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) is considering barring lone women from joining pilgrimage groups (jathas) to Pakistan after 48-year-old Sarabjeet Kaur, a devotee from Punjab, went missing during a recent pilgrimage. Kaur reportedly converted to Islam, adopted the name Noor Hussain, and married Nasir Hussain of Sheikhupura soon after entering Pakistan. Police and SGPC officials later confirmed that she has three cheating and fraud cases registered against her in Punjab. Kaur was part of a 1,932-member jatha that crossed the Attari-Wagah border on November 4 for Guru Nanak Dev's 556th birth anniversary celebrations. When the group returned on November 13, she was missing. An 18-second video circulating on social media shows Kaur stating before a magistrate that she had known Nasir for nine years, loved him, and was willingly converting and marrying him. "I am currently divorced and willingly marrying him," she says. The clip has not been independently verified, though Pakistani media reported that the nikah took place on November 5. Following the incident, SGPC secretary Partap Singh said this was the second such case, citing the 2018 instance of Kiran Bala, now Amna Bibi, who also stayed back in Pakistan after converting to Islam and marrying there. He said the SGPC had initially objected to Kaur travelling alone but allowed her after she produced recommendations from her village sarpanch and nambardar. Singh blamed central agencies for failing to detect that Kaur was already in contact with a Pakistani national. "It is a failure of the agencies that they did not sense she was already in contact with a Pakistani national and that her visit was pre-planned," he said. Singh also added that Kaur has hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community and brought a bad name to the pilgrimage process.
Berhampur (Odisha), Jun 6 (PTI) Environmental activist Medha Patkar on Saturday appealed to the people of Odisha for protection of Rushikulya river. The government planned to construct a dam in the river Pipalapnaka under Sorada block in the district. While participating in the Save Rushikulya river movement in Ganjam district, she said, "Rivers may be small or big, but they are our mother. We have to protect the rivers from attacks." She attended a meeting were organised by the Rushikulya Banchao Kriyaanusthan Committee (RBKC) and the Centre for Climate Justice, spearheading the agitation a ...Read More >
Kochi: Edison Babu's neighbours in Muvattupuzha knew him as the quiet engineer who had returned home during the pandemic. The 35-year-old former auto industry professional seemed to lead an unremarkable life in this sleepy Kerala suburb, occasionally visiting the local post office with packages: nothing unusual for someone running what appeared to be a small online business. What they didn't know was that their mild-mannered neighbour had built India's most sophisticated darknet drug empire, one that relied heavily on the very government postal service that was meant to serve the community. ...Read More >
Amritsar: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the largest representative body of Siks, on Saturday said the Takht Sri Patna Sahib clergy had gone beyond its religious jurisdiction by declaring Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal a tankhaiya (guilty of religious misconduct). In a statement, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the decision by Takht Sri Patna Sahib's panj pyare (the five beloved ones) had created confusion within the panth (Sikh community). Dhami said traditions and customs were meant to resolve issues of the community, and not to deepn a ...Read More >
AMRITSAR: In less than twenty-four hours, the Golden Temple once again received a threatening message warning of a possible bomb attack. The fresh threat, similar in content to a previous one referencing RDX and a specific time, sparked renewed concern among authorities and devotees alike.Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Secretary Partap Singh informed on Tuesday that the internet department of SGPC received the mail on the morning, following which the same was informed to the police. Stating that the content of the fresh threat email is almost the same as the one received on Mon ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 17: The NCERT's new Class 8 textbook, while describing the Mughal emperors, highlights Akbar's regime was a blend of "brutality" and "tolerance", Babur a "ruthless conqueror" and Aurangzeb as a "military ruler" who reimposed taxes on non-Muslims The book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, released this week, is the first in the new NCERT curriculum to introduce students to the Delhi Sultanate, Mughals, Marathas and the colonial era. While earlier versions covered some of these topics in Class 7, the NCERT says the timeline has now been shifted entirely to Class 8, in line ...Read More >
New Delhi, Dec 12 (VOICE) The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that no fresh suits would be registered under the Places of Worship Act in the country, and in the pending cases, no final or effective orders would be passed till further orders of the Apex Court. A Special Bench headed by CJI Sajiv Khanna asked the Union government to file within four weeks its reply to the clutch of petitions challenging the validity of the 1991 Act, which prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947. The Bench, also c ...Read More >
Ludhiana, Jun 8 (PTI) Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Sunday asserted that his party will win the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll, scheduled to be held on june 19, with a "record margin". "Congress practically has no competition here", he claimed. Warring, who is also the Ludhiana MP, said that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was badly mistaken that the Congress would allow it to abuse power and misuse the official machinery for the elections. "First of all, we will not let any misuse of the official machinery and second, in case any official is found to be misusing ...Read More >
Dharmasthala murders: Will not yield to any pressure, says K'taka CM Mysuru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday that his government will not yield to any pressure regarding the handling of the alleged Dharmasthala murders case. Dharmasthala is a famous Hindu pilgrimage centre in Karnataka. Responding to demands by a retired judge for an SIT probe, he said the government will take legal action in the matter. "We can't take action by ignoring the law." "The individual connected to the case came forward and gave a statement to the police after remaining absconding for ten ye ...Read More >
The Supreme Court halted new temple-mosque legal battles. The court will review the 1991 law impacting religious site status. This law froze the status of religious sites as of August 15, 1947. Several cases, including Gyanvapi and Shahi Idgah, challenge this law. The law's validity is being questioned. The court's decision impacts ongoing and future disputes.In its ruling on the keenly-watched Place of Worship Act case, the Supreme Court said on December 12 that no new Mandir-Masjid suits are to ...Read More >
New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Pakistan high commission on Wednesday said it issued 84 visas to Indian pilgrims to visit the Shree Katas Raj temples in Punjab province's Chakwal district. The group has been given visas to visit the Katas Raj temples from December 19 to 25. The temples are also known as Qila Katas. It is a complex of several Hindu temples connected to one another by walkways. Under the provision of a bilateral protocol on visits to religious shrines, Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan every year.Pakistani pilgrims also visit India every year under the protocol. ...Read More >
Srinagar: Before towering cranes and cutting-edge engineering transformed the Himalayan landscape, the monumental dream of connecting "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" by rail began with the plodding footsteps of humble mules. This extraordinary backstory underpins the official realization of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6, 2025, a project crowned by the awe-inspiring Chenab Bridge. According to Afcons Infrastructure Limited, the company behind the Chenab Bridge, the earliest and most formidable hurdle wasn't just the design of ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 10 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched a formal investigation against Jamaluddin alias Chhangur Baba, who faces serious allegations related to religious conversions, misuse of foreign funds, and activities that could potentially threaten national security and disturb communal harmony. As part of its inquiry, the ED on Thursday sought detailed information about Chhangur Baba from local police authorities, the District Magistrate, and multiple banks. Officials said the probe aims to trace the source and end use of foreign contributions allegedly received ...Read More >
Yogi Adityanath alleges a conspiracy to divide Hindus and Sikhs. He claims religious conversions are occurring with fixed rates. Chhangur Baba of Balrampur is accused of Rs 100 crore transactions. Adityanath highlights conversion cases in Pilibhit. He urges caution against religious conversions. He also criticizes Aurangzeb's atrocities and praises Guru Teg Bahadur's sacrifice. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday claimed attempts were being made to drive a wedge between the ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday attacked the Centre and Rajasthan governments over the reported plan to redraw the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve for the reactivation of over 50 mining operations, saying the move would be "ecologically devastating". The opposition party also said that with the Rajasthan and Union environment ministers both being from Alwar, this "double engine" cannot be supporting such a move. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which claimed that a plan to redraw the boundaries of Rajasthan's ...Read More >
Jammu, Jun 30 (PTI) Ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, the token distribution centre for offline registration of the pilgrims was operationalised here on Monday, even as the authorities successfully conducted a dry run of the arrangements along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, officials said. The 38-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath will commence from the twin tracks -- the traditional 48-km-long Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the 14-km shorter but steeper Baltal route in Ganderbal district -- on July 3. The first batch of pilgrims will leave f ...Read More >
MADURAI: Likening the custodial murder of Ajith Kumar in Tiruppuvanam to an 'organised crime by police where the state kills its own citizens,' Madras high court lambasted the Tamil Nadu police and said the action against the perpetrators should be more stringent than in normal murder cases.A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice A D Maria Clete pointed to 44 external injuries on the person of Ajith Kumar and said no part of the body was spared by the delinquent cops. "Even an ordinary murderer would not have inflicted such kind of injuries," the bench said on Tuesday.The natur ...Read More >
Kolkata: Monojit Mishra, the main accused in the June 25 law student gang-rape case, before leaving the college after committing the crime had asked a few of his trusted aides to stay back on the campus and keep a watch on Kasba Police Station about a kilometre away through the night. He and co-accused Pramit Mukherjee and Zaib Ahmed left around the same time as the survivor, who was picked up by her father.Senior officers investigating the case also revealed that Monojit had called up a college official the next morning -- this official has claimed the discussion was "confined to college-rela ...Read More >
CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal has been declared "tankhaiya" (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Takht Patna Sahib (one of the five supreme temporal seats of sikhs) due to his failure to appear before it and thereby undermining its authority. Sources said the decision is an outcome of Sukhbir's failure to appear before the Takht despite being summoned twice. It is understood that this development would further escalate clashes between Sikh religious authorities and political figures. Badal was called to present himself before the panj pyaras (five be ...Read More >
Amritsar: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President and senior advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami on Wednesday demanded the death penalty of the culprits of sacrilege. Dhami said, "The culprits of sacrilege should get the death penalty. After 2015, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government brought a strict law against sacrilege by amending Section 295-A, but till date, neither the incidents of sacrilege that took place in Sachkhand Sri Harmandir Sahib Sri Darbar Sahib and elsewhere have been properly investigated nor have any of the culprits been punished." Dhami, while explaining ...Read More >
Pune: The occasion of Guru Purnima, celebrated across India as a tribute to teachers and spiritual guides, unfolded on Thursday with reverence, music, prayer, and acts of service.The festival, rooted in several faiths and traditions, honours the sacred relationship between guru and disciple, a bond of spiritual and intellectual mentorship.Numerous city-based educational institutions marked the occasion, as is the custom. At the Sri Balaji University Pune, Guru Purnima was observed informally but meaningfully. "Students greeted teachers with flowers, sweets, heartfelt letters, and poetry," said ...Read More >
Amritsar (Punjab) [India], July 15 (ANI): The Golden Temple in Punjab's Amritsar received another bomb threat on Tuesday. The dog squad has been deployed at the Golden Temple premises as part of a security check. The holy site for Sikhs received a bomb threat via e-mail for the second consecutive day. Also Read | India Raises Pahalgam Terror Attack at SCO Meeting: EAM S Jaishankar Calls for 'Uncompromising Position' on Combatting Terrorism. Pratap Singh, Secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), demanded strict action against the miscreants. Pratap Singh told reporte ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jan 21 (VOICE) Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and Punjabi sensation Diljit Dosanjh's fates are intertwined through their films "Emergency" and 'Panjab 95" due to the chatter around both the movies. On Tuesday morning, Diljit took to Instagram, where he posted a note apologising that his film "Panjab 95", has once again faced a hiccup in its release in India. "We are very sorry and it pains us to inform you that the movie Panjab 95 will not release on 7th Feb due to circumstances beyond our control," he wrote. The movie, which is based on the life of prominent Sikh human rights act ...Read More >
The Chief Minister highlighted that marginalised communities, particularly Scheduled Castes, are being "lured, or coerced" into changing religion Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday termed illegal religious conversions a "calculated conspiracy to undermine the nation's identity and social fabric," asserting that the Uttar Pradesh government is taking firm action to curb the menace. Adityanath made the remarks while flagging off the UP-Delhi Shri Tegh Bahadur Sandesh Yatra from his Luckno ...Read More >
Jammu- Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday reviewed the ongoing restoration work of the historic Mubarak Mandi complex, which was the power centre of the Dogra kings in Jammu, and stressed on enhancing its heritage appeal. The Mubarak Mandi Complex is one of Jammu's most significant architectural heritage sites and is envisioned as a comprehensive cultural centre, housing museums, conference venues and heritage hospitality services. Accompanied by Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani and MLA Yudhvir Sethi during the visit, the chief minister was briefed in detail on the multi-phas ...Read More >
Mumbai, July 18: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that if a person belonging to a religion other than Hinduism, Buddhism or Sikhism has obtained a Scheduled Caste certificate fraudulently, it will be cancelled. Action will be taken against such a person if he or she has secured reservation benefits, such as government jobs. If such a person has won an election using a fraudulently obtained SC certificate, their election will be declared null and void, Fadnavis said in the legislative council. Replying to a calling attention motion, he also said the state governmen ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed courts across the country to refrain from admitting or passing any new orders on pleas seeking surveys of mosques to determine if temples lie beneath them. This decision extends to existing suits, halting any further orders on the matter. The directive was issued as the apex court continued hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This Act prohibits filing lawsuits to reclaim places of worship or alter their character from what existed on August 15, 1947. Judicial Revie ...Read More >
Chandigarh, Jun 8 (PTI) Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday said all Akali factions should set aside their "egos" and differences and unite, asserting that a strong 'panthic' party is required not only for the state but also for the nation. He asserted that that would be a "true tribute" to veteran Akali leader and former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. Also Read | Bodoland Lottery Result Today, June 8, 2025: Assam State Lottery Sambad Sunday Lucky Draw Results Declared, Check Winners List With Ticket Numbers. Dhindsa died on May 28 following age-related health issues at a pri ...Read More >
Chandigarh: Punjab chief ministerBhagwant Mann on Thursday said the government will table a bill in the assembly on Friday to introduce harsher punishment for religious sacrilege. However, the law will not be enacted immediately, as the government plans to hold consultations with stakeholders before finalising the legislation.Mann said the decision was taken in a meeting of the cabinet earlier in the day. After the legislation is tabled, Punjab govt will gather suggestions on the law from stakeholders, including religious organisations and people, he added.Sources said said the new legislation ...Read More >
Mangaluru, July 11 (SocialNews.XYZ) In a major development, the unidentified complainant, who had claimed that he was forced to bury several bodies of women who were raped and murdered in Dharmasthala village appeared before a court in Karnataka's Mangaluru district on Friday and recorded his statement. The man gave his statement under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) before Principal Civil Judge and First Class Judicial Magistrate Sandesh K. He was accompanied by a group of lawyers and police personnel and entered the court with his face and upper body fully covered. The de ...Read More >
Amritsar (Punjab) [India], July 15 (ANI): The Golden Temple in Punjab Amritsar received another bomb threat on Tuesday. The dog squad has been deployed at the Golden Temple premises as part of a security check. The holy site for Sikhs received a bomb threat via e-mail for the second consecutive day. Pratap Singh, Secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), demanded strict action against the miscreants. Pratap Singh told reporters, Golden Temple is the centre of faith of the world, and we received an email threatening a blast in the Golden Temple. It is the responsibilit ...Read More >