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No Iftar party at Rashtrapati Bhavan this year
New Delhi, Jun 7: President Ram Nath Kovind will not host an Iftar party this year at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
“After the President took over office, he decided there would be no religious celebrations or observances in a public building such as Rashtrapati Bhavan on taxpayer expense. This is in keeping with the principles of a secular state and applies to all religious occasions, irrespective of religion,” said Ashok Malik, Press Secretary to the president.
He said the president of course wishes all fellow citizens on every major religious festivals.
After a gap of a decade there will be no Iftar celebrations at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Iftar parties have been traditionally hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan except during the tenure of A P J Abdul Kalam, who was the president from 2002-2007, officials said.
Congress leaves it on SC to decide on triple talaq issue
New Delhi : With the issue of triple talaq raging, Congress left it to the Supreme Court to decide the ticklish matter and at the same time insisted that it has always pitched for empowerment of women.
As the debate over Uniform Civil Code (UCC) creating much controversy, the party expressed itself against imposition of any code and advocated the need for taking all stakeholders into confidence.
With a volley of questions on the issue at the AICC briefing, party spokesperson Shobha Oza fell back upon Dr B R Ambedkar’s remarks on the matter to drive home the point that all stakeholders needed to be taken into confidence for any change.
“It is not proper if this does not happen,” she said, adding that the party goes by what the Architect of the Constitution had said on the issue long back.
Besides, she said that the Congress party believes in the concept of “unity in diversity”.
“We have full faith in the Supreme Court,” Oza said while replying to questions on triple talaq.
The Law Commission’s decision to invite views on the contentious UCC drew criticism from the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other Muslim organisations which said they will boycott it and accused the Narendra Modi government of waging a “war” against the community.
As the Muslim outfits claimed a UCC will “kill” India’s pluralism, right wing organisations like BJP and Shiv Sena, long-time votaries of a common code, strongly supported the government’s decision, insisting it would bolster gender equality and end discrimination against women.
Govt opposes triple talaq, says practice is against women’s dignity
Gender equality is part of the basic structure of the Constitution and non-negotiable, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday while opposing the practices of triple talaq and polygamy in the Muslim community.
This is the first time the Indian government has officially taken a stand to oppose the contentious custom that has divided the community, with women’s groups and individuals advocating sweeping reforms in Muslim personal law that is heavily tilted against women.
Under Muslim personal law based on the Sharia, a Muslim man can divorce his wife by pronouncing talaq thrice. Muslim men are also allowed to have four wives.
India has separate sets of personal laws for each religion governing marriage, divorce, succession, adoption and maintenance. While Hindu law overhaul began in the 1950s and continues, activists have long argued that Muslim personal law has remained mostly unchanged.
“Even though it may be true to say that only some women are directly and actually affected by these practices being divorced by talaq-e-bidat or being in a polygamous marriage, the fact remains that every woman to whom the law applies, lives under the threat, fear or prospect of being subject to these practices, which in turn impacts her status and her right to a life with confidence and dignity,” the government said in its affidavit to the top court.
The Centre’s stand was in response to the court asking whether an intervention would violate the Muslim community’s fundamental rights.
Participants from 39 counties in 5-day Buddhist conclave
Top Saudi cleric will not deliver hajj sermon
49,000 kids dying of malnutrition linked to Nigeria’s Boko Haram : UN
Some 49,000 children will die of malnutrition in areas once cut off by northeastern Nigeria’s Islamic extremist uprising if they don’t get treatment, the UN children’s agency warned on Tuesday.
Unicef called on charities and donors to respond quickly to avert a tragedy in Borno state, where nearly a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished.
Most of the children are in areas that had been inaccessible before a multinational force liberated them from Boko Haram extremists earlier this year.
“Some 134 children on average will die every day from causes linked to acute malnutrition if the response is not scaled up quickly,” the agency’s regional director, Manuel Fontaine said.
Fatwa in favour of transgender marriages issued
Muslim organisations in Hyderabad have called for a boycott of ostentatious weddings in the community and even decided to fine its members if they are found spending too much on ceremonies.
Mother Teresa will be declared a saint by Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church in a canonization ceremony in Vatican City on Sunday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described full-body veils used by some Muslim women that cover the face as an obstacle to integration.