Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), along with women’s rights groups, constitutional lawyers, and minority rights organisations, has repeatedly cautioned that such laws—already operational in several BJP-ruled states—have functioned less as safeguards against coercion and more as tools for communal profiling, moral policing, and the criminalisation of adult consensual relationships. Maharashtra is now being pushed to replicate a model that is not only deeply abusive in practice but also under active constitutional challenge before the Supreme Court of India.

It is essential to note that previously, the Maharashtra Government had issued a Government resolution on December 13, 2022, following the gruesome murder of Shraddha Walkar in Delhi allegedly by her inter-faith live-in partner, forming a committee to provide a platform to ‘counsel, communicate and resolve’ issues between couples and families. According to the GR, the committee can seek information of both registered and unregistered marriages. Furthermore, the committee can intervene at the behest of any person, which the plea alleges is a breach of the couple’s privacy “especially when two consenting adults are married to each other”. A challenge against the same, filed by CJP, remains pending in the Bombay High Court. Details of the petition may be read here.

A state-wide, synchronized campaign- Event by event

The scale and coordination of the recent mobilisations are striking. On November 27, in Jalgaon, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti organised an ‘Anti–Love Jihad’ protest where speakers openly demanded that the Maharashtra Chief Minister ensure the passage of an anti-conversion law in the upcoming winter session of the Assembly. The demand was framed as a matter of urgency and inevitability. Organisers claimed support from over 35 organisations, cited more than 300 citizen statements, and referenced a petition purportedly carrying 15,000 signatures—figures repeatedly invoked to manufacture the impression of overwhelming public consensus.

As the Assembly session approached, the campaign intensified. On December 5, in Amravati, far-right organisations led by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti submitted a memorandum to the District Collector, addressed to the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, demanding a ‘strict’ law against the alleged conspiracy of ‘love jihad’. A signature campaign claiming the support of over 3,000 citizens accompanied the submission, making explicit that the objective was legislative pressure during the session rather than redressal of any specific grievance.

On December 7, protests were held across multiple districts. In Dapoli, Ratnagiri, far-right groups once again alleged a systematic conspiracy of ‘love jihad’ and demanded immediate legislative action. The framing was uniform: inter-faith relationships were projected as demographic warfare, and state inaction was portrayed as civilisational betrayal.

The same day, in Akola, the campaign descended into overt communal abuse. At an anti–‘love jihad’ protest, a Hindu Janajagruti Samiti member used derogatory slurs against Muslims—calling them “cowards who used to be Hindus” and “jalli-topiwallas”—and invoked the trope of ‘gaddar Hindus’. Such speech is not incidental; it reveals the communal animus that animates the demand for criminal legislation and signals how such laws are likely to be enforced on the ground.

Also on December 7, in Kothrud, Pune, at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad–Bajrang Dal ‘Shaurya Diwas’ event, speakers claimed that only organisations like the Bajrang Dal could stop ‘love jihad’, religious conversions, and cow slaughter. This assertion effectively erased the boundary between state authority and vigilante power, suggesting that the proposed law is intended to legitimise extra-legal social control.

On December 8, the campaign expanded simultaneously into administrative offices and mainstream political platforms. In Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, delegations led by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, alongside BJP leader Kamlesh Katariya, submitted requests at District Magistrate offices across Maharashtra, uniformly urging enactment of a ‘strict’ anti–love jihad law.

The same day, at Hotel Center Point, Nagpur, during a ‘Majha Maharashtra’ event organised by Anand Bazaar Patrika, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane amplified these conspiracies from a mainstream political stage. He invoked ‘love jihad’, ‘land jihad’, and ‘halal jihad’, and further referenced ‘ghazwa-e-Hind’, explicitly linking these ideas to terrorism. Such rhetoric performs a crucial legitimising function: it converts fringe paranoia into a perceived security threat, thereby manufacturing public consent for exceptional criminal law.

Core Criticisms of Anti-Conversion Laws: Why civil liberties groups oppose them

CJP and other civil liberties organisations, women’s rights groups, and constitutional scholars have consistently raised serious objections to anti-conversion laws across states—objections that apply with equal, if not greater, force to the proposed Maharashtra legislation.

1. Criminalisation of consent and autonomy: These laws operate on the presumption that adult women—particularly Hindu women—are incapable of making informed choices about relationships and faith. By treating consent as inherently suspect, the laws directly contradict Supreme Court jurisprudence recognising decisional autonomy, bodily integrity, and the right to choose one’s partner.
2. Vague and overbroad offences: Terms such as ‘allurement’, ‘undue influence’, and ‘fraud’ are undefined or expansively defined, allowing ordinary acts—companionship, emotional support, marriage, or assistance—to be reinterpreted as criminal inducement. This violates the principle that criminal offences must be narrowly and clearly defined.
3. Burden-shifting and presumption of guilt: Many anti-conversion laws invert the foundational criminal law principle of presumption of innocence by shifting the burden onto the accused to prove that no coercion occurred. This is constitutionally suspect and procedurally unjust.
4. Third-party complaints and vigilante policing: By allowing relatives—or even unrelated persons—to file complaints, these laws institutionalise vigilante interference in intimate relationships. In practice, police action is often triggered not by the alleged convert but by ideological organisations or hostile family members.
5. Discriminatory enforcement: Empirical evidence from other states demonstrates that enforcement disproportionately targets Muslim men and inter-faith couples, entrenching communal profiling and selective policing.
6. Chilling Effect on Religious Freedom: Mandatory prior notice requirements and intrusive inquiries deter individuals from exercising their freedom of conscience, effectively converting a fundamental right into a regulated privilege.

CJP has repeatedly warned that these laws do not prevent coercion; they prevent choice.

Pending Petitions Before the Supreme Court: Laws under constitutional cloud

Importantly, CJP’s challenge to anti-conversion laws in several states—including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Gujarat—is currently pending before the Supreme Court of India. Multiple petitions contend that these statutes violate core constitutional guarantees under Articles 14, 15, 19, 21, and 25.

Detailed report may be read here.

Petitioners have argued that the laws:

• Undermine the right to privacy and decisional autonomy recognised in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India
• Criminalise adult consensual relationships, contrary to Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. and Lata Singh v. State of UP
• Treat women as lacking agency, in violation of equality and dignity
• Enable arbitrary, discriminatory, and communalised policing
• Invert the presumption of innocence by shifting the burden of proof

The Supreme Court has been urged to examine whether the state can subject personal faith, marriage, and belief to prior scrutiny and criminal sanction in the absence of demonstrable harm. These challenges remain pending, rendering the legal framework that Maharashtra is being urged to adopt constitutionally unstable.

Manufacturing panic, normalising surveillance, reshaping criminal law

The Maharashtra campaign exemplifies a broader shift in law making: from evidence-based policy to ideology-driven criminalisation. There is no credible data demonstrating widespread forced conversions through marriage in Maharashtra. Existing criminal law already addresses coercion, cheating, kidnapping, trafficking, and sexual exploitation. The demand for a new law is therefore not remedial but symbolic—designed to signal dominance, discipline intimacy, and legitimise social surveillance.

By framing adult women as perpetual victims, these campaigns rein scribe patriarchal control. By singling out Muslims as conspirators, they normalise collective suspicion. By demanding preventive criminalisation, they erode the basic premise that criminal law punishes acts, not identities or intentions.

What is at stake for Maharashtra

If enacted, an anti-conversion law in Maharashtra will not remain a neutral legal instrument. It will embolden vigilante groups, legitimise moral policing, and place police machinery at the service of ideological enforcement. For inter-faith couples, religious minorities, and women asserting autonomy, the consequences are likely to be immediate and severe: arrests, harassment, prolonged incarceration, and social ostracisation.

As CJP has consistently argued, the real question is not whether forced conversions should be prevented—existing law already does so—but whether the state can be permitted to criminalise choice itself. Maharashtra today stands at a constitutional crossroads: between safeguarding liberty and importing a legal regime already notorious for abuse and under active constitutional scrutiny. The street pressure is loud. The constitutional warning signs are louder still.

Related:

Gujarat High Court Widened Anti-Conversion Law: ‘Victims’ can be prosecuted as offenders

K’taka HC: Ruling on state’s ‘anti-conversion’ law, lays down precedent against potential weaponisation by third-party vigilantes

Supreme Court seeks states’ replies on pleas for stay of anti-conversion laws, to decide on interim stay after six weeks

“Anti-conversion laws being weaponised”: CJP seeks interim relief against misuse of anti-conversion laws

The post Street Pressure, State Power, and the Criminalisation of Choice: How Hindutva groups are pushing Maharashtra’s anti-conversion law appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On Friday December 12, 2025, the Union Cabinet cleared HECI Bill under changed name the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan (VBSA) Bill 2025. The Bill has been tabled in the Winter Session. The press conference of over two dozen organisations including the All India Forum for the Right to Education (AIFRTE) has demanded that the Bill, which will redefine Government’s commitment towards public funded higher education and therefore, its purpose, is referred to the Standing Committee for wider consultation.

Reminding the public that the VBSA Bill 2025 is a revived version of a similar HECI Bill 2018, a draft of which was released in June 2018. The revision is largely around renaming the Commission and Councils under it. The Draft HECI Bill 2018 had received more than a lakh unfavourable responses from concerned citizens, students’ and teachers’ associations, parliamentarians and other stakeholders. The public opposition to the Bill was so strong and vocal that the then-NDA government was forced to shelve it, and let it fade from public memory in these seven years before bringing it back.  The draft VBSA Bill 2025 was released on the portal of Members of Parliament on 14.12.2025. The feedback from the stakeholders on the draft HECI Bill 2018 seems to have been ignored completely. Pointing out that the VBSA Bill 2025 will simultaneously repeal the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act 1956, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Act, 1987 and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Act, 1993. The draft VBSA Bill 2025 was released on the portal of Members of Parliament on 14.12.2025. The feedback from the stakeholders on the draft HECI Bill 2018 seems to have been ignored completely.

Some of the most pressing concerns about the VBSA Bill 2025 are:

1. Delinking of funding and regulation: No Council under the Commission has been set for funding of HEIs. The VBSA Bill is to make the Ministry of Education (MoE) responsible for disbursing grants. This will make the process of grant allocation more bureaucratic, arbitrary, and subject to political considerations. By delinking the function of policy-making from the allocation of financial resources, the proposed Bill will use ‘public funding’ as a reward or punishment for ideological It will also heighten hierarchies between different tiers of institutions (Central and state, general and professional, scientific and technical, research and vocational, metropolitan and rural).

2. Composition of members: The composition of the VBSA Bill 2025 signals a takeover of higher education by the officials of the Central government. 10 out of the 12 members of the Commission are either direct recruits of or nominated “experts” by the Central government. Teachers are reduced to just two in number, which is absolutely unacceptable in a body that is to determine the standards and quality of higher education in the country. Both teacher representatives from state higher education institutions will, by virtue of being ‘nominees’ of the Central government, will also likely be political appointments. The composition of the commission does not also reflect the diversity of the country and gives no representation to marginalised groups like SCs, STs, OBCs, women, transpersons, persons with disabilities, and minorities.

3. Centralised regulatory regime: The regulatory provisions of the Bill — grant of authorisation, graded autonomy, and ordering closure of institutions — will install a heavily centralised regime that will lead to punitive annual audit, wastage of time and resources, greater job insecurity for teachers, massive fee hikes, and This will cause students and their family’s great unrest and anxiety. Finally, the fact that the VBSA Bill will have overriding effect over all previous legislation has serious consequences for the nation’s federal character.

4. Complete disregard for diversity: With regards to the setting of standards for higher education, a ‘one size fits all’ model can never succeed. The diversity of this country, and the fact that higher education is still expanding to various sections and particularly rural sectors of society, demands a regulator that is socially responsive and geared towards social justice. The HECI Bill instead aims at downsizing higher education, and completely ignores questions of equity and access. It threatens the closure of ‘underperforming’ public-funded institutions, which are anyway reeling under decades of policy neglect through lack of infrastructure, faculty and other physical-intellectual

5. Threat to autonomy of institutions and principle of federalism: The VBSA Bill puts an end to the autonomy of institutions of higher education from government control. Every regulation relating to standards made by the Commission has to have the prior approval of the Central government. This not only violates the constitutional character of education as part of the Concurrent list, but also leaves the vast majority of the country’s higher educational landscape – run and aided by state governments – in a political tussle with the ruling party at the Centre. It will also encourage the use of regulations as a means to stifle freedom of speech, thought, and dissenting opinion in higher educational institutions. An atmosphere of forced obedience does not encourage meaningful improvements in society or in the state of knowledge.

6. Heightening the crises caused by NEP 2020: It is being argued that the setting up of the VBSA is in alignment with the vision proposed by NEP 2020. Colleges and universities across the country are currently struggling under the weight of the NEP’s vision – which has skewed syllabi and curricula with diluted content, delayed admissions processes through a compromised common university entrance test (CUET) and left seats unfilled, increased costs of undergraduate education with an extra year of college but zero value addition under the four year programme, contractualized teaching positions through lopsided teaching workload across semesters, slashed public funding through proposals for college mergers and institutional loans from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA), reduced the capacity of the research sector and curtailed research fellowships. Under such circumstances, the introduction of another disastrous reform move through the establishment of HECI will be the last nail in the coffin of Indian higher education.

Post-Independence, the historic purpose of nurturing Higher education through public spending has been to enable progressive social and material transformation that will eventually result in greater Equity between various interest-groups in Society. The Constitution had envisaged education as a public good – a means to ensure dignity and upward mobility to individuals and for strengthening the democracy. Education was seen as domain to be shared by the Centre and States. The VBSA Bill 2025 is a structural change, which will lead to extreme centralisation and commercialisation and privatisation of public funded HEIs as they will be pushed to be self-reliant.

As stakeholders, we appeal that the Bill to be referred to the Standing Committee so that teachers, students, and educationists are given enough opportunity to present their case.

Related:

Higher Education: How Centre is Undermining State Autonomy & Politicising UGC

Public Education is Not a Priority in Union Budget 2025-26

“We have come to save public education, shoot us if you will,” feisty JNUSU president Dhananjay challenges Delhi police

The post Over-centralisation, Unaccountability, Political Considerations & Control: Stakeholders critique the VBSA 2025 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

December 13, 2025 also marks two decades (twenty years) of the passage of this historic law that was enacted after nearly a decade or more campaign by forest rights’ and Adivasi groups across the country. On this occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Forest Rights Act, national campaign coordination organisations (like NRCCJ) have extended extend our heartfelt appreciation to all those, including, parliamentarians, intellectuals, and organisations whose collective efforts made this landmark legislation possible. The Act stands as a historic step to redress past injustices and to democratize forest governance and management, ensuring dignity, rights, and justice for forest-dwelling communities.

The FRA 2006 formally came into force on December 31, 2007, but initially excluded Jammu & Kashmir. Following the abrogation of Article 370, the Act was extended to the Union Territory on October 31, 2019 through the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. Formal implementation began in September 2021, and the State Forest Department was designated as the nodal agency. While the extension of the Act was welcomed by local groups and intellectuals, concerns were raised about entrusting implementation to the Forest Department, given its questionable historical role in restricting customary and traditional rights of forest dwellers.

Union of India’s contradictory stances over two decades

To recall these contradictory pulls, when the Government of India was drafting legislation to recognise tribal forest rights, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change made several attempts to be the nodal ministry. However, the Campaign for Survival and Dignity—a coalition of tribal groups and intellectuals—strongly opposed this, arguing that a ministry associated with past injustices should not oversee the Act. Their advocacy led to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) being designated as the nodal ministry in 2006, through amendments to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961.

Despite this, in many states and UTs, Forest Departments continued to act as shadow nodal agencies. The consequences have been stark:

• Out of 4.79 million Individual Forest Rights (IFR) claims, 1.47 million were rejected.
• For Community Forest Rights (CFR), the rejection rate stands at 9.56%, with states like Uttarakhand and West Bengal recording rejection rates above 90%.
• In states/UTs including Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh, more than 50% of IFR claims have been rejected.

These figures highlight how the lack of awareness has enabled Forest Departments to dismiss or dilute claims, undermining the spirit of the Act.

In this context on the twenty years anniversary of this historic law, these steps by administration’s like Jammu and Kashmir (J and K) remain significant.

The Notification by the J and K administration may be read here

Letter dated December 3, 2025 by AIUWFP to District Magistrate Ms.Indu Kanwal Chib, District Bandipora J&K regarding the Implementation of Forest Rights Act in District Bandipora J&K may be read here. (https://dipr.jk.gov.in/Prnv?n=21737)

Related:

AIUFWP helps Dudhi villagers file Forest Land Claims under FRA

Forest Land Claims filed in Chitrakoot: AIUFWP and CJP make history!

Struggle for Forest Rights in India stretches from East to West

The post 20 years of FRA 2006, J and K appoints Tribal Ministry as Nodal agency appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The post Kerala Local Body Election Results Ring Alarm Bells in the Left’s Last Bastion appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In an almost routine manner, clearly meant to harass citizens, especially those from marginalised communities who may exercise their personal choices in faith practice or in relationships, the sections applied by the Sri Hemant Yadav, Sub Inspector, Jethwara Police station, district Pratapgarh in the First Information Report dated April 26, 2025 (registered as Case Crime No. 0081 of 2025) was under Sections 5 (1), 8 (2) & 8 (6) of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.

Sub-Inspector Hemant Yadav, the complainant in the FIR alleged that the petitioner was involved in unlawful religious conversion. In a significant Order by a Constitutional Court, not only did the Judges quash the Order but, after getting to the root of the matter –which clearly appeared to be that a false and motivated FIR had been lodged by the instant Sub-Inspector– the Court held the Principal Secretary (Home), Uttar Pradesh to account directly him to explain this conduct through filing of a personal affidavit!  What cleared the matters for the Court, was the affidavit in counter filed by private respondents denying the allegations made in the FIR of any coercive conversions etc.

Interim Order of November 20, 2025

The first protective steps taken on November 20, 2025 in which interim Order the Court also stated that failure to file such affidavit before the next date, December 2, 2025 would require the Principal Secretary (Home) to appear in person, with all records of the case, before the Court. While doing so, the Court Observed that such urgent and stringent steps were required to hold the state administration at the highest level to account, as the contents of the FIR “are patently false” and aggrieved persons (citizens) are required to spend precious resources on seeking relief in patently false and motivated prosecutions. The Interim Order also protected the respondent private respondents from any harassment in any manner by the police or administration, warning of strict action were that to happen. (Para 18 of Interim Order)

Para 14 of the Interim Order dated November 20, 2025

Para 14. This Court requires the personal affidavit of the Principal Secretary (Home), Lucknow inasmuch as the Court is already deluged with the other matters which are coming before the Court and once the First Information Report is being filed by an officer of the State which prima facie appears to be false as such, this is a fit case in which the highest officer should file his affidavit indicating as to why the aforesaid First Information Report has been lodged by an officer of the State although the allegations levelled in the said First Information Report are prima facie patently false. However, the aggrieved persons are constrained to approach this Court for the redressal of their grievances whereby spending their valuable money and time and at the same time, the precious judicial time of the Court is also wasted in dealing with such cases which could have been nipped in the bud by the State itself. As such, personal affidavit would also indicate that in case such frivolous cases continue to come to the highest Court of the State as to why exemplary cost should not be imposed against the authorities who have not applied their mind while lodging the First Information Reports under the Act, 2021.

What was especially noteworthy about this case is that private respondents, alleged victims (Respondents No. 5 to 8) appeared before the High Court and filed a short counter affidavit in which they categorically stated that the allegations in the FIR were “absolutely false, concocted, baseless and without any substance“. They submitted, on record, that no incident of inducement, allurement or coercion had taken place and that they were following their religion “as per their own free will”. Details of this counter-affidavit have been recorded by the Allahabad HC in its interim order in the case dated November 20, 2025 (Paras 7 and 8), also reproduced in part in the final order in the matter dated December 2, 2025.

Paras 7 and 8 of the Interim Order of the Allahabad High Court in the Sabir Ali Case:

Para 7. Taking note of the same, in its earlier detailed order [dated N7. On the other hand, Sri Alok Pandey, Advocate who has filed a short counter affidavit today in Court on behalf of the respondents no. 5 to 8 states on the basis of averments contained in the short counter affidavit that the allegations as made in the impugned First Information Report are absolutely false, concocted, baseless and without any su any substance and no incident of religious conversion, inducement, allurement, pressure or coercion has ever taken place with the petitioner or with any of the other alleged victims.

Para 8. It is further submitted that all the private respondents have already been following their religion, social custom and traditions as per their own free will, independently and without interference or pressure from any corner. At no point of time has any of them adopted any other religion as alleged in the impugned First Information Report nor has any such step ever been undertaken or considered by them.

On that date, November 20, 2025, the Court had also expressed strong displeasure over the facts of the case. It also made a prima facie observation that the FIR lodged by the State officer appeared “patently false”. The Bench had then observed that it was ‘deluged’ with such matters and questioned why citizens should be constrained to approach the Court, spending money and time, for cases that “could have been nipped in the bud by the State itself“.

Final Order Quashing the FIR

Finally on December 2, 2025, 14 days ago, the Division Bench recorded in Para 3 that the personal affidavit of the Principal Secretary (Home), Government of UP had been filed. Significantly, the Court observed that, in Para 4 of the Final Order, that, the State of UP conceived that the FIR may be quashed!

Para 4. Even before the averments contained in the said personal affidavit could be considered by the Court, Dr. V.K. Singh, learned Government Advocate, states that the FIR itself may be quashed by this Court.

Considering the aforesaid statement made by Dr. V.K. Singh, the Court quashed the motivated FIR and observed, in a strong observation in Para 7 of the final order dated December 2, 2025, the Allahabad High Court observed:

“However, considering the detailed order of this Court dated 20.11.2025 a note of caution is issued to the State authorities that being the special Act and having it’s stringent provisions the authorities should have to be more cautious in future while registering the FIRs in mimeographic style under the provisions of the Act, 2021”.

(Para 7)

Counsel for the petitioners are/were Akhand Kumar Pandey, Abhishek Singh

Citizens for Justice and Peace (cjp.org.in, CJP) is the lead petitioner in the draconian ‘anti-conversion laws’ passed by those state ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Today, December 16, 2025 the hearing in this matter (WP Criminal Nos 428/2020 and Nos 14/2023) is expected to address the prayer for interim stay on the most egregious provisions. In the 2025 hearings, first on April 16, 2025, and thereafter in September 2025, hearing on the main prayer of the writ petition for declaring the laws passed unconstitutional (early hearing on cases pending since December 2020) and another application filed by CJP, seeking interim relief. After first challenging the 2020-2021 amended laws of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, the CJP had, in 2023, amended their plea to include similar laws passed in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Karnataka. CJP is the lead petitioner in this matter.

The Interim Order of the Allahabad HC dated November 20, 2025 may be read here

The Final Order of the Allahabad HC dated December 2, 2025 may be read here.

[1] Mimeographic refers to “photo-copy” type documents, or documents from a duplicating machine which produces copies from a stencil, now a photo-copier!

Related:

“Anti-conversion laws being weaponised”: CJP seeks interim relief against misuse of anti-conversion laws

United Christian Forum petitions UP Governor Anandiben Patel, express concerns over recent amendment to UP anti-conversion law

Anti-Conversion Laws: Are forced conversions a myth or reality?

The post Allahabad HC: Quashes FIR under draconian UP ‘Anti-Conversion Act’, warns state authorities against lodging ‘Mimeographic Style’ FIRs appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The RSS is not registered under the Societies Act or the Trust Act. It has no PAN, files no income-tax returns, has no obligation to disclose donors, and is not accountable to RTI or FCRA. In purely legal terms, the most influential organisation in India is an organisation that, on paper, does not formally exist.

Its funding comes through “Guru Dakshina”—donations from members ranging from a few rupees to several lakhs, symbolically offered to the saffron flag rather than to a registered entity. This model allows the RSS to collect crores every year without the scrutiny applied to even the smallest NGO.

And that is the stark contrast:

• A charity feeding orphans faces compliance audits.
• A student group receives notices for minor reporting lapses.
• Even a roadside shopkeeper must justify every rupee of income.

But the ideological mother organisation of the ruling party remains exempt from the transparency required of ordinary citizens.

This raises a fundamental democratic question:

Should a body that influences national policy, political appointments, and cultural direction be allowed to operate with zero statutory oversight?

The RSS’s network—stretching through political, educational, labour, media, and cultural wings—makes it far more than a “cultural organisation.” It is a parallel power centre whose decisions shape public life, yet cannot be questioned through democratic channels. It holds influence without legal responsibility, authority without accountability.

The issue is not the lavishness of Keshav Kunj, but what it represents: a governance anomaly where an institution with enormous political reach functions beyond the mechanisms that safeguard transparency in a democracy.

If NGOs, activists, journalists, and citizens are routinely scrutinised, raided, or labelled “anti-national” over compliance issues, what then do we call an organisation that collects vast funds in the shadows and shapes the ideological spine of the state without placing a single financial document on public record?

Democracies do not weaken because people ask questions. They weaken when power becomes invisible, and when institutions that influence the nation most refuse to follow the rules applied to everyone else.

Keshav Kunj is not merely a building. It is a reminder of a deeper shift—away from democratic accountability and toward a political ecosystem where some institutions answer to no one.

And in today’s India, the reality is uncomfortably clear: The country is controlled by the BJP, and the BJP is controlled by the RSS—and that should concern every believer in constitutional democracy.

Courtesy: The AIDEM

The post RSS: The Flag, the Funds and The Missing Transparency appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The united Opposition has demanded that this Bill, along with two others (three far-reaching Bills) to be referred to the Standing Committees concerned. Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress (INC), Jairam Ramesh stated that, “We are hopeful that in keeping with the best of Parliamentary traditions and practices, this demand will be agreed to by the Government. The Bills require deep study and wide consultations. 1. Higher Education Commission Bill 2. Atomic Energy Bill 3. G-RAM-G Bill.” It is to be seen if the NDA’s outside allies, Chandrababu Naidu Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) join the Opposition in demanding that these proposes changes and shifts are first deliberated on, as required by a Parliamentary Committee.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) –that was had strongly participated in deliberations on the 2005 original MGNREGA apart from being part of the 2004-2009 UPA—has, in a public statement, strongly opposed the Union government’s move to introduce the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-GRAMG Bill), which seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In a statement issued today, the left party stated that, “The proposed bill completely negates the basic character of the MNREGA, which is a universal demand driven law providing a limited right to work. It legally absolves the Union government from its responsibility to allocate funds according to the demand.”

Further the CPI-M states that, “The government’s claim of increasing guaranteed employment from 100 to 125 days is merely cosmetic. In reality, the Bill opens the door to the exclusion of large sections of rural households in the name of rationalisation of job cards. The provision allowing governments to suspend employment for up to 60 days during peak agricultural seasons will deny work to rural households when it is most needed and make them dependent on landlords. Mandating digital attendance at work place is bound to cause immense difficulties to workers, like loss of work, and denial of their rights.”

Another major concern is the proposed shift in the funding pattern. The Bill reduces the Centre’s responsibility for wage payments from 100 per cent to a 60:40 sharing arrangement for major states. By doing this, the proposed law shifts the responsibility of bearing the expenditure on unemployment allowance and delay compensation from the Union to the states. In doing so, this places an unsustainable financial burden on state governments while denying them any role in the decision making process. The introduction of “normative allocation” – with state-wise expenditure ceilings imposed by the Centre and excess costs borne by states – will further curtail the programme’s reach and dilute the Centre’s accountability, states the CPI-M. Hence the party has also demanded a) that the VB-GRAMG Bill be withdrawn immediately and b) The Union government must instead engage in consultations with political parties, trade unions and organisations of the rural poor to strengthen MGNREGA and ensure its effective implementation as a universal and rights-based employment guarantee.

Meanwhile, John Brittas, a Parliamentarian in the Rajya Sabha representing the CPI-M has also provided a detailed critique of the new proposed law on social media, “X”. He states that the “Modi 3.0 government has removed the soul of a rights-based guarantee law and replaced it with a conditional, centrally controlled scheme stacked against States & workers.

“125 days” is the headline. 60:40 is the fine print – MGNREGA was a fully centrally funded one for unskilled wages; G RAM G downgrades it with States to bear 40%. States will now have to shell out around Rs. 50,000+ crore. Kerala alone will have to bear an additional 2,000–2,500 crore.  Cost shifting by stealth, not reform. This is the new federalism: States pay more; Centre walks away, yet claims the credit.

“MGNREGA was demand-driven: if a worker asked for work, the Centre had to pay – G RAM G replaces this with Centre’s pre-fixed normative allocations & ceilings. When funds run out, rights run out. A legal employment guarantee is reduced to a centrally managed publicity scheme at the expense of States.

“Panchayats have been side-lined, (digital) dashboards empowered – MGNREGA trusted Gram Sabhas & Panchayats to plan works based on local needs – G RAM G mandates GIS tools, PM Gati Shakti layers & central digital stacks. Local priorities are filtered through a Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack. It makes biometrics, geo-tagging, dashboards and AI audits statutory. For millions of rural workers, tech failures mean exclusion without appeal. “

Therefore, he says,

“Decentralisation replaced by centralised templates; People (have) become data points.

“Worse, G RAM G mandates suspension of work for up to 60 days every year in the name of agricultural seasons. Employment guarantee or labour control? Scheme labourers are legally told: Don’t work. Don’t earn. Wait. Stopping public works to push labour into private farms is not welfare – it is state-managed labour supply, stripping workers of wages, choice and dignity. “

He concludes by adding that,

“G RAM G stands for central control, State funds & conditional rights. Same workers. Less rights. More burden. This Bill doesn’t reform MGNREGA – it dismantles it fiscally, institutionally and morally.

“Bottom line: In the name of RAM, the States and poor are penalised, short-changed and fiscally sacrificed.”

Detailing the new 2025 Bill further, John Brittas says,

“Under Section 10 of the MGNREG Act, 2005, the ‘Central Employment Guarantee Council’ ‘ was statutorily bound to uphold social representation, mandating that not less than one-third of its non-official members shall be women and not less than one-third belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities. Yet, the corresponding rechristened ‘Central Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Council’ under Clause 12 of the G RAM G Bill conspicuously and deliberately omits these reservation requirements.

“In contrast, Clause 13 of the G RAM G Bill, governing the rechristened ‘State Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Councils’, explicitly retains the very same representation criteria for women, and for SCs, STs, OBCs and Minorities, exactly as provided in Section 12 of MGNREGA for the ‘State Employment Guarantee Councils’.

“This selective retention leaves no room for benign explanation. It clearly establishes that the omission at the Central level cannot be dismissed as an oversight or drafting error, but represents a conscious dilution of statutory social inclusion at the apex level. This follows a familiar pattern – much like the Union Government’s 2023 attempt to dilute mandatory SC/ST allocations under the revised MPLADS Guidelines, which was constrained to be rolled back after I (John Brittas) raised formal objections with the Minister – demonstrating that such exclusions are neither accidental nor unprecedented, but deliberate policy choices until challenged.”

Clearly rights based legislation is being diluted and rural work has been made more conditional and fragile. MGNREGA 2025 that revived rural economies, prevented migration, kick-started a demand based economic cycle is being formally throttled by a new law that will seek to control and not disburse and de-centralise economic growth and resources.

It is to be seen if the NDA’s outside allies, Chandrababu Naidu Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) join the Opposition in demanding that these proposes changes and shifts are first deliberated on, as required by a Parliamentary Committee.

Related:

MNREGA facing fund crunch despite highest ever budgetary allocation

CJP submits detailed feedback to Labour Ministry on Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025

Jharkhand BJP leader gets ration from Antyodaya, claims being MNREGA labour, while Savitri starves to death after being denied Antyodaya card

The post MNREGA to G RAM G: Ideological shift, erosion of rural workers’ rights, increase of fiscal burden on states appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A decade-long livelihood cut short

Hussain, originally from Gagandiwan village under Laheri police station in Biharsharif, had earned his livelihood for nearly 20 years by selling clothes door-to-door in rural Nawada on a bicycle, according to Indian Express. Over the past few years, he had been living with his in-laws in Barui village, Nawada district, from where he would travel daily to surrounding villages to sell garments.

Family members described him as a quiet worker who had never faced complaints or conflict in the course of his business, as per The New Indian Express.

Night of December 5: From seeking help to being hunted

On the night of December 5, Hussain was returning from Dumri village after a day of hawking when his bicycle reportedly developed a puncture. Near Bhattapar (also referred to as Bhatta) village, which falls under Roh police station, he stopped to ask locals about a puncture repair shop, as reported by Indian Express.

According to his brother Mohammad Shakib Alam, instead of helping him, a group of villagers questioned him about his name and profession, reported Scroll. Soon after identifying him, they allegedly dragged him off his bicycle and began assaulting him.

Robbery and illegal confinement

Hussain told investigators and media, in a video recorded from his hospital bed, that the attackers robbed him of cash—variously reported as Rs 8,000 and Rs 18,000—along with his bicycle and clothes (ThePrint).

He was then tied by his hands and feet and locked inside a room, where the violence intensified over several hours. What began with a smaller group of assailants reportedly expanded as more villagers joined, eventually forming a mob of 15–20 people.

Extreme and prolonged torture

The assault, as described by Hussain and later corroborated in parts by medical findings, involved sustained and sadistic violence. He stated that he was beaten repeatedly with bricks and iron rods, resulting in fractured fingers and hands, provided Indian Express.

In one of the most chilling aspects of the case, Hussain alleged that the mob stripped him to check his private parts to confirm his religion, after which the assault escalated further, as per ThePrint. He said petrol was poured on him, and his body was branded with a heated iron rod, causing severe burns that peeled his skin.

Hussain also alleged that his ears and fingertips were cut with pliers, his nails were pulled out, and a steel rod was used to strike his head, causing serious head injuries.

At one point, according to his statement, one attacker climbed onto his chest and attempted to strangle him, leading to blood gushing from his mouth. The assault reportedly continued intermittently through the night as more assailants arrived.

Police intervention after hours of violence

An emergency Dial 112 call was eventually made, following which Roh police reached the village at around 2:30 a.m. on December 6, several hours after the assault began, as reported by Indian Express.

Furthermore, police sources told The Indian Express that Hussain was found in a grievously injured condition. He was taken first to the Roh Primary Health Centre, then referred to Nawada Sadar Hospital, and later shifted to Vardhman Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), Pawapuri, as his condition worsened.

Despite medical intervention, Hussain remained critical. He ultimately died nearly a week later while being transported from Pawapuri to Patna for advanced care.

Victim’s statement before death

Crucially, Hussain managed to give a video statement from his hospital bed, accessed by ThePrint. In the recording, he named the acts of torture inflicted upon him and explicitly stated that he was targeted after the assailants identified him as Muslim.

While some senior police officials later claimed that the religious aspect did not appear in the wife’s initial written complaint, the existence of Hussain’s recorded statement has become a key piece of evidence in the ongoing investigation.

FIR by wife: Allegations of false theft and mob violence

On December 6, Hussain’s wife Shabnam Parveen filed a detailed complaint naming 10 residents of Bhattapar village and 15 unidentified persons, reported Indian Express. She alleged that her husband was falsely accused of theft, tied up, robbed, and brutally tortured.

She also stated that when she and her relatives reached Bhattapar to look for Hussain, they were abused and threatened by villagers, prompting the police to add further sections relating to intimidation and criminal force.

Based on her complaint, police registered an FIR invoking multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections dealing with unlawful assembly, rioting, grievous hurt using dangerous weapons, abetment, common intention, and group violence motivated by discrimination. After Hussain’s death, Section 103 (murder) was added, as per The New Indian Express.

Counter-FIR against the injured victim

Within hours of the assault coming to light, a cross-complaint was filed by Sikandar Yadav, one of the men later named as an accused by Parveen. Yadav alleged that Hussain had committed theft at his house that night, claiming the loss of jewellery and utensils (ThePrint).

Based on this complaint, police initially booked the severely injured Hussain under sections of the BNS relating to theft and trespass, even as he lay hospitalised. Senior police officials later stated that both FIRs are being investigated simultaneously, a pattern that has drawn criticism from rights groups for effectively placing the victim and perpetrators on the same legal footing.

Arrests, official stance, and denial of lynching

Nawada Superintendent of Police Abhinav Dhiman confirmed that a Special Investigation Team was constituted, which arrested four suspects within 24 hours, followed by further arrests over the next few days.

As of the latest reports of Indian Express, eight to nine persons have been arrested or detained, including several named in the FIR, while police continue raids to trace the remaining accused,

Despite the nature of the allegations, some senior officials initially denied that the case amounted to a religion-based lynching, describing it instead as an assault arising out of “mistaken identity” linked to theft suspicions, according to The Print. This position stands in contrast to the victim’s recorded account and the brutality documented in medical examinations.

Family left devastated

Hussain, described by his family as the sole breadwinner, is survived by his wife and three children. His brother told The Print that the family has suffered an irreversible loss and now faces an uncertain future.

As the investigation continues, the case has become emblematic of mob violence enabled by rumours, identity checks, and delayed state intervention, raising urgent questions about accountability, police conduct, and the protection of vulnerable livelihoods in India.

Related:

Babri Masjid’ v/s Gita recital: In a cynical play of communal politics, pre-poll West Bengal sees active polarisation at both ends of the spectrum

NBDSA Raps Times Now Navbharat for communal, agenda-driven broadcast; orders removal of inflammatory segments

Silent Scars: How Muslim widows of hate crimes endure layered, unseen oppression

CJP Files complaint with NCM over escalating Hate Speeches during Hindu Sanatan Ekta Padyatra

Hindu Nationalism’s sectarian nationalism and its concept of ‘duties and rights’

The post Muslim clothes hawker dies after prolonged mob torture in Bihar’s Nawada appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“This fight is between ‘satya’ and ‘asatya’ [truth and untruth]. We will stand behind ‘satya’ and will remove [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi, [Home Minister] Amit Shah and the RSS government from the country. They have ‘satta’ [power] and they indulge in ‘vote chori’,” Mr. Gandhi said. Gandhi quoted from and lambasted Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), “The world respects not the truth but the powerful, display and manifestation of power alone” Bhagwat had been recently speaking at the Virat Hindu Maha Sammelan at the Andamans! 

Rahul Gandhi also repeated the sham voters and bogus voter’s lists issued exposed by him and the INC in the Haryana state elections in 2024.

Sabrangindia had, on November 5, 2025 reported on Rahul Gandhi’s exposure on how in the 2024 Haryana elections “One in eight voters fake” According to Gandhi, Haryana, with roughly two crore registered voters, had about 25.4 lakh bogus entries — meaning “one in every eight voters is fake.”

He said his team had classified the fake voters under five categories:

• 5.2 lakh duplicate voters,
• 93,174 invalid addresses,
• 19.2 lakh bulk voters (20 or more voters registered at the same address), and
• Several others linked to misuse of Form 6 (additions) and Form 7 (deletions).

“Despite clear technical capacity to detect duplicates, the ECI deliberately refused to run even a basic photo-identity matching query,” Gandhi alleged. “Why? Because they are helping the BJP.”

The ‘Brazilian Model’ case and recycled photos

Displaying a presentation with screenshots from the official voter database, Gandhi held up a photo of a woman he said is a Brazilian model, alleging that her image was used to create 22 separate voter IDs across 10 polling booths in Haryana. “What is a Brazilian woman doing on a voters’ list in Haryana?” he asked.

He further claimed that in some cases, the same photograph appeared 223 times across different constituencies. “This is just one example. There are thousands more. This is not voter error — this is organised fraud,” he asserted.

The Congress leader ridiculed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s explanation that voter IDs bearing “House No. 0” are reserved for homeless citizens. “We physically went to those addresses,” Gandhi said, showing a two-storey house listed as ‘House No. 0’. “This is not homelessness. This is hiding. The CEC is lying to the people of India.” In one instance, Gandhi said, 501 voters were registered under a single address, calling it “statistical proof of systematic rigging.”

“Industrialised vote theft”: Rahul Gandhi

In his major third time exposure on November 5, Rahul Gandhi had termed the manipulation “industrialised”, Gandhi said the same centralised pattern was visible in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, adding that the Congress had first detected the scam in Mahadevapura and Aland Assembly constituencies in Karnataka. “In Aland, fake login IDs and mobile numbers were used to delete voters remotely. In Mahadevapura, over one lakh names were found to be either deleted or duplicated. We saw the same pattern in Haryana — that’s when we realised this is national-scale rigging,” Gandhi said.

He added that the same strategy was now being deployed in Bihar (October 2025 Vidhan Sabha elections), where 47 lakh names were deleted during the recent voter list revision. Several affected voters from Bihar’s Jamui district joined Gandhi on stage, claiming their names were removed without notice.

“Thousands of BJP Voters in Two States”

Gandhi also claimed that thousands of BJP leaders and workers were registered in multiple states. “They are voting in both Uttar Pradesh and Haryana,” he said, citing examples of party office-bearers with dual entries.

To underline this, he played a video of BJP Kerala Vice President B. Gopalakrishnan, who had in August openly stated that his party would “bring voters from other states and settle them for a year to ensure victory.”

INC’s show of strength at Ramlila Maidan

The grand only party also showcased nearly six crore signatures it gathered as part of its campaign against vote chori and these would be submitted to the President. The portrayed a figure representing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, showing him in chains, while alleging electoral irregularities.

Addressing the ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ rally, Mr. Kharge said the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat or RSS founder M.S. Golwalkar and Manusmriti would destroy the country, and only the ideology of the Congress could save it. He accused the BJP-RSS of trying to “finish off the Constitution and enslave the poor in the name of Hindutva”.

“These [BJP] people are ‘gaddars’, you will have to remove these gaddars. If you want to protect yourself, remove these gaddars. For that purpose, Rahul Gandhi walked throughout the country. BJP people are ‘dramebaaz’, they only believe in their own propaganda,” the Congress chief said.

Lakhs of Congresspersons arrive at Ram Lila Maidan, massive turnout

A massive turnout of Congress workers from across the country marked the party’s mega rally against alleged “vote chori”, with chants of “vote chor, gaddi chhod” echoing across the venue. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, several senior party leaders, and the Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh — Siddaramaiah, Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu — were present at the rally.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Gandhi named Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, alleging that they were working in favour of the BJP and standing with untruth.

The Lok Sabha Opposition leader alleged that “vote chori” was not merely theft of votes but an attack on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Constitution. “Had they not been indulging in vote chori, you would have removed them from power in five minutes. Like truth is in your DNA, there is untruth and vote chori in their DNA,” he said to loud applause.

Warns of action

Informing the audience on an issue that he has raised several times these past months and year, Rahul Gandhi recalled how Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought a new law granting “immunity” to the Election Commission, Mr. Gandhi warned, “We are telling you [election commissioners] clearly that this law is to protect you and we will change this law retroactively and will take strict action against you.”  He also claimed that the Prime Minister had lost confidence after the alleged vote theft was exposed, adding that Mr. Shah’s “hand was trembling” in Parliament.

“Amit Shah is brave only as long as he holds power. The day power is gone, his bravery will also vanish on that very day,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Mr. Kharge asserted that only the Congress’s ideology could “save the country”. “The seeds being sown by the RSS-BJP are very dangerous,” he said, adding that the Congress’s fight was against the RSS-BJP and those indulging in vote theft.

Referring to Mr. Modi’s victory claims, Mr. Kharge remarked, “We lost at many places, but still our party and our ideology are alive. If Modi loses once, there will be no trace of him after that,” and urged people to strengthen the Congress’s struggle for the people.

The Congress chief also questioned the Prime Minister’s foreign visits during parliamentary sessions.

Congress MP Saptagiri Ulka said that the party will continue to fight against the SIR and “vote chori” from the House to the streets.

“We had forced the government to discuss it; this is a big issue… Our main problem is that through this SIR, an attempt is being made to remove the poor, backward, Dalit, and traditional voters of Congress and the INDIA alliance from the elections to gain an advantage; therefore, we are holding this rally against it,” Ulka said.

Related:

No vote can be deleted online by the public, ECI refutes Rahul Gandhi’s claim but refusal to share data raises doubts

“Vote Chori Factory”: Rahul Gandhi accuses ECI of protecting electoral fraud, demands action in 7 days

Rahul Gandhi alleges ‘Vote Chori’ in 2024 polls, accuses BJP-ECI nexus of systematic electoral fraud

‘Election Commission involved in vote theft’: Rahul Gandhi repeats charge, now drops ‘atom bomb’ ahead of Bihar poll, also says ‘won’t spare you’

The post Ensure free & fair elections, Congress warns Election Commissioners, threatens strict action over ‘vote theft’ at a massive show of strength at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The interesting part was that in the front of the processions were bullock carts in keeping with the tradition , unlike some other processions where they use mechanized vehicles. This makes our streets so lively, of course mostly we have bad traffic jams and things are bad. But these old traditions lend much colour to the otherwise drab lives of common people. In the West they have given up these traditions long ago, the streets are too sanitized, too orderly.

A Sandal Procession (Sandal Sharif) is a Sufi Islamic ritual where devotees carry fragrant sandalwood (Sandal/Chandan) paste in plates, often with incense, to anoint the tombs (dargahs) or walls of mosques belonging to Muslim saints during Urs (death anniversary) celebrations. It is a display of devotion, purity, and unity, sometimes integrated with local traditions, there is Hindu Muslim unity, the Mahim police station takes the lead in the organization.

Some people may scoff at the idea animals on the streets which they think should be reserved for their cars, forgetting that motor cars are big polluters and impose such heavy social costs.

With all the faults, traditionally Indians have a good relationship with domestic animals, on some days the bullocks are worshipped decorated, not burdened on the day of Pola in Maharashtra and there are similar days in other states.

Westerners with all their sophistication in certain matters had had a pretty unfriendly, even hostile relationship with animals like in bull fighting which involve so much violence and though horse racing appeals to so many people, it involves much cruelty to the animal which we never get to see.

As coincidence would have it I saw a fairly interesting film at Alliance Francaise earlier this week which showed a woman, the protagonist, who realizes the need to treat the bulls kindly in bull sports.

In the film Animal, the first local woman to enter the ring with the young men who tempt, chase and are chased by local bulls starts to see things from the bulls’ perspective as bulls go “rogue” and started goring and stamping the locals in the dark of night, long after the audience — mostly tourists — for some events has left.

The Camargue style of bullfighting is non-fatal, a lot less bloody and far and away a more humane and “even” contest and is thus referred to as “bull racing” by the locals, who enter the ring — basically unarmed and on foot — and try to snatch cash-prize tokens attached to the bull’s scalp.
But as experts point every year, approximately 180,000 bulls are killed in bullfights around the world, with many more killed or injured in bull fiesta events. Bullfighting is already banned by law in many countries including Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Although legal in Spain, some Spanish cities, have outlawed the practice of bull fighting.

(From Vidyadhar Date’s page on Facebook)

Mahim Durgah, a Sufi Saint and a Mumbai police ritual

A colonial practice, this ritual of Mumbai’s top police officers walking to durgahs with an offering every year has continued –despite the serious fissures between the police administration and Mumbai’s (then Bombay’s Muslim minority) during the post-Babri Masjid demolitions in December 1992 and January 1993. Sections of an otherwise acclaimed police force were accused, and found by the Justice BN Srikrishna Commission of being guilty of deep anti-minority biases. The practice of officers offering the ceremonial chadar has continued and this year. Each year, as Urs begins at Mahim Dargah, in December, a scene plays out on the streets of Mumbai with a police band at the front, uniformed officers behind and senior police officers carrying a green chadar as they walk towards the 600-year-old shrine of Hazrat Makhdoom Ali Mahimi.

After Independence, while most government departments quietly shed the ceremonial and religious practices they had inherited from the British era a few exceptions endured, particularly at dargahs such as Mahim, and Dongri’s Rehman Shah Ba.

What is the legacy of the Mahim Dargah?

The Indian Express reports that the Mahim Dargah of Hazrat Makhdoom Ali Mahimi is one of Mumbai’s oldest and most historically revered Islamic shrines, with a lineage going back over 600 years. Long before Mumbai grew into a metropolis, this coastal dargah functioned as a spiritual anchor for sailors, traders, scholars and communities along the western coast. The saint himself was of Arab descent; his ancestors are believed to have arrived in India around AD 860 (AH 252) after fleeing the persecution of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the much-feared governor of Basra. Born roughly five centuries later in India, Makhdoom Ali Mahimi received rigorous training in Islamic law and theology and was eventually appointed the faqih, or law officer, for the Muslim community of Mahim. He passed away in 1431, and soon after his death, the local community built a mosque and shrine in his honour. Over the centuries, that shrine evolved into one of Mumbai’s most significant pilgrimage centres.

Related:

Preamble to be read at Mahim Dargah in Mumbai

A Mahim Dargah revered by Mumbai Police

The post Mian Maqdoom Shah shrine, Mumbai’s Mahim Durgah & the December Urs appeared first on SabrangIndia.