Dadri Beef Row

A group of men accused of beating a Muslim man to death in 2015 over beef rumours in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri had front row seats at a rally on Sunday of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was campaigning for the national election starting April 11.

The latest forensic report in the Dadri lynching case -- which says the meat found in the dustbin outside Mohammad Akhlaq's home is beef -- has triggered a fresh political row in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said food and religion are matters of individual choice and no one can dictate what one should eat, adding that the "biggest" duty of governments is to protect the religious freedom and rights of minorities.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's comments on writers, historians, scientists and filmmakers returning awards to protest the climate of intolerance in the country show that the Narendra Modi government is rattled by the public outcry, noted writer Nayantara Sahgal said today.

Novelist Shashi Deshpande today offered her resignation from the Sahitya Akademi General Council denouncing "growing intolerance" in the country, joining a protest by writers and poets who have resigned and turned down honours in recent weeks.

Days after the Dadri killing, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said those behind the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots were involved in this case too. The conspiracy, he said, had been hatched by "three persons of a specific party" and the state will take stern action against the accused, "even if we have to sacrifice the government".

At the height of a war of words over beef, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took a sharp dig at Lalu Prasad Yadav while campaigning in Bihar and was promptly attacked by Nitish Kumar for his "deafening silence" on the mob killing in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.

A group formed by controversial BJP lawmaker Yogi Adityanath - known for his interest in religious conversions dubbed "ghar wapasi" -- today offered all possible help "including guns" to the Hindus of Dadri's Bisada village.

Ten days after the Dadri incident -- in which a 52-year-old man was lynched following rumours that his family had stored and consumed beef the Union Home Secretary today briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Office about the issue, sources told NDTV.

Dadri's Bisada village has turned into a fortress, "lath bajao" (beat them up) being its prevailing chant. Directed against the media, the chant comes from large groups of Rajput women, who have been standing at the village gates since last Monday, when a 52-year-old man was lynched following rumours that he stored and consumed beef.

In the raging politics over beef after a mob killing in Uttar Pradesh last week, Bihar politician Lalu Prasad Yadav today resurrected the allegation that yoga teacher Ramdev used animal bones in his herbal remedies.

A young man has allegedly committed suicide in Dadri's Bisara village, where a mob lynched a man last week following rumours that he stored and consumed beef.

A group of men accused of beating a Muslim man to death in 2015 over beef rumours in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri had front row seats at a rally on Sunday of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was campaigning for the national election starting April 11.

The latest forensic report in the Dadri lynching case -- which says the meat found in the dustbin outside Mohammad Akhlaq's home is beef -- has triggered a fresh political row in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said food and religion are matters of individual choice and no one can dictate what one should eat, adding that the "biggest" duty of governments is to protect the religious freedom and rights of minorities.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's comments on writers, historians, scientists and filmmakers returning awards to protest the climate of intolerance in the country show that the Narendra Modi government is rattled by the public outcry, noted writer Nayantara Sahgal said today.

Novelist Shashi Deshpande today offered her resignation from the Sahitya Akademi General Council denouncing "growing intolerance" in the country, joining a protest by writers and poets who have resigned and turned down honours in recent weeks.

Days after the Dadri killing, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said those behind the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots were involved in this case too. The conspiracy, he said, had been hatched by "three persons of a specific party" and the state will take stern action against the accused, "even if we have to sacrifice the government".

At the height of a war of words over beef, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took a sharp dig at Lalu Prasad Yadav while campaigning in Bihar and was promptly attacked by Nitish Kumar for his "deafening silence" on the mob killing in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.

A group formed by controversial BJP lawmaker Yogi Adityanath - known for his interest in religious conversions dubbed "ghar wapasi" -- today offered all possible help "including guns" to the Hindus of Dadri's Bisada village.

Ten days after the Dadri incident -- in which a 52-year-old man was lynched following rumours that his family had stored and consumed beef the Union Home Secretary today briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Office about the issue, sources told NDTV.

Dadri's Bisada village has turned into a fortress, "lath bajao" (beat them up) being its prevailing chant. Directed against the media, the chant comes from large groups of Rajput women, who have been standing at the village gates since last Monday, when a 52-year-old man was lynched following rumours that he stored and consumed beef.

In the raging politics over beef after a mob killing in Uttar Pradesh last week, Bihar politician Lalu Prasad Yadav today resurrected the allegation that yoga teacher Ramdev used animal bones in his herbal remedies.

A young man has allegedly committed suicide in Dadri's Bisara village, where a mob lynched a man last week following rumours that he stored and consumed beef.