The Morning Wrap: The Hard Truth Of Durga Immersion Row; India Slams Pak At The UN

Essential HuffPost

High drama commenced on Thursday as the Calcutta High Court quashed Mamata Banerjee's public order prohibiting Durga Puja immersions on 1 October. The move, which was intended to avoid possible law-and-order disruption during Muharram processions on the same day, highlights a basic existential question.

Last October, 8 activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and a guard were shot dead while trying to flee from the Bhopal Central Jail. Almost a year later, a one-man commission has filed a report to the Madhya Pradesh government, which allegedly has several loopholes.

Doctors in Gujarat affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are boycotting a condom brand all because it has adult entertainment artist Sunny Leone as its ambassador, encouraging people to use the product if they are feeling the love this Navratri, which, the Hindu right considers a sexless festival.

Main News

Reacting to Pakistan accusing India of carrying out war crimes in Kashmir, India told the United Nations on Thursday that Pakistan itself has become "terroristan". "Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror. The quest for a land of pure ("Pak" is Urdu for pure) has actually produced the land of pure terror."

Bengal government will decide on Friday whether to approach the Supreme Courtagainst a decision by the Calcutta High Court that put on hold a controversial order restricting the immersion of idols on Durga Puja on account of Muharram.

Rohingya Muslims, ousted from their home in the Rakhine district of Myanmar after months of sectarian trouble, believe the Hindu community worked with the government hand in gloves to drive them out. A report in The Indian Express outlines their plight.

Off The Front Page

The Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha, a Hindutva outfit, has condemned the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh and denied any involvement in it.

With its founders Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy and promoter firm RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd facing a CBI probe for allegedly concealing a share transaction, NDTV will be taken over by Ajay Singh, co-founder and owner of SpiceJet, who was part of the BJP's 2014 poll campaign and has bought majority holdings in the company.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un blasted US President Donald Trump as "mentally deranged" on Friday and vowed to make him pay dearly for threatening to destroy his country.

Opinion

In The Indian Express Jyoti Punwani argues there is no clamour for justice in the Mumbai riots of 1992 as there is no political mileage to be gained from it.

An editorial in the Hindustan Times warns the government at the Centre against using language chauvinism to score political brownie points among its vote banks.