 The Supreme Court directed the National Commission for Minorities on 11th February 2019 to examine whether Hindus can be given minority status in some states of India. This direction was based on a petition that pointed to Hindus being minorities in several states where other religious denominations were in greater numbers. The apex court bench of CJI Shri Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Shri Sanjiv Khanna said that it was for the NCM to first take a call on the issue and asked the commission to take a view on a representation filed by BJP leader and lawyer Shri Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in 3 months. It was brought out that according to 2011 Census, Hindus are minority in Seven States and One UT: Lakshadweep (2.5%), Mizoram (2.75%), Nagaland (8.75%), Meghalaya (11.53%), Jammu & Kashmir (28.44%), Arunachal Pradesh (29%), Manipur (31.39%) and Punjab (38.40%). But their minority rights are being siphoned off illegally and arbitrarily to the majority population belonging to other communities as neither central nor state governments have notified Hindus as a minority under National Commission for Minority Act. The petitioner has requested that Hindus be granted the minority status to pave the way for them to avail welfare schemes meant for minorities. Minority status should be decided at the state level and not at the national level. As per a 1993 notification by the India Government, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis were granted the minority status in India and Jains were added in the list in 2014. |
  M. Manohar |
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Holi is a community celebration. As the colours of Holi and the infinite colours of nature come together to form a breathtaking kaleidoscope; different human beings across meaningless distinctions created by us come together to form the kaleidoscope of our nation in specific and the earth in general. Holi essentially celebrates our dependence on mother nature and her bounty. As the earth dons a riot of colours, the mango trees seem to drown under the weight of their tender blossoms, the rabi crop is ready to be harvested, the sounds of the chirping of birds fills the salubrious air, the Vasanta Ritu(spring – the king of festivals as per Indian tradition) has graced the land in full glory. The Holi celebration is ancient and finds mention in the Atharva Parisista and some versions of the Kama Sutra (Raghavan, 1979). From Kama to Krishna, Holi is also associated variously with love and lovers and bhaktas and bhagwana. The word Holaka is mentioned in Ayurveda too. Since Holi is also an agrarian celebration; in many parts of the country, sugarcane and the tender sprigs of new barley are offered to the fire. The roasted barley is distributed as prasad on the next day (it is referred to as Hola). Guru Gobind Singhji built on the festival, adding a martial colour to it when he instituted Hola Mahalla at Anandpur Sahib. Hola Mahalla involves mock fights that display martial prowess and bravery, poetry contests, singing kirtans and remembering the Ek Omkar. Holi is Holi because of the local food (thandai, ghujiyas, the list goes on) and because of our poets and artists who could not stop extolling the festival and the season. Holi is inextricably linked to nature and there is absolutely nothing that suggests to damage the nature or environment why celebrating the festival. |
 Raginee |
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Historically, caste has been a major component in India’s debates on conversion and religious freedom. There are constitutional provisions that discourage conversions to non-Indic religions such as reservation under Scheduled Caste Quota which was introduced only for Hindus, and later extended to Sikhs (in 1956) and Buddhists (in 1990). Christianity and Islam may preach egalitarianism, but the fact is that in practice, they observe caste system to some extent in India. Whenever a religious conversion is made, a question comes which caste to be offered. Some organizations have given a choice of selecting the caste if converting to Hinduism, but egalitarian religions do not have any official caste system and therefore this question never arises. In all cases government as well as society does not recognize the caste status of the converts until records are there to support the original caste at the time of birth. Therefore, it has become a norm that caste is attached to birth and can not be altered. Despite this belief, it has been seen that many converts to Islam and Christianity are worried when they realize that they no more can claim the benefits of being into Scheduled Caste before conversion. |
 Pooja Sharma |
The Bible clearly speaks of: God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. But emphasizes that there is only ONE God. Trinity comprises of "Tri" means three and "Unity" means united as one. It is a way of acknowledging what the Bible reveals to us about God, that God is yet three "Persons" who have the same essence of deity. God the Son (Jesus) is fully, completely God. God the Father is fully, completely God. And God the Holy Spirit is fully, completely God. Yet there is only one God. In our world, with our limited human experience, it's tough to understand the Trinity. But from the beginning we see God this way in Scripture. In genesis 1:26, God has said: "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." You can notice the plural noun used for the God (the Trinity). |
Raginee |
All religions have given due importance to coherent existence of societal framework and providing meaning to life. Common teachings of the religions are as follow:
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M. Manohar |
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Some of us may encounter an incidence convincing to believe in the life after death. However, such incidences do not leave any trail of evidence for others. Therefore, most believers in materialstic proof may find it easy to deny any such theory. |
 Arvind Sharma |