Even before the dust of Sambhal settled down, the civil court in Ajmer allowed a petition claiming that a Lord Shiva temple existed at the site of the 13th century dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. Unfortunately, it was the Supreme Court verdict in 2023 to permit the survey of Gyanvapi Masjid which stirred the hornet’s nest.
Despite the advice of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that “there is no need to look for a shivling in every mosque,” attempts are being made by a few Hindutva elements to vitiate the communal harmony.
It’s high time the apex court upheld the Places of Worship Act 1991 in letter and spirit and restrained the lower courts from going overboard.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin
Kadapa (A.P)
A Manifestation of Divine Power
Cyclone Fengal has resulted in extremely heavy rainfall in coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. This is the manifestation of Divine Power, which more often than not finds expression in myriad ways like natural calamities. But the Godless world beats about the bush in the futile exercise of ascertaining what and why of floods, cyclones, earthquakes, etc. They fail rather miserably in realising the power and might of God, Who governs the entire universe.
Another aspect of this cyclone is that the centre-state political rift continues even at the time of such calamities. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to facilitate the release of ₹2,000 crore interim relief from the NDRF at once for the “unprecedented” devastation in the state. Stalin listed the districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Ranipet, Vellore and Tirupathur as having experienced extremely heavy rainfall and damages.
In Kerala, red alerts were issued for five northern districts – Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, and Malappuram on December 2. Palakkad, Thrissur, Idukki, Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts are under an orange alert, while Kottayam, and Pathanamthitta were on a yellow alert.
In Karnataka, IMD said that Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka are also expected to receive rainfall for the next two days owing to Cyclone Fengal. Bengaluru had been receiving rain since Sunday (December 1) evening, and according to IMD officials, Coastal Karnataka and parts of South Interior Karnataka were likely to experience light to moderate rainfall on December 3.
Khalid Akhtar
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Syrian Rebels Seize Aleppo
Syrian opposition forces have captured dozens of towns and villages in north-western Syria after launching a revived offensive in Aleppo province on November 27. This is in the first largescale hostilities to take place in four years against Assad regime forces.
In an operation named ‘Deterring Aggression’, Syrian rebel forces took control of dozens of key towns and villages, and later swept into the major city of Aleppo. They are fighting reportedly to expand areas of Syria where displaced people could return to “in dignity and security”.
The rebel fighters are largely from the Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group and their Fath Al-Mubeen operations room which covers a number of other rebel groups.
Syrian rebel fighters began preparations to seize Aleppo a year ago, but the operation was delayed by war in Gaza and ultimately launched last week when a ceasefire took hold in Lebanon, the head of Syria’s main opposition abroad reportedly said.
The insurgents were able to seize the city and parts of neighbouring Idlib province so quickly in part because Hezbollah and other fighters were distracted by their conflict with Israel, Hadi Al-Bahra said was reported as saying on December 2.
Both the Syrian army and the rebels should try their respective levels best to avoid casualty of civilians.
Hadi Al-Hassan
Aleppo, Syria