Hindu Married to Non-Hindu Can't Get Divorce Under Act: HC

The Bombay High Court has held that a Hindu married to a non-Hindu in accordance with Hindu rituals cannot seek divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act.   
Accordingly, a bench headed by Justice V K Tahilramani upheld a family court order which rejected a petition filed by Niranjani Roshan Rao, a Hindu, seeking divorce from husband Roshan Pinto on the ground that he was a Christian at the time of marriage and was professing the same religion till today.           
As the family court rejected her petition, she moved the High Court, which, on December 24, rejected her appeal and upheld the lower court order.         
"We are of the view that an order passed by the learned judge of the Family Court is perfectly legal and calls for no interference in exercise of appellate jurisdiction," said the bench while dismissing the appeal.         
The appellant had filed the petition in family court seeking a decree of nullity of marriage and alternatively claimed divorce on the grounds of cruelty. She said, on January 13, 1999, she was married to respondent as per Hindu rituals. At the time of marriage, she was a Hindu while the respondent was a Christian.     
After their marriage, they continued to profess their respective religions. Even at the time of filing of the petition, they continue to practice and follow their respective religions.     
The appellant-wife argued that their marriage was null and void as it was in contravention of essential condition of valid marriage provided under section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, i.e both the partners should be Hindus at the time of marriage.        
The family court rejected the petition in exercise of powers under Order 7 Rule 11 of C.P.C, as the petition did not disclose any triable cause of action.   
In other words, the family court said the petitioner had no right to file such a petition under the Hindu Marriage Act and as such cannot seek any relief. Both were not Hindus at the time of marriage and hence do not fulfill the conditions laid down under the Act.
The high court observed that the appellant herself has stated that the respondent was not a Hindu at the time of marriage or thereafter.      
"If this condition is not fulfilled and there was no contravention of provisions under Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, the family court was right in saying that she had no right to file such a petition", the bench said.
Moreover, provisions of Hindu Marriage Act can be applied in cases when both the spouses were Hindus and their marriage is performed as per Hindu rites and rituals, the Judges said.
It is also an essential condition under the Act that at the time of filing a petition for divorce, both the spouses were Hindus by religion, ruled the bench.

 

Courtesy:newindianexpress dot com

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Indian court rejects prosecution of Hindu nationalist leader and PM candidate in 2002 riots

AHMADABAD, India - An Indian court on Thursday rejected a petition seeking the prosecution of a Hindu nationalist party's prime ministerial candidate in the killing of a former lawmaker and other Muslims during riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.
Magistrate B.J. Ganatara's ruling comes as a boost to Narendra Modi, the state's top elected official and the Bharatiya Janata party's prime ministerial candidate in national elections to be held before May.
Former Congress party lawmaker Ehsan Jafri was allegedly killed by Hindu rioters in a neighbourhood where dozens of Muslim families lived in Ahmadabad, Gujarat's largest city. Dozens of other Muslims also died in the neighbourhood attack.
In her petition to the court, Jafri's widow, Zakia Jafri, accused Modi of not doing enough to prevent the killings. Modi denies the charge.
On Thursday, Zakia Jafri expressed her disappointment with the court ruling. "I won't give up fight. I will appeal the verdict in a higher court," she told reporters.
Modi was the state chief minister when Hindu mobs rampaged through Muslim neighbourhoods, towns and villages in Gujarat in February-April 2002 that left about 1,000 people dead. Most of the dead were Muslims.
The riots occurred after a fire killed 60 passengers on a train packed with Hindu pilgrims. Hindu extremists blamed the deaths on Muslims, but the cause of the blaze remains unclear.
The religious violence was among India's worst since its independence from Britain in 1947.
 

Courtesy:canada dot com

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Respect Jesus teaching ; Christian bodies against Church conspiracy to include them in SC Category

Respect Jesus’ teachings and do not include us in SC category

New Delhi, December 24th 2013

The Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM) and United Christian Democratic Forum (UCDF) have named Church Authorities of conspiring to include them in the Scheduled Caste list, which they said is not acceptable to Dalit Christians.

In an open letter to His Holiness Pope Francis and Church Authorities, the PCLM President R. L. Francis, Advocate George Tomas, Rev. Ashwini Kumar and P. B. Lomeo said that Dalits converted to Christianity prefer to preserve their dignity, and are willing to forgo Scheduled Caste tag.

Demanding compensation for the 30 million Dalit Christians, Mr. Francis said Dalits have suffered heavy economic losses by foregoing reservation and converting to Christianity to get respect and dignity in the Christian society.

At the all India level, the Church flaunts that it has 22 percent education institution and funding and 30 percent health monopoly. Thus, it has resources almost at par with the Government of India. If the Church has such an enormous power why are the Dalit Christian not even getting the crumbs?

Today, the Catholic Church Governance has six Cardinals, 30 Arch Bishops, 170 Bishops, 822 Major Superior and 25000 priests and over a lakh nuns. The surprising element is that in this huge administrative structure the number Dalit Christians holding of any importance cannot be counted on the fingers too.

In a press release, Mr. Francis said the efforts of the Indian Church authorities to put Dalit Christians yet again in the scheduled Caste list would promote casteism in Christianity. It’s a mockery of Jesus Christ’s birth as “Saviour” in Bethlehem.


R. L. Francis
President, PCLM
Courtesy:haindavakeralam

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Dancers light up school to learn about Diwali festival

Annapurna Dance at Field Lane School, Rastrick. Hannah Sharp 10, Chevanah Matheson 11 and Alicia Dwyer nine.

Music and dance lit up Field Lane Primary School in
Rastrick as pupils learnt about the Diwali.
Annapurna Dance group visited the Rastrick school to teach children traditional dances and about the festival itself.
The organisation has been working with young people across the region for some time.
Shantha Rao, from Annapurna, said the chance to find new audiences through the scheme was a great opportunity.
“Our main aim is to bring communities together through the children, their parents and the staff,” she said. “We have a beautiful culture to share and we want to share it with everybody as it’s important to celebrate the quality of opportunity and to raise the profile of Asian culture by getting involved in these cross-curricular activities.”
Headteacher at Field, Vanessa Dear, said the day was all about working with people from different communities.
“We had a wonderful session with Shantha and her dancers who created a really exciting and interesting day for our children and staff
“Every pupil in the school was involved and enthused by what they experienced. We’re now looking at more ways we can work with Annapurna to boost the work of our school community as well as using Artsmark to assess the quality of our efforts to bring arts and cultural experiences to our children.”
Courtesy: brighouseecho dot co dot uk

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'Hindu Garjana' Has Cops on Their Toes in Tirupati

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  Pontiffs of various Hindu mutts during the ‘Hindu Garjana’ in Tirupati on Friday. The meeting was organised as a protest against the construction of the Heera International Islamic University at Tondavada near Tirupati | EXPRESS PHOTO
  

The ‘Hindu Garjana’ organised in the temple town put the police on tenterhooks for some time. Heavy police bandobust was seen at the TUDA grounds where the meeting was held and also at the Islamic University at Tondavada against which the Hindu outfits held the protest.
The Tirumala Tirupati Pavitrata Samrakshana Vedika (TTPSV), which proposed the meeting, was denied permission by the authorities concerned. With this, Vedika leaders threatened to besiege the University, if they were denied permission to hold the meeting at TUDA grounds.
However, as tension started to build up, the authorities gave permission at the last minute but did not take any chances and put tight security at the university.
All the lanes leading to the Islamic University at Tondavada, more than 10 kilometres from Tirupati, were barricaded and policemen deployed there. They did not allow anyone to go near the premises.
Policemen kept guard even in bushes and small bylanes that lead to the university premises to prevent anyone reaching there.
Armed police and special parties were also deployed aniticpating trouble.
At TUDA grounds too, police and paramilitary forces were deployed around the premises to prevent any attempt to take out a rally or the activists to proceed towards the university.
Police heaved a sigh of relief after the meeting passed off peacefully and the activists left the place.

Courtesy:newindianexpress dot com

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