Jaipur: Khadims (priests) at the dargah (shrine) of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer have decided not to assist Pakistani pilgrims in offering prayers at the shrine. Several groups of khadims have decided to join the increasing protests against the killing of Sarabjit.
About 640 pilgrims from Pakistan will be visiting Rajasthan's Ajmer town later this week. The pilgrims are expected to arrive in Ajmer May 12, 2013 to participate in the 801st Urs of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti. Ahead of the Pakistanis' visit, various organisations -- including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena and the BJP -- have been staging demonstrations in Ajmer, some 150 km from Jaipur. The Pakistani delegation is likely to stay here for a week.
"We have decided not to assist any of the Pakistani pilgrims in offering prayers at the shrine. Prayers are not possible without khadims. We demand that the Indian government does not provide visas to any of the pilgrims," said a khadim. He added that the visit could be a conspiracy by the Pakistani government to increase communal disharmony in India.
Another khadim, Natik Chisty, said the anger is brewing over Sarabjit's death, so visa should not be granted to Pak pilgrims. The Shiv Sena staged a protest May 2, 2013 at the Ajmer district headquarters, demanding withdrawal of visas to the Pakistani group coming to Ajmer. The Yuva Jat Mahasabha has also threatened to show black flags to Pakistani citizens in Ajmer....
04:32 AM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: Filmmaker-composer Vishal Bhardwaj, who refused to screen his forthcoming co-production 'Ek Thi Daayan' before a women's commission, says only the censor board has the authority to assess a film. Directed by Kannan Iyer, 'Ek Thi Daayan' is a supernatural thriller that revolves around a witch. The National Commission for Women (NCW) summoned both the producers - Ekta Kapoor and Bhardwaj - after Ipsita Roy Chakraverti, a Wiccan priestess,...
10:55 AM, Apr 12, 2013
New Delhi: A 25-year-old man threw acid at a priest and another man in New Delhi when he was prevented from entering a temple, police said on Thursday. Priest Ravishankar and his friend Moolchand were sitting outside the temple when Ramesh threw acid at them in Nand Nagari in east Delhi, said a police officer. The victims were being treated for burns at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, police said....
01:07 AM, Apr 12, 2013
Bidar (Karna): Upset over the mysterious death of their seer, three priests allegedly committed suicide by self-immolation inside a mutt complex in northern Karnataka on Monday, police said. The priests of Chouli Mutt - Jagannath Swami (21), Sharanayya Swami (18) and V Reddy Swami (50) - allegedly set fire to a place where firewood was stored in the mutt complex and jumped into the fire, they said. Fire brigade and...
11:13 AM, Apr 08, 2013
Vatican City: Pope Francis wants the Catholic Church to "act decisively" to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure the perpetrators are punished, the Vatican said on Friday. Francis, in a meeting with the Holy See's doctrinal chief, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, had declared that combating sexual abuse was important "for the Church and its credibility", a statement said. Francis inherited a Church mired in problems and a...
11:41 AM, Apr 06, 2013
Vatican City: Pope Francis wants the Catholic Church to "act decisively" to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure the perpetrators are punished, the Vatican said on Friday. Francis, in a meeting with the Holy See's doctrinal chief, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, had declared that combating sexual abuse was important "for the Church and its credibility", a statement said. Francis inherited a Church mired in problems and a...
06:35 AM, Apr 06, 2013
A 33-year-old married woman was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a temple priest and his accomplice at a village here and then sold off for Rs 40,000 to three brothers, who also gangraped her, police said on Tuesday. The victim, a resident of Kawar village in Chhatarpur district, had been missing since January 17 and the offence came to light on Monday after her brother traced her, along with her...
05:14 PM, Apr 02, 2013
A 63-year-old priest of a church in Coimbatore was arrested on Saturday on charges of attempting to outrage the modesty of a woman during prayers. John Mark, the priest of CSI Church, was arrested on a complaint from the 48-year-old woman, police said. ...
11:00 PM, Mar 16, 2013
One of the most famous followers of the Church of Scientology, actor Tom Cruise dreamt of being a Catholic priest when he was younger though his plans were cut-short over an alcohol stealing incident. ...
12:41 PM, Mar 05, 2013
A local court has ordered registration of a case against the Archbishop of Bhopal and two others for allegedly conspiring to make a priest and former spokesperson of the local church mentally unsound by administering drugs. Judicial Magistrate First Class Alok Mishra ordered the filing of a case against Archbishop Father Leo Cornelio and the other two under IPC Sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison etc with intent...
03:35 PM, Feb 16, 2013
A suspended Pittsburgh-area priest will serve more than eight years in prison for collecting thousands of images of child pornography on his computer, books and compact discs. The sentence the Rev Bartley Sorensen received on Wednesday was more than the five-year mandatory minimum he sought but less than the 10-year maximum he faced. ...
09:20 AM, Jan 03, 2013
Jaipur: A wedding in Rajasthan's Barmer town, over 550 km from Jaipur, witnessed high drama Friday when the maulavi (priest) refused to perform the marriage rituals after he saw women from the groom's side dancing in public. The maulavi objected to the dancing as he claimed that women were not allowed to dance in marriage processions in the area. The maulavi left without performing the wedding rituals. Later in the...
09:01 AM, Nov 10, 2012
Hyderabad: Arjitha Sevas to deities in about 18,000 temples across the state came to a halt with temple priests and employees going on an indefinite strike. But all major temples with revenue of more than Rs 1 crore functioned normally and ensured that devotees were not put to inconvenience. Arjitha Sevas are rituals performed at temples on payment of a fee by devotees. Though devotees had a hard time having...
01:23 PM, Aug 09, 2012
Warangal: Employees and priests working in various temples across the state will go on strike from Wednesday to press for their demands. As many as 36,000 employees working in 18,000 temples will take part in the strike, said Telangana Archaka Samakhya district president and Thousand Pillar temple chief priest Gungu Upendra Sharma, Archaka Samkhya state vice-president Parasharam Narasimha Charyulu and general secretaryT Ratnakar and Bhadrakali temple chief priest B Seshagiri...
02:43 PM, Aug 08, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: It was a day of disappointment for several devotees who reached the Shangumugham beach on Wednesday to offer the Karkidaka vavu bali ritual, thanks to the scores of fake acharyas who lined up on the shores to guide the devotees to perform rituals dedicated to the spirits of their ancestors. While many of the bogus men did not know the basic rituals, several others chanted unheard of and unknown...
12:31 PM, Jul 19, 2012
London: A British priest has apologised for some unholy language on his Facebook page, his bishop says. Canon Paul Shackerley, Vicar of the Minster Church of St George in Doncaster in northern England, raised eyebrows by using the f--- word and remarking that "alas, I have religion tomorrow" in some Saturday evening postings. Peter Burrows, the bishop of Doncaster, met with Shackerley on Friday and later said the priest regretted...
11:13 AM, May 28, 2012
Kollam (Kerala): After the visit of three Italian ministers to try and get two Italian marines released from prison, Kerala witnessed a round of Church diplomacy when two Italian priests arrived at the home of one of the fishermen shot dead by the marines. Confirming to IANS that on Wednesday two Italian priests arrived here and visited the home of Gelastine, one of the two fishermen killed by the Italian...
05:45 PM, Apr 05, 2012
Mumbai: Two 26-year-old men who were promised jobs in Dubai by a priest and later sexually abused by him, have conducted a sting operation to bare the man of God in rather unbecoming circumstances. MiD DAY has a copy of the CD in which the priest - identified as Kanak Kubdiya, resident of Dadar - is allegedly seen sodomising one of the victims at the quarters of a temple in...
10:14 PM, Mar 20, 2012
Mumbai: Two 26-year-old men, who were promised jobs in Dubai by a priest and later sexually abused by him, have conducted a sting operation to bare the man of God in rather unbecoming circumstances. MiD DAY has a copy of the CD in which the priest -- identified as Kanak Kubdiya, resident of Dadar -- is allegedly seen sodomising one of the victims at the quarters of a temple in...
01:13 PM, Mar 20, 2012
Chennai: Catholic priest Reverend Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul was arrested in Erode in Tamil Nadu on charges of molesting a child in the US when he was there during 2004, police said on Saturday. Acting on an alert by Interpol, Tamil Nadu police arrested Rev Jeyapaul, 57, on Friday evening and presented him in a court in Erode which ordered that he be handed over to Interpol officials in New Delhi....
10:39 PM, Mar 18, 2012
