The portals of the Badrinath temple in the Garhwal Himalayan region of Uttarakhand reopened for devotees on Thursday morning after a six-month winter break.

The gates of the temple located in Chamoli district were opened at 6.15 am following Vedic rituals and prayers.

Thousands of pilgrims from across the country and abroad were present at the temple complex.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Mahendra Bhatt attended the opening ceremony.

The temple, situated between the Nar and Narayan mountains, was decorated with tons of flowers for the occasion.

The portals of the other three Himalayan shrines — Gangotri, Yamunotri, and Kedarnath — have already opened for pilgrims. (Agencies)

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday paid tribute to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and said the country remains resolute in its determination to defeat terrorism everywhere in all its forms.

“The tragic loss of innocent lives in that heinous act remains etched in our collective memory. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families. The entire nation stands with them. Such acts of terror cannot deter our unwavering commitment to peace and unity,” she said in a post on X.

As many as 25 tourists and a local ponywallah were killed in cold blood by three terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit on April 22 last year.

All three terrorists were later eliminated in the July 28 encounter code-named Operation Mahadev on the outskirts of Srinagar. They were hiding in the Dachigam-Harwan forest belt since the attack.

“We remain resolute in our determination to defeat terrorism everywhere in all its forms,” Murmu said.

In response to the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian armed forces on May 7 last year carried out precision strikes at terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu-Kashmir (PoJK) under Operation Sindoor.

The operation targeted nine sites, including the headquarters and training centres of LeT and another terrorist group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, from where terror attacks against India were planned and directed. (Agencies)

A BJP delegation comprising three Union ministers, including Nirmala Sitharaman, approached the Election Commission on Wednesday, demanding “strictest action” against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for his “terrorist” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sitharaman said, “Today, we appeared before the full commission to bring to its notice that no less a person than the president of the Congress and the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha has spoken in such condemnable words.

Kharge chose to call the prime minister a “terrorist” while addressing a press conference in Tamil Nadu, an election-bound state, the finance minister said, terming the Congress chief’s remark “outrageous”.

“It’s an insult to the mandate given by the people of India (to Prime Minister Modi). More importantly, it is an insult to the entire system where people choose their leader through elections, and once chosen, he is the leader for the entire country,” Sitharaman said.

She also alleged that the Congress is “completely frustrated” and making such remarks against the prime minister amid assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal because of its “deep hatred” towards Modi.

“We have demanded that the Election Commission take the matter in all seriousness. We requested the poll panel to act firmly and sternly,” she said.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who was also part of the delegation, termed the remark a “disgusting act” by Kharge.

“We have demanded the strictest action. We have also demanded that Kharge and the Congress be directed to apologise to the country,” Rijiju told reporters. He said the Commission gave a patient hearing to the BJP delegation and assured that it will take “appropriate action” in the matter.

“The Election Commission should take such action in the matter that nobody ever dares to call the country’s prime minister a terrorist. Everyone should learn a lesson. We hope the Election Commission will definitely take action,” the senior BJP leader said.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and BJP national general secretary Arun Singh were also part of the delegation.

The development followed after Kharge accused Prime Minister Modi of terrorising political parties and people by misusing government machinery and central agencies to stifle the opposition.

Addressing a press conference in Chennai, the Congress chief initially referred to the prime minister as a “terrorist” while criticising the AIADMK’s alliance with the BJP.

However, when pressed by reporters to clarify the context of the remark, the Congress chief said he meant the prime minister was “terrorising” the democratic fabric of the country.

“He is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist (in the literal sense). He is misusing his power and government machinery and abusing and maligning opposition parties,” Kharge said.

On Tuesday, the BJP had urged the Election Commission to take immediate cognisance of Kharge’s remark and direct the Congress president to submit a public apology.

In a memorandum to the poll panel, it also demanded that “suitable penal and regulatory proceedings” be initiated against Kharge for his remark under various sections of the BNS, and “appropriate campaign restrictions” be imposed on him.

The BJP also said that its delegations comprising Sitharaman, Rijiju and Meghwal will meet the EC on Wednesday to raise the issue. (Agencies)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday paid tributes to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, recalling the innocent lives lost and reaffirming India’s unwavering commitment to its zero-tolerance approach against terrorism.

In a post on X, HM Amit Shah said, “On this day, we solemnly remember the innocent lives we lost in the horrific Pahalgam terror attack last year. The grief and pain of losing our people still remain in the heart of every Indian. Terrorism is the greatest enemy of humanity, against which we must stand united to fight and defeat.”

He further stated, “India will continue its zero-tolerance policy against terrorism and those who harbour it.” (KNC)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the chief priest of the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple if the Constitution will not come to the rescue of a believer who is not allowed to touch the deity.

The remark by the top court came after the chief priest said that when a devotee goes to a temple for worship, it can’t be in antagonism to the characteristics of a deity.

The nine-judge Constitution bench is hearing petitions related to discrimination against women at religious places, including the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, and on the ambit and scope of the religious freedom practised by multiple faiths.

The bench comprises Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices B V Nagarathna, M M Sundresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, Augustine George Masih, Prasanna B Varale, R Mahadevan, and Joymalya Bagchi.

Appearing for the ‘thantri’, senior advocate V Giri submitted that the nature of ceremonies and rituals followed in any temple forms the integral part of the religion and therefore is a religious practice.

He said continuance of such practice, which is an essential religious practice, would be a part of the right to worship that is for every member who believes in the religion or religious denomination.

“When a devotee goes to a temple for worship, it can’t be in antagonism to the characteristics of a deity because its for the purpose of worshipping the deity. The devotee surrenders to the divine spirit contained in the deity. He/she has to accept the essential characteristics of the deity,” Giri said.

Posing a question, Justice Amanullah asked, “When I go to a temple, my fundamental belief is that he is the Lord, he is my creator, he has created me, right? “I go there with one hundred percent belief. I am totally devoted, absolutely nothing impure in my heart. And there, I am told that because of a birth, a lineage, a certain situation, permanently you are not allowed to touch the deity. Now, will the Constitution not come to the rescue? Justice Amanullah remarked, adding that there cannot be a difference between the creator and creation.

Giri replied that if there is a complete ban on anybody becoming a priest, then that will be taken care of either by a Article 25(2)(b) legislation or it will be taken care of by the State itself.

“If priest means the person who is instructed in the ‘Shastras’ as to how to conduct worship and how to worship the deity, if there is a complete ban on any person becoming a priest and then doing the ‘seva’, as we call it, only by reason of birth, that will be taken care of either by a Article 25(2)(b) legislation or it will be taken care of by the State itself,” he said.

The senior lawyer said “Naishtika Brahmachari” (perennial celibate) can be considered as an essential characteristic to the deity and the ceremonies and rituals performed in Sabarimala are in synchronisation with the concept. “I have a right to practice my religion under Article 25 of the Constitution…If the characteristics of the deity are as such that its not possible for me to go there, if I am a woman, it has to be in sync with the characteristics of the religion. The characteristic of the deity in sofar as Sabarimala is concerned contemplates that the deity is a permanent celibate,” Giri said.

He contended there is a total lack of material on the part of the writ petitioners to show that the concept of “Naishtika Brahmachari” pleaded by the petitioner are either ill founded, misconceived, or doesn’t form the essential form of the religion.

The hearing is underway. Observing that denominational practices can be subject matter of judicial scrutiny, the top court on April 17 had said that judges must rise above personal religious beliefs and be guided by freedom of conscience and the broader constitutional framework while adjudicating matters of faith. In September 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench, by a 4:1 majority verdict, lifted the ban that prevented women between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple and held that the centuries-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional.

Later, on November 14, 2019, another five-judge bench headed by the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi, by a majority of 3:2, referred the issue of discrimination against women at various places of worship to a larger bench. (Agencies)