'By equating slaughter with cruelty, you are paving the way for all other animal slaughter to be stopped in the future.'

She could not believe how much India had changed since the last time she experienced it first hand.

'We need to change the attitude of Muslims.' 'Muslim youngsters have to be taught not to misuse triple talaq.'

'India's nationalism has always been an exceptional and great experiment.' 'We said you don't have to give up your language, your lifestyle or your religion in order to be an Indian national.' 'Nowhere in the world could you find on such a large scale such a democratic experiment of nation building based on diversity.' 'That is the greatness of India's nationalism and we are on the verge of losing that greatness.'

'Violence is the only answer to violence.'

...It was original, feels Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

'As far as I know Burhan Wani did not kill anyone.'

Bollywood doesn't care for the fading star, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

'The size or economic potential of no event can be a valid excuse to break the law of the land.'

"Prima facie there is no case made out against Sadhvi Pragya," said Justice More while granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the 2008 Malegaon blast on Tuesday. Sadhvi's lawyer Shyam Dewani speaks to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com on what were the circumstances under which she got bail.

'This is India, bhai. This kind of country does not exist anywhere in the world.'

'Why do you want the tribal communities to come out of the jungles?' 'For development?' 'Why cannot their development take place over there?' 'The Modi government is diluting the Forest Rights Act in the name of industrialisation and Project Tiger.'

'The Babri Masjid demolition was a pre-planned conspiracy.' 'It did not happen on the spur of the moment.'

'Noise pollution is a health issue, it is not a religious issue.'

'The government is not insisting that customers must eat a certain quantity only.' 'Customers can ask for extra portions.' 'It is dictatorial, but we welcome it because it is one step towards ending food waste.'

'The BJP has failed to protect cows.' Why doesn't the government say it is a government for cows, mandir and the Ganga?' 'Why don't they declare the cow as a national animal?

Little has changed in Digital India. The issue that rocked the nation 100 years ago still creates a furore in Indian society, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

'The corporate sector says by 2022 they will create 300 million jobs.' 'In the last 70 years we didn't do it, how will we do it in 5 years?' 'Only agriculture can bail out the economy. Unfortunately, it is not being looked into.'

'This is an emotional issue and cannot be resolved by law alone.' 'This can be resolved only by creating trust again.' 'So much bloodletting has taken place, there is no point in going on and on.' 'Let us sit together and negotiate'

Syed Firdaus Ashraf speaks to Haji Syed Salman Chisti, Gaddi Nashi, Dargah Ajmer Sharif, the hereditary custodian of the dargah and the 26th generation descendant of Khwaja Garib Nawaz (as the Pir is known) to understand the meaning and significance of the gesture.