Jamaat-e-Islami praises ex-RSS chief K Sudarshan, mourns his death

New Delhi, September 27: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has praised former RSS chief K Sudarshan in an article prominently displayed in the September 22 issue of its bi-weekly mouthpiece Dawat and mourned his death. Sudarshan died in Raipur on September 15.

In the section Khabar-O-Nazar (News and Views), Dawat chief editor Parwaaz Rahmani recounted how Sudarshan wanted to visit Bhopal's Tajul Masjid on August 20 "to say the Eid prayer or to offer Eid greetings", but his staff and police prevented him on the pretext of traffic jam.

After the Eid namaz, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Babulal Gaur took him to the house of a Muslim acquaintance where Sudarshan offered Eid greetings, enjoyed sewaiyan and was pleased, Rahmani wrote.

English and Hindi newspapers though dismissed it as a manifestation of memory loss.

In the article, "Why did they feel sad at his death?" Rahmani wrote, "It is not known how sad the Sangh Parivar felt at the demise of K S Sudarshan." But, the "Muslims, who on August 20 would have heard or read the news from Bhopal" must have been sad.

RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said, "Sudarshanji had good relations with various communities, including Christians and Muslims. Muslim clerics and Christian leaders had attended his funeral in Nagpur."

After retiring from the RSS, Sudarshan would have the "mental freedom to study Islamic beliefs. He "might have been reviewing his views on Islam and Islamic life that he had developed as a result of his long association with the Sangh", Rahmani wrote.

JIH and RSS leaders came close to each other in jail in 1975 when both outfits were banned during the Emergency. JIH members had given Islamic literature to many RSS leaders and they exchanged views in jail.

Ram Madhav said, "RSS holds all citizens equal and believes they should live and work together. We don't indulge in Muslim bashing. The RSS doesn't discriminate between citizens as majority and minority, but we will raise our voice in case of disruption of social and communal harmony or national interest is hurt". On its website, RSS published photographs of various religious leaders, including Muslim, paying tribute to Sudarshan at its Nagpur headquarters.

Earlier, in Dawat's September 1 issue, Rahmani had called Sudarshan one of the "oldest and most important leaders" of the RSS and a well-educated person. As RSS chief, Sudarshan held dialogues with Muslim leaders and scholars. He also visited the Jamiat-ul-Ulama headquarters at Masjid Nabi. "These studies, discussions and dialogues are deeply imprinted" on his subconscious, Rahmani wrote.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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