Appealing against any “intolerance” arising between communities, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh disapproved of politics in the name of religion and said that nobody should be discriminated against on the basis of their faith, caste or creed.

Singh said he was making the appeal on the eve of Dussehra following recent incidents that have sparked tensions among local communities in Dadri, Faridabad and Punjab.

“The news of intolerance that we are getting from electronic and print media is very worrisome. For us, these are issues of concern,” he said after inaugurating a new think tank on policing subjects.

The Home Minister said that a day before Dusshera, he is appealing to all the citizens to remember that India is the only country that has propounded to the world the message of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’, or universal kinship.

“We should not be getting any complaints of intolerance on the basis of caste, creed, religion or sect,” he said.

The Home Minister said there should be no “politics” in the name of religion or sect as he termed the latest incidents of violence in Faridabad (against a Dalit family) and in Punjab (over alleged desecration of a holy book) as “very unfortunate” and “condemnable”.

He said he has talked to the chief ministers of these states to ensure peace and law and order following these incidents.

India is among the countries with the largest surplus of men and a worrying under-five sex ratio with more girls dying before the age of five than boys, according to a UN report.

“The World’s Women 2015” report launched said men outnumber women in eastern Asia, southern Asia, Oceania, and western Asia.

The three regions have the highest surplus of men in absolute numbers: 50.5 million in Eastern Asia (mainly due to China), 49.5 million in Southern Asia (mainly due to India), and 12.1 million in Western Asia (mainly due to Saudi Arabia and the UAE).

In absolute terms, countries with the largest surplus of men are China (52 million), in Eastern Asia, and India (43 million), in Southern Asia. The ratio of men to women and the surplus of men in these two most populous countries largely determine the surplus of men observed at the global level, the report said.

The report said that in India, while sex-selective abortions have been technically illegal since 1996, the law has had “little effect so far on the sex ratio at birth”. India has the lowest sex ratio in under-5 mortality, with a ratio of 93 (93 boys die before age 5 for 100 girls that die by that age).

“This is also the only country with an under-5 mortality sex ratio under 100 (more girls die than boys),” it said. India alone accounted for 21 per cent of all under-5 deaths in 2013 and this low sex ratio in under-5 mortality is pulling down the average for Southern Asia as a whole and the entire world.

“Higher mortality among girls can be closely related to a general preference for sons in India, which is expressed in special treatment for boys in terms of parental investment in nutrition, vaccinations, access to health treatment and parental care in general,” the report said.

Former Cabinet Secretary Alok Rawat has been appointed as the first male member of the National Commission for Women, filling the fourth seat in the five-member body.

A 1977 batch Sikkim cadre IAS officer, Rawat has served as Director/Joint Secretary in Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; Secretary (UPSC); Secretary (Coordination and Public Grievances) in the Cabinet Secretariat and Secretary in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Not deterred to voice his opinions in a female-dominated body, he said, “I feel that the presence of a male would provide a better understanding to the women issues.”

Rawat said that working with the Commission will be a new experience and his first focus will be to learn the job.

“I will learn the job first as issues pertaining to women are a bit different from development agenda. So I will observe and learn first,” he said.

Two other members — Sushma Sahu and Rekha Sharma — were appointed to the Commission in August.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday lost his cool when questioned if his Ballabgarh visit was a photo opportunity.

Rahul was addressing the media when some reporters asked for his reaction on the allegations that his Ballabgarh visit to meet the Dalit family which lost two children on Tuesday in an attack by upper caste men here was a photo operation.

“What do you mean it is a photo opportunity? It is insulting when they say that. People are dying. I will come again,” said Rahul angrily.

Rahul today accused the Prime Minister, Harayana Chief Minister, the BJP and RSS of practicising “politics of crushing” those who are weak which results in such incidents.

“This is an attitude shared by the Prime Minister, Chief Minister of the state and the entire BJP and RSS. The attidute is if somebody is weak, he can be crushed. What you have seen is the result of this attitude,” Gandhi said.

Punjab on Wednesday continued to simmer over incidents of sacrilege with Sikh activists blocking key roads at many places and paramilitary forces taking out flag marches in sensitive areas.

Police detained two MLA brothers from Ludhiana Simrajit Bains and Balwinder Singh in Ludhiana when they were proceeding to Chandigarh to gherao the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, police said.

While Simarjit was detained at Katanikalan, his brother Balwinder was detained at Vardhman chowk. Along with them, 21 of their supporters were also detained.

In the wake of the sensitive situation prevailing in the state after a spate of sacrilege incidents, paramilitary forces have been deployed in four districts -Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Tarn Taran.

A report from Phagwara said several Sikh activists blocked Phagwara-Banga-Nawanshahar road near Mehlimudhali village, causing inconvenience to commuters.

In Amritsar, protesters blocked a road at Amritsar-Jalandhar bypass and Harike in Tarn Taran, demanding action against those who indulged in the sacrilege.

Some persons also blackened the poster of SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar at Lahorigate, police said.

Yesterday, Punjab Police had arrested two brothers in connection with an incident of sacrilege.

The two identified as Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh, of Panjgrain village of Faridkot were arrested in connection with the first incident of sacrilege in the state in Bargari village in Faridkot, where a violent clash between police and Sikh protesters left two persons killed.