oppn parties WFI Suspended: Indian Wrestlers To Participate Sans Flag & National Anthem

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  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
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  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
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  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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WFI Suspended: Indian Wrestlers To Participate Sans Flag & National Anthem

By Slogger
First publised on 2023-08-24 14:23:24

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.

The worst has happened for Indian wrestling. United World Wrestling (UWW) has suspended the Wrestling Federation of India for not conducting elections within 45 days as stipulated by the world body in its earlier communication. This means that Indian wrestlers, if they participate, will be treated as neutrals and cannot use the national flag. The national anthem will also not be played if they win a medal.

The sorry state of affairs is not only of WFI's or IOC's doing. The courts have also intervened, by issuing stay orders that led to the postponing of the elections. First the Guwahati HC stayed the polls on a plea by the Assam Wrestling Association which was allegedly denied the right to participate in the election process by WFI and later the Punjab & Haryana HC did the same on a plea by the Haryana Wrestling Association. While the Supreme Court had quashed the Guwahati HC stay order in time, the Punjab & Haryana HC stay order on August 11 meant that the elections could not be held within the 45 days deadline set by UWW.

But, with the threat of suspension from UWW looming large, the WFI and the IOC blundered in not approaching the Supreme Court on an urgent basis and impressing upon it the urgency to quash the stay order. If they had approached the apex court on as soon as the Punjab & Haryana HC had issued the stay and had obtained relief, they could have held the elections soon thereafter as all formalities had been completed. By being lax in the matter, the federation has brought the axe upon itself. WFI must also address the issue of multiple bodies in some states, each of them claiming to be affiliates and any of them bringing the election process to a halt by filing pleas in the courts.