The Evening Wrap: After meeting Sports Minister, wrestlers agree to suspend protest till June 15

The protesting wrestlers on June 7 agreed to suspend their protest for a week after the government asked them to wait till police completes its probe into sexual harassment allegations against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by June 15. “We were told that police investigation will be complete by June 15. Till then, we have been asked to wait and suspend the protest,” Sakshi Malik told reporters after the meeting. Wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Satyawart Kadiyan held nearly a five-hour long talk with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur today. “We spoke on various issues, including safety of both female and male wrestlers, and the cases, that were registered against the wrestlers, will be taken back, the government has agreed to these demands,” wrestler Bajrang Punia said. The Delhi Police on May 29 had booked the organisers of the wrestlers’ protest at Jantar Mantar and their supporters on charges of rioting and obstructing public servant in discharge of duty after some of them were detained while marching to the new Parliament building on May 28. Both Malik and Punia asserted that their agitation was not yet over and they have suspended their protest only till June 15 as requested by the government. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Thakur said that the WFI will have an Internal Complaints Committee, headed by a woman. WFI elections will be held by June 30, he added. Thakur said that all these decisions were taken unanimously, in the “positive meeting.” Regarding the FIR registered against the WFI chief, the Sports Minister said that chargesheet is to be filed by June 15. It is the second meeting between the government and protesting wrestlers, who met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday night. A delegation consisting of wrestlers and their coaches had met with Home Minister Amit Shah at his official residence on late June 3. A source told The Hindu, “In the meeting, which lasted for around two hours, the wrestlers pressed for timely action and demanded an unbiased investigation, to which, the Home Minister told them to trust the process of investigation, which is still under way and the law shall take its course.” In the said meeting, wrestlers requested the Home Minister to take back the FIR filed against them. An FIR was registered against the wrestlers on May 28, after they had marched towards the new Parliament building during its inauguration. They were booked under rioting. Earlier, a team of Delhi Police visited Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s residence in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh to investigate the sexual harassment charges against him, officers said on June 6. Officers said the investigating police team questioned roughly a dozen employees and associates of Singh and recorded their statements. A source in the Delhi Police said that the team visited Singh’s residence late on Monday and then again on Tuesday morning. Centre won’t notify it’s fact-checking unit until July 10 The Central government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it would not notify the fact-checking unit (FCU) constituted under the new Information Technology (IT) Rules for identifying fake news against the government on social media until July 10. A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale was hearing a petition filed by political satirist Kunal Kamra challenging the constitutional validity of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023. The new Rules require social media intermediaries to censor or otherwise modify content that relates to the Central government, if a government-mandated FCU directs them to do so. On April 21, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had said that it would not notify the FCU till July 5; this has now been extended to July 10. Two new petitions have also been filed by the Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines, challenging the constitutional validity of the new Rules and calling them “arbitrary”. The court on Wednesday said, “We shall take up the petitions for final disposal from July 6 onwards. The petitioners’ counsels shall complete their arguments on July 7 after which we shall set a date for the Union government to put forth their arguments. In view of the dates fixed for hearing, the Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh says that the statement made earlier by the Centre shall stand extended till July 10,” the court added. The affidavit filed by the Centre on June 6 reads, “In case, where Fact Check Unit of Central Government intimates the intermediary that any information displayed on its platform is based on patently false and misleading facts, any person aggrieved by the availability of such information would be entitled to pursue any legal remedy, the court shall be the final arbiter of the factual correctness of the information.” Curfew imposed in Kolhapur after tensions over social media posts; Fadnavis says glorification of Aurangzeb will not be tolerated Tension prevailed in Kolhapur on Wednesday after protests by Hindutva outfits against ‘objectionable’ social media posts reportedly glorifying Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and 18th century Mysore state ruler Tipu Sultan turned violent, leading to vehicles and establishments being vandalised and the administration imposing curfew. Authorities said that right-wing outfits had called for a shutdown of the district with a large number of these activists congregating at the Kolhapur city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Chowk. The Kolhapur police had on Tuesday launched a probe into some social media status messages showing images of the 17th century Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and 18th-century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan accompanied by audio messages allegedly objectionable to Hindu sentiments, as claimed by these outfits. The authorities said they had acted by lodging a complaint against those who had put-up these objectionable posts and had managed to pacify leaders of the Hindutva outfits to call off their demonstration today. However, the protests spiralled out of control by 11.30 a.m. after some unruly elements resorted to stone-pelting. By noon, the demonstrators became aggressive with reports of a mob entering Muslim-dominated localities and resorting to stone-pelting, destroying shop facades, overturning handcarts. Following fracas between groups of both religious denominations, the police resorted to lathi charge and got the situation under control by late afternoon, clearing the streets of the protestors. Internet services have been suspended till Thursday evening while prohibitory orders have been issued till June 19 banning assembly of five or more persons, said a senior police official. “The situation is fully under control. We are assessing the damage done by the stone-pelting. Our authorities defused the tension by using requisite force, chasing unruly mobs and detaining miscreants. We appeal to people not to believe rumours circulating on social media. We will be detaining any persons loitering around or large groups,” said Sunil Phulari, Special Inspector General of Police (Kolhapur range), adding that units of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) have been deployed in the city to aid the local police force. While urging people not to take law in their own hands, Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the State government would not tolerate anyone “glorifying Aurangzeb” in the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji. The incident fits a pattern of recent clashes and rioting in Akola, Ahmednagar and elsewhere between two communities resulting in heightened social tensions across Maharashtra. The Kolhapur violence led to a verbal slanging match between the opposition and ruling party leaders, with the NCP, the Shiv Sena (uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Congress accusing the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP of deliberately fomenting communal riots and heightening social tensions for petty political gain. Accusing the ruling parties of deliberately “encouraging” instances of communal violence, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that minor incidents had snowballed into clashes. “Incidents of communal clashes in Ahmednagar and Kolhapur have taken place over some social media messages. What is the meaning of hitting the streets over such messages? Today’s ruling parties are encouraging such things. Leaders should ensure peace and law and order. But if they along with their subordinates start hitting the streets and create hatred between two communities, this is worrisome for the State,” Pawar said, addressing a press conference in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly ‘Aurangabad’). He said that such incidents were being “planned” and that minority communities were being deliberately targeted across the country. “Churches have been attacked in States like Orissa and other places. I do not understand the reason behind attacking a religious place for an action of an individual. This [attacks] is not a work of an individual but that of an ideology which is not good for the society,” said Pawar. Congress State chief Nana Patole said that the ruling government was “impotent” in preventing riots that had now become a daily occurrence in Maharashtra. “How is it that Aurangzeb’s glorifiers have become active only now? Riots are taking place in the State every day. What is the Chief Minister and the Home Minister doing? Be it Sambhajinagar, Ahmednagar, Amravati or Nashik, there were attempts to create riots in each of these places by raising the temperature on religious issues. But these attempts failed as people have firmly adopted a stance a reconciliation,” Patole said. Supreme Court seeks report from Registry on urgent listing of plea challenging RBI decision on ₹2,000 note exchange The Supreme Court on June 7 sought a report from its Registry on the issue of urgent listing of a plea challenging the notifications enabling the exchange of ₹2,000 currency notes without any requisition slip and ID proof. A vacation Bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal passed the Order after petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay mentioned the matter, seeking an urgent hearing. On June 1, the top court refused to list for an urgent hearing of Upadhyay’s plea challenging the notifications and said it would not be taking up such pleas during the summer vacation. Upadhyay on June 7 submitted that the issue is very important as Maoists, terrorists and separatists were exchanging money and there are media reports saying notes worth ₹80,000 crore have been exchanged. “We cannot go by media reports. You mention on Friday, meanwhile, let us see the Registry report,” the Bench said. “When the matter has already been mentioned, how can the case be mentioned again,” the apex court asked. Seeking urgent listing of the plea, the lawyer had earlier said the ₹2,000 banknotes were being exchanged by criminals and terrorists without any requisition slip and ID proof such as Aadhaar cards. In a short span of time, ₹50,000 crore has been exchanged in banks by returning banknotes of ₹2,000 denomination, he claimed, adding that the delay in hearing would lead to the exchange of all black monies in banks. Upadhyay filed the appeal in the top court against the May 29 decision of the Delhi High Court dismissing his PIL challenging the notifications by the Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of India allowing the exchange of ₹2,000 banknotes without having to furnish any document. On May 19, the RBI announced the withdrawal of the ₹2,000 currency notes from circulation and said existing notes in circulation can either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged by September 30. “The banknotes in ₹2,000 denomination will, however, continue to be legal tender,” the RBI said in a statement. In order to ensure operational convenience and avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, the RBI said the exchange of ₹2,000 notes into banknotes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of ₹20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23. In Brief: Government to hike minimum support price of agricultural products for Kharif season The Cabinet has decided to hike the minimum support price or MSP for many agricultural products for the Kharif marketing season at a rate that is the highest in many years, Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal said. The MSP for moong has been raised 10.4%, for sesame seeds 10.3%, long-staple cotton 10%, groundnut oil 9%, medium staple cotton 8.9% and paddy 7%. The MSP for Jowar, Bajra, Ragi, Maize, Urad, Tur, Sunflower seeds and oil, among other items, have been raised in the range of 6% to 7%. Gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva shot dead on Lucknow court premises Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s alleged aide Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva was shot dead on Lucknow court premises on June 7, police said. According to eyewitnesses, the assailant was dressed like a lawyer. “Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva, who was held in Lucknow jail, was brought to the court for hearing in a case and was shot dead by an unknown assailant,” said Lucknow Police Commissioner S.B. Shiradkar who reached the court premises shortly after the incident. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 07 June 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Wrestlers agree to suspend protest till June 15 after five-hour meeting with Sports Minister [The protesting wrestlers on June 7 agreed to suspend their protest for a week]( after the government asked them to wait till police completes its probe into sexual harassment allegations against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by June 15. “We were told that police investigation will be complete by June 15. Till then, we have been asked to wait and suspend the protest,” Sakshi Malik told reporters after the meeting. Wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Satyawart Kadiyan held nearly a five-hour long talk with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur today. “We spoke on various issues, including safety of both female and male wrestlers, and the cases, that were registered against the wrestlers, will be taken back, the government has agreed to these demands,” wrestler Bajrang Punia said. The Delhi Police on May 29 had booked the organisers of the wrestlers’ protest at Jantar Mantar and their supporters on charges of rioting and obstructing public servant in discharge of duty after some of them were detained while marching to the new Parliament building on May 28. Both Malik and Punia asserted that their agitation was not yet over and they have suspended their protest only till June 15 as requested by the government. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Thakur said that the WFI will have an Internal Complaints Committee, headed by a woman. WFI elections will be held by June 30, he added. Thakur said that all these decisions were taken unanimously, in the “positive meeting.” Regarding the FIR registered against the WFI chief, the Sports Minister said that chargesheet is to be filed by June 15. It is the second meeting between the government and protesting wrestlers, who met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday night. A delegation consisting of wrestlers and their coaches had met with Home Minister Amit Shah at his official residence on late June 3. A source told The Hindu, “In the meeting, which lasted for around two hours, the wrestlers pressed for timely action and demanded an unbiased investigation, to which, the Home Minister told them to trust the process of investigation, which is still under way and the law shall take its course.” In the said meeting, wrestlers requested the Home Minister to take back the FIR filed against them. An FIR was registered against the wrestlers on May 28, after they had marched towards the new Parliament building during its inauguration. They were booked under rioting. Earlier, a team of Delhi Police visited Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s residence in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh to investigate the sexual harassment charges against him, officers said on June 6. Officers said the investigating police team questioned roughly a dozen employees and associates of Singh and recorded their statements. A source in the Delhi Police said that the team visited Singh’s residence late on Monday and then again on Tuesday morning. Centre won’t notify it’s fact-checking unit until July 10 [The Central government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it would not notify the fact-checking unit (FCU) constituted under the new Information Technology (IT) Rules for identifying fake news against the government on social media until July 10](. A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale was hearing a petition filed by political satirist Kunal Kamra challenging the constitutional validity of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023. The new Rules require social media intermediaries to censor or otherwise modify content that relates to the Central government, if a government-mandated FCU directs them to do so. On April 21, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had said that it would not notify the FCU till July 5; this has now been extended to July 10. Two new petitions have also been filed by the Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines, challenging the constitutional validity of the new Rules and calling them “arbitrary”. The court on Wednesday said, “We shall take up the petitions for final disposal from July 6 onwards. The petitioners’ counsels shall complete their arguments on July 7 after which we shall set a date for the Union government to put forth their arguments. In view of the dates fixed for hearing, the Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh says that the statement made earlier by the Centre shall stand extended till July 10,” the court added. The affidavit filed by the Centre on June 6 reads, “In case, where Fact Check Unit of Central Government intimates the intermediary that any information displayed on its platform is based on patently false and misleading facts, any person aggrieved by the availability of such information would be entitled to pursue any legal remedy, the court shall be the final arbiter of the factual correctness of the information.” Curfew imposed in Kolhapur after tensions over social media posts; Fadnavis says glorification of Aurangzeb will not be tolerated [Tension prevailed in Kolhapur on Wednesday after protests by Hindutva outfits against ‘objectionable’ social media posts reportedly glorifying Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and 18th century Mysore state ruler Tipu Sultan turned violent]( leading to vehicles and establishments being vandalised and the administration imposing curfew. Authorities said that right-wing outfits had called for a shutdown of the district with a large number of these activists congregating at the Kolhapur city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Chowk. The Kolhapur police had on Tuesday launched a probe into some social media status messages showing images of the 17th century Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and 18th-century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan accompanied by audio messages allegedly objectionable to Hindu sentiments, as claimed by these outfits. The authorities said they had acted by lodging a complaint against those who had put-up these objectionable posts and had managed to pacify leaders of the Hindutva outfits to call off their demonstration today. However, the protests spiralled out of control by 11.30 a.m. after some unruly elements resorted to stone-pelting. By noon, the demonstrators became aggressive with reports of a mob entering Muslim-dominated localities and resorting to stone-pelting, destroying shop facades, overturning handcarts. Following fracas between groups of both religious denominations, the police resorted to lathi charge and got the situation under control by late afternoon, clearing the streets of the protestors. Internet services have been suspended till Thursday evening while prohibitory orders have been issued till June 19 banning assembly of five or more persons, said a senior police official. “The situation is fully under control. We are assessing the damage done by the stone-pelting. Our authorities defused the tension by using requisite force, chasing unruly mobs and detaining miscreants. We appeal to people not to believe rumours circulating on social media. We will be detaining any persons loitering around or large groups,” said Sunil Phulari, Special Inspector General of Police (Kolhapur range), adding that units of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) have been deployed in the city to aid the local police force. While urging people not to take law in their own hands, Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the State government would not tolerate anyone “glorifying Aurangzeb” in the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji. The incident fits a pattern of recent clashes and rioting in Akola, Ahmednagar and elsewhere between two communities resulting in heightened social tensions across Maharashtra. The Kolhapur violence led to a verbal slanging match between the opposition and ruling party leaders, with the NCP, the Shiv Sena (uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Congress accusing the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP of deliberately fomenting communal riots and heightening social tensions for petty political gain. Accusing the ruling parties of deliberately “encouraging” instances of communal violence, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that minor incidents had snowballed into clashes. “Incidents of communal clashes in Ahmednagar and Kolhapur have taken place over some social media messages. What is the meaning of hitting the streets over such messages? Today’s ruling parties are encouraging such things. Leaders should ensure peace and law and order. But if they along with their subordinates start hitting the streets and create hatred between two communities, this is worrisome for the State,” Pawar said, addressing a press conference in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly ‘Aurangabad’). He said that such incidents were being “planned” and that minority communities were being deliberately targeted across the country. “Churches have been attacked in States like Orissa and other places. I do not understand the reason behind attacking a religious place for an action of an individual. This [attacks] is not a work of an individual but that of an ideology which is not good for the society,” said Pawar. Congress State chief Nana Patole said that the ruling government was “impotent” in preventing riots that had now become a daily occurrence in Maharashtra. “How is it that Aurangzeb’s glorifiers have become active only now? Riots are taking place in the State every day. What is the Chief Minister and the Home Minister doing? Be it Sambhajinagar, Ahmednagar, Amravati or Nashik, there were attempts to create riots in each of these places by raising the temperature on religious issues. But these attempts failed as people have firmly adopted a stance a reconciliation,” Patole said. Supreme Court seeks report from Registry on urgent listing of plea challenging RBI decision on ₹2,000 note exchange The [Supreme Court on June 7 sought a report from its Registry on the issue of urgent listing of a plea challenging the notifications enabling the exchange of ₹2,000 currency notes without any requisition slip and ID proof](. A vacation Bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal passed the Order after petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay mentioned the matter, seeking an urgent hearing. On June 1, the top court refused to list for an urgent hearing of Upadhyay’s plea challenging the notifications and said it would not be taking up such pleas during the summer vacation. Upadhyay on June 7 submitted that the issue is very important as Maoists, terrorists and separatists were exchanging money and there are media reports saying notes worth ₹80,000 crore have been exchanged. “We cannot go by media reports. You mention on Friday, meanwhile, let us see the Registry report,” the Bench said. “When the matter has already been mentioned, how can the case be mentioned again,” the apex court asked. Seeking urgent listing of the plea, the lawyer had earlier said the ₹2,000 banknotes were being exchanged by criminals and terrorists without any requisition slip and ID proof such as Aadhaar cards. In a short span of time, ₹50,000 crore has been exchanged in banks by returning banknotes of ₹2,000 denomination, he claimed, adding that the delay in hearing would lead to the exchange of all black monies in banks. Upadhyay filed the appeal in the top court against the May 29 decision of the Delhi High Court dismissing his PIL challenging the notifications by the Reserve Bank of India and the State Bank of India allowing the exchange of ₹2,000 banknotes without having to furnish any document. On May 19, the RBI announced the withdrawal of the ₹2,000 currency notes from circulation and said existing notes in circulation can either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged by September 30. “The banknotes in ₹2,000 denomination will, however, continue to be legal tender,” the RBI said in a statement. In order to ensure operational convenience and avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, the RBI said the exchange of ₹2,000 notes into banknotes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of ₹20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23. In Brief: Government to hike minimum support price of agricultural products for Kharif season The [Cabinet has decided to hike the minimum support price or MSP for many agricultural products for the Kharif marketing season]( at a rate that is the highest in many years, Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal said. The MSP for moong has been raised 10.4%, for sesame seeds 10.3%, long-staple cotton 10%, groundnut oil 9%, medium staple cotton 8.9% and paddy 7%. The MSP for Jowar, Bajra, Ragi, Maize, Urad, Tur, Sunflower seeds and oil, among other items, have been raised in the range of 6% to 7%. Gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva shot dead on Lucknow court premises [Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s alleged aide Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva was shot dead on Lucknow court premises]( on June 7, police said. According to eyewitnesses, the assailant was dressed like a lawyer. “Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva, who was held in Lucknow jail, was brought to the court for hearing in a case and was shot dead by an unknown assailant,” said Lucknow Police Commissioner S.B. Shiradkar who reached the court premises shortly after the incident. 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