India refuse to accept Asia Cup trophy from ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi
Dubai (PTI): Asia Cup champions India on Sunday refused to accept the winners' trophy from ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who also happens to be Pakistan's interior minister and chairman of the country's cricket board.
As Naqvi stood on one side for the presentation ceremony to begin, Indian players were standing within 15 yards, refusing to budge from their places and the formalities were being inordinately delayed.
It was learnt that Indian team management asked who was supposed to present the winners' trophy and ACC went into a huddle knowing that their boss wasn't an acceptable name for the champions.
Once Naqvi took the presentation stage, Indian fans in the stands started booing collectively with chants of "Bharat Maata Ki Jai".
Once Naqvi took the dais, he was informed that Indian team won't accept the trophy if he tries to force himself and an official protest would be lodged. As Naqvi waited, suddenly, someone from organisers took the trophy inside the dressing room.
Having not shaken hands with Pakistani players throughout the three Asia Cup games and also avoided the customary pre-toss photoshoot, the Indian team had sent the message to ACC that it won't accept the trophy from the ACC chairman.
In another dramatic development, the Pakistani players didn't emerge out of the dressing room even after an hour since the match had ended with only their chairman stranded and embarrassed, wanting to do the honours as per continental body's protocol.
After nearly 55 minutes, Salman Agha and his teammates emerged out and were greeted with shouts of "Indiaaaa, Indiaaaaa".
It was a foregone conclusion that India won't accept the trophy from Naqvi, who had posted cryptic videos of Cristiano Ronaldo's plane crash gesture celebrations which is a direct reference to the Pakistani claims that six Indian jets were downed during 'Operation Sindoor'.
Naqvi is also behind demanding that ICC charge Surya with a Level 4 offence for standing by the Indian Army and showing solidarity with victims of Pahalgam terror attack.
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SC to hear pleas for reviewing wages of priests, temple staff
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, 'sevadars' and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is likely to hear the PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to the priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
"Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employee' under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21," it said.
Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing 'Rudrabhishek' in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.
"Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. State is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43)," it said.
The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index has forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further marginalisation of priests and temple staff.
Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the 'Dandayuthapani Swami Temple' in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting 'dakshina' in 'aarti plates'.
"It is necessary to state that priests in such temples often receive no formal salary from the State and rely entirely on 'Dakshina'; the State's administrative order directly threatened them with starvation. Although withdrawn due to public outrage, the incident highlights the State's arbitrary power over the survival of the priests. This is also a bitter truth that States are controlling lakhs of temples but not a single mosque or church," the PIL claimed.
The petition, alternatively, sought direction to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps for the welfare of priests, sevadars and other temple staff in the spirit of the Allahabad High Court's earlier judgments.
