Khawaja to challenge ICC reprimand, says armband was for a bereavement
Melbourne (PTI): Bewildered by the ICC's decision to reprimand him for wearing a black armband during the first Test against Pakistan, Australia's Usman Khawaja on Friday said he will contest the charge as he had told the governing body it was for a "personal bereavement".
Khawaja had worn a black armband during Australia's 360-run win over Pakistan in Perth last week. He had arrived for a training session on December 13 with "all lives are equal" and "freedom is a human right" inscribed on his batting spikes and had reportedly planned to wear them during the inaugural Test.
"The ICC asked me day two (of the Perth Test) what (the black armband) was for, I told them it was for a personal bereavement. I never ever stated it was for anything else," Khawaja told reporters
"I respect the ICC and all the regulations they have, I will be asking them and contesting them From my point of view, that consistency hasn't been done yet."
"The shoes were for a different matter, I'm happy to say that, but the armband (reprimand) made no sense to me," he added.
The opener added that the global governing body had not applied the rules consistently.
"I followed all the regulations and past precedents guys have put stickers on their bats, names on their shoes, done all sorts of things in the past without ICC approval and never been reprimanded."
The ICC's regulations prevent players from displaying messages of political, religious or racial causes during international matches.
However, players can wear black armbands to mark deaths of former players, family members or other significant individuals after taking prior permission from the governing body.
The ICC reprimand for Khawaja wearing a black armband in Perth carries no financial or playing penalty.
Khawaja also denied he had "any hidden agendas" when he arrived for a training session with "all lives are equal" and "freedom is a human right" inscribed on his batting spikes, apparently in reference to the war in Gaza.
"I don't have any agendas other than trying to shine a light on what I feel really passionately, really strong about. I'm trying to do it in the most respectful way as possible," said Khawaja.
"What I wrote on my shoes was, really I thought about it for a while, what I was going to write. I made sure that I didn't want to segregate different parts of the population, religious beliefs, communities."
"Hence why I kept religion out of this. I want to be really broad over my speaking because I'm talking about humanitarian issues. I'm talking about article one of Unified Declaration of Human Rights. That is literally the crux of it," added Khawaja.
"The reason I'm doing it is because it hit me hard. I told Nick (Hockley, Cricket Australia chief) literally just this morning that when I'm looking at my Instagram and I'm seeing kids, innocent kinds, videos of them dying, passing away, that's what hit me the hardest.
"I just imagine my young daughter in my arms and the same thing. I get emotional talking about it right now again. And for me, that's the reason I'm doing this. I don't have any hidden agendas.
"If anything, you know, if anything, this brings up more negativity towards me. People come and start attacking me. I don't get anything out of this. I just feel like it's my responsibility to speak up on this."
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Uttarakhand Assembly passes censure motion against opposition over women's reservation bill
Dehradun (PTI): The Uttarakhand Assembly passed a censure motion against the Congress and other opposition parties on Tuesday for allegedly blocking the passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, in Parliament.
The motion, which expressed the House's formal disapproval of the opposition's conduct, triggered a massive uproar by Congress members, leading to the adjournment of the House sine die.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Subodh Uniyal moved the censure motion, citing the "uncooperative attitude" of opposition parties toward the bill seeking 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies.
Addressing a special daylong session convened specifically to discuss "Nari Samman -- Rights in Democracy", Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the bill's passage would have benefitted every political party.
Dhami noted that after delimitation, the number of Assembly seats in the hill state would have gone up to 105, with 35 reserved for women. He added that the number of Lok Sabha seats from Uttarakhand would have risen from five to seven or eight.
"The opposition fears that if women from ordinary households enter politics, the shops of dynastic politics run by certain parties will shut down," the chief minister claimed.
He compared the opposition's conduct in Parliament to the assembly in Mahabharat where Draupadi was insulted. Dhami further likened the opposition's behaviour to the "arrogance of Ravan".
The chief minister highlighted his government's initiatives, asserting that Uttarakhand was the first state to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to protect women's rights. He said the UCC freed Muslim women from practices like "halala", "iddat", polygamy and child marriage.
Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya questioned the technical feasibility of the bill, calling the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) claims of providing reservation by 2029 "misleading".
He argued that the bill is linked to census and delimitation processes. The Congress leader said the 2026 census would conclude by 2027 and the final data publication would take two more years.
"The delimitation process will take another six years. The actual implementation of this bill is not possible before 2034," Arya said, describing the move as a strategy to protect the BJP's "political ground".
The session also saw high drama outside the Assembly gates, where Congress MLA Virendra Jati staged a protest, demanding the payment of "outstanding" dues to farmers by sugar mills.
Jati arrived at the Assembly's main gate with a tractor-trolley loaded with sugarcane and dumped it on the road. The move brought the traffic to a halt, prompting traffic and security personnel to intervene and clear the area.
Women Congress workers also staged a demonstration against the "anti-people policies" of the state government.
