Prateek Tanmay
2 min readJul 21, 2026 06:40 AM IST
First published on: Jul 21, 2026 at 06:40 AM IST
India pulled out of the 13th Commonwealth Games, to begin in Edinburgh on July 24, becoming the 24th country to boycott the Games because of Britain’s stand on economic sanctions against South Africa. The Minister of State for Sports, Margaret Alva, said, “We tried to save the Games.” Alva said India had deferred its decision regarding participation in the hope of some change in the British attitude on the economic sanctions against the Pretoria regime.
Games boycott announced
The Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Jagmohan, hinted here that he had sent “reports” to the Centre, but refused to divulge if these pertained to the extension of Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir. Jagmohan, addressing a press conference said he was under oath not to divulge anything and so could not comment on the issue of the extension of Governor’s rule.
BJP for package deal on Punjab
The BJP said that it favoured a “package deal” to resolve the territorial issue between Punjab and Haryana by referring all territorial disputes arising out of the Rajiv-Longowal accord to a single commission for final settlement. The national executive of the BJP, which concluded its three-day meeting in Gwalior, said in a resolution that a new commission should be appointed for the purpose or the terms of reference of the Desai Commission should be suitably broadened.
‘Doves’ may put Zia to flight
A nationwide movement to oust President Zia-ul-Haq through a series of strikes, blocking of streets and closing of shops is being planned by the Pakistani opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto. Some 150,000 “doves for Democracy” have been recruited to lead this protest by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of which Bhutto is acting chairperson, The New York Times reported from Lahore, quoting party officials.
