IN THEIR renewed protest towards Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, high wrestlers, who spent Sunday evening at Jantar Mantar, sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. And, in a departure from their earlier stand, additionally they rallied for assist from political events, farmers’ organisations, ladies’s organisations and khaps.
Throughout their protest in January, the wrestlers had urged events to not give their protest a political color after senior CPI(M) chief Brinda Karat sought to indicate assist.
“Everyone seems to be welcome this time, be it BJP, Congress or Aam Aadmi Social gathering. Once we win medals, we don’t fly any occasion’s flag – it’s in regards to the Tricolour. We don’t belong to any occasion both; we belong to the nation,” mentioned Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia.
In search of Modi’s intervention, he mentioned: “When gamers win medals, you stand with them. When they’re on the street, then you might be silent.”
The wrestlers have demanded that an FIR be registered towards Brij Bhushan following their police criticism final Friday, wherein they accused him of sexual harassment and prison intimidation. A wrestler mentioned Brij Bhushan needs to be arrested beneath the POCSO (Safety of Youngsters from Sexual Offences) Act, stating that one of many complainants is a minor.
Rio Olympics medallist Sakshi Malik alleged that Brij Bhushan was “getting benefit as a result of he’s from the BJP”. “He has the facility of cash, (however) we now have the facility of reality,” she mentioned.
“We’re on the entrance foot. We’re at God’s mercy, however we wish to shield younger wrestlers,” mentioned World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat. “Podium se footpath tak (Podium to footpath),” she tweeted, including that they spent the evening beneath the open skies within the “hope of getting justice”.
The trio, who’re main the protest towards Brij Bhushan, mentioned they’d not go away the protest website till their calls for are met. They referred to as on farmers’ organisations, ladies’s organisation and khaps to assist them.
The wrestlers additionally urged the federal government to reveal the findings of the oversight committee headed by boxer M C Mary Kom, that was set as much as look into their allegations towards Brij Bhushan.
Talking to mediapersons, Sakshi Malik mentioned ending their protest in January after receiving assurances from the federal government was a “mistake”. “A committee was fashioned and we got a number of assurances. We waited for months for the report, and never a single demand was fulfilled. Seven ladies have sexual harassment circumstances towards Brij Bhushan, nonetheless no motion has been taken,” she mentioned.
“The oversight committee was at all times biased towards us,” alleged Vinesh Phogat. Requested if they’d submitted the names of the wrestlers who have been allegedly sexually harassed by Brij Bhushan or offered any proof to the committee, she replied: “Solely the Supreme Court docket will get to know the id of the victims, not Brij Bhushan. I may give you an instance. Brij Bhushan had referred to as a girl wrestler to his room and tried to impose himself on her, is that this not sexual harassment?”