New Delhi: Just a fortnight back after the humiliating treatment meted out to them by the Delhi police, on May 28, the day India’s ‘new” Parliament was inaugurated, they had vowed to immerse their hard earned medals in the Holy Ganga at Hardwar. The last minute intervention by farmer leader Rajesh Tikait had persuaded them to put off their deadline to government to June 15.
Now, with the ultimatum issued by protesting wrestlers to the Union government drawing to a close, Bajrang Punia reiterated on Saturday, June 10that if the government is not ready to arrest Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who facing sexual harassment allegations, by June 15, their protest would resume.
Following Tikait’s intervention a flurry of meetings with representatives of the union government followed last week. Following one such meeting with the Union sports minister Anurag Thakur, last week news reports on a minor’s complaint being withdrawn had re-surfaced. Today, Saturday June 10 they have stated that they will resume their protest if the government does not arrest Singh by June 15. Thakur, in his meeting with wrestlers earlier this week, had assured that the investigation into the allegations against Singh would be concluded by June 15, and a new WFI chief to be elected by June end. The written assurances from the government did not, however, mention Singh’s arrest.
Punia and other protesting wrestlers held a Mahapanchayat with Khap leaders in Haryana’s Sonipat on Saturday, June 10. They said they had shared the details of their discussions with the government with the Khap leaders at the Mahapanchayat.
“After June 15, we will decide where to start the protest again,” Sakshi Malik thereafter told NDTV after observing that the government is not serious about arresting Singh.
While noting that efforts are being made by supporters of the government to spread the narrative that there is disunity among wrestlers, she said, “I want to make one thing clear, I, Bajrang, and Vinesh (Phogat) are one and will remain one.”
Furthermore, they also asserted that they will not participate in the Asian Games slated to be held later this year unless their demands are not met. “We will participate in the Asian Games only when all these issues will be resolved. You can’t understand what we’re going through mentally each day,” said 2016 Olympics medal-winning wrestler Malik.
The Delhi Police on Friday, June 9, had taken wrestler Sangeeta Phogat to Singh’s official residence in Delhi to recreate the sequence of events at the scene of the crime that led to the sexual harassment of which he has been accused. While procedurally correct as per law, there is a question on the propriety of conducting this exercise while the accused politician was in residence.
The Delhi Police is likely to submit in court its report by next week, officials in the know of things said. So far, 180 people have been quizzed in connection with two FIRs filed in the case.
Sections of the media continue the misinformation campaign, however. Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta’s sister, took to Twitter alleging that fake news is being spread about her sister’s presence at Singh’s residence on Friday, saying that she had gone there to work out a compromise with him. Vinesh clarified that Sangeeta was taken there by the police to recreate the scene.
“This is the power of Brij Bhushan. He is busy harassing women wrestlers by using his muscle power, political power and running false narratives. If the police arrests him instead of breaking us, there is hope of justice, otherwise no,” Vinesh wrote on Twitter in Hindi.
This is not the first time that fake news is being spread about protesting wrestlers. Earlier, it was said that they had ended their protest following the resumption of their regular duties in railways. The wrestlers dismissed them as mere rumuors, being spread with the intention to break them and defame them.
Related:
From deathly silence to violence: The journey of wrestlers struggling for justice
Protests erupt at Delhi police violent crackdown on Women Wrestlers, FIR, and nationwide outrage
Attempt to Drown out Wrestlers’ Protest with Song and Dance About ‘Temple of Democracy’