Edited By: Vivek Ganapathy
Last Updated: January 19, 2023, 17:28 IST
Top Indian wrestlers at the protest against WFI in front of the Jantar Mantar (Twitter)
Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, who is part of the wrestlers protesting against the WFI and its president, said that the government did not promise any action and that they had only given assurance which the protestors weren’t happy with. She also went on to request the PM to ensure justice
For a second straight day, elite Indian wrestlers continued their protest in front of the Jantar Mantar against the WFI and the federation’s president Brij Bhusan Sharan Singh.
Big-name grapplers such as Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik headlined the protest which shocked the nation as Phogat alleged that the WFI president has been sexually harassing female wrestlers.
The wrestlers said that they will lodge an FIR against WFI President on Friday if the Federation is not disbanded.
“Today is the 2nd day of protest and we haven’t got any satisfactory response from the govt”, Phogat said on Thursday.
“We will make sure Brij Bhushan Singh resigns & is jailed. We will also file a case”, the three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Phogat asserted.
Earlier in the day, wrestler and BJP leader Babita Phogat, cousin sister of Vinesh, met the protestors with a message from the government and assured that the wrestlers’ demands will be met.
“I will try to get the solution. I am a wrestler first and then a political person. I know their pain and I will try to get the solution that the wrestlers want,” Babita said.
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Geeta Phogat, the eldest member of the famous Phogat sisters, a dynastical wrestling family, threw her support behind the wrestlers too.
A group of protestors then met with the sports secretary receiving a call from the Union Sports Ministry.
But Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik said, “The government did not promise any action, they have only given assurance and we’re not happy with the response, we request PM sir to ensure justice”.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia revealed that “5-6 women wrestlers are there with us who have faced these atrocities and we have evidence to prove it.”
The protest took the nation by storm as it garnered widespread attention to the plight of the wrestlers who were experiencing treatment of dictatorial nature by the Wrestling Federation of India.
The Delhi Commission for Women issued a notification to the Sports Ministry and the WFI following the allegations of sexual harassment of women by the president of the federation.
On Wednesday, the Sports Ministry had demanded a response on the same from the WFI before the completion of 72 hours.
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