India’s top wrestlers have been protesting for more than a month, demanding the resignation and arrest of the president of the wrestling federation for allegedly sexually harassing young athletes. AP
India’s top wrestlers have been protesting for more than a month, demanding the resignation and arrest of the president of the wrestling federation for allegedly sexually harassing young athletes. AP
India’s top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Sakshee Malikkh, Bajrang Punia and Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat, who are protesting against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment have said that they will “immerse their medals” in the river Ganga in Haridwar at 6 PM on Tuesday.
The protesting wrestlers added that after immersing their medals they will sit on an indefinite hunger strike at India Gate in New Delhi.
“These medals are our lives, our souls. There would be no reason to live after throwing them in the Ganga today. So, we will stage a hunger strike until death at India Gate after that,” their statement read.
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The statement from the wrestlers comes two days after they were detained by Delhi Police after a violent scuffle as they prepared to stage a protest outside the new Parliament building in New Delhi. Later, the police also dismantled the protest site of the wrestlers in Jantar Mantar where they have been agitating since 23 April demanding action against the WFI chief.
The police have also filed an FIR against the wrestlers on the charges of rioting.
In their statement, the wrestlers said that they do not want to return their medals to President Droupadi Murmu or Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We considered who to return the medals to. Should we give our medals to the president, who is a woman herself? She was barely two kms away from us but said nothing about our plight. Then we thought, should we return them to the prime minister, who calls us his daughters? But no, not once has he asked us how we have been doing since we started protesting. In fact, the man we are protesting against, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was invited to the inauguration of the new Parliament,” wrestlers said in their statement
Brij Bhushan has been accused of sexual harassment by seven wrestlers including a minor.
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