Top Indian wrestlers on Thursday stated that they would escalate their protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and file multiple FIRs if the government doesn’t intervene and the Wrestling Federation of India is not disbanded with immediate effect, reported PTI.
Additional wrestlers joined on the second day of the protest where they accused the Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual exploitation and intimidation.
Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Malik, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawrat Kadiyan called for a meeting with the government and also spoke with Director General of the Sports Authority of India Sandip Pradhan, and Sports Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi about their concerns.
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PTI also reported that during the one-hour meeting, the wrestlers were asked to end their protest and assured that their grievances will be addressed. The wrestlers chose instead to continue their protest, however, until the WFI president is removed and the national federation is dissolved along with all of the state wrestling associations in the country.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Vinesh is quoted as saying, “Unfortunately, we did not get a satisfactory response.”
She added: “Yesterday, we had 1-2 victims amongst us but now we have 5-6 wrestlers, who were harassed. We can’t name them now, after all they are daughters and sisters of somebody. But if we are forced to disclose their identity, it will be a black day.
“It’s not just about his (Brij Bhushan) resignation. We will send him to jail. We did not want to take the legal route, because we had hoped for resolution but if a proper solution is not provided, we will lodge FIRs against the President.”
Phogat also added, “We want the government to take control of WFI and we will not compete in any competition under the current President.”
Bajrang and Sakshi also echoed the sentiment that state wrestling associations should be disbanded in the country because the WFI chief has his loyalists occupying top posts in these sports bodies. According to the report, WFI has called for an Emergency General Council in Ayodhya on Sunday to discuss the issue.