Wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat throughout their protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on April 23, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Ace India wrestler Bajrang Punia mentioned on April 23 that the rationale why wrestlers are protesting as soon as once more is that nothing has been done so far to resolve their points and the wrestlers are right here to save wrestling.
Top Indian wrestlers, together with Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Dahiya, and Sakshi Malik, held a sit-in protest in Jantar Mantar in January this yr, demanding that Brij Bhushan be faraway from the top workplace and Wrestling Federation of India be disbanded. They had accused the physique and its chief of sexual harassment and mistreatment of wrestlers.
“We have just one issue. The reason for the protest is that nothing has been done so far…We are here to save wrestling. We will sit at 4 p.m. and talk,” mentioned wrestler Bajrang Punia as he and several other different wrestlers headed to Jantar Mantar.
“Yes, absolutely – at Connaught Place Police Station,” he says, when requested if a police grievance has been filed.
Following the protest, in January, the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports introduced the formation of an ‘oversight committee’ to probe allegations levelled against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and different coaches. The committee was given the duty of submitting a report on the problem to the ministry.
Olympic medalist Mary Kom is heading the oversight committee. Former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former shuttler Trupti Murgunde, SAI member Radhica Sreeman, ex-CEO of the Target Olympic Podium Plan Rajesh Rajagopalan, and CWG gold medalist Babita Phogat are the opposite members of the Mary Kom-led committee.
But earlier in April, Punia had mentioned that the wrestlers will go to courtroom to protest against the report of the oversight committee appointed to examine the matter and allegations put up by outstanding Indian wrestlers against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh.
Speaking to ANI solely, Punia mentioned, “I read an article in which one of the committee members said that the report has been submitted to the Sports ministry without his signatures. The member also expressed his/her disagreement with the report. If a committee member is not involved in report submission and disagrees with the report, how are we supposed to trust it?”
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“We were not even informed that the report was submitted to the ministry,” he added.
Punia additionally mentioned that WFI ought to make public the statements given by feminine wrestlers in a sting operation to a personal TV channel if it feels it’s harmless and likewise, individuals get to determine who is correct or unsuitable.
The wrestler mentioned that they (wrestlers) will begin protesting as soon as once more and can even go to the excessive courtroom as quickly as attainable.”We have to carry on with our sport, but we will protest and go to the High Court as soon as possible,” mentioned Punia.
