New Delhi: Reacting sharply to the Delhi Police’s detention of protesting wrestlers within the nationwide capital, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday mentioned that the ‘Sengol’ put in within the new Parliament constructing by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ‘bent’ the very first day. His response got here after cops detained ace wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia for violation of regulation and order within the capital after they breached the safety cordon whereas making an attempt to maneuver in the direction of the brand new Parliament constructing for a deliberate girls’s ‘Mahapanchayat’. Stalin’s jibe on the Centre gave the impression to be focused on the hype across the Sengol because the sceptre is claimed to be symbolic of upright governance and the upholding of justice.
Taking to his official Twitter account, MK Stalin mentioned, “It has been several months since female wrestlers filed sexual complaints against a BJP member of Parliament. The party leadership has not taken any action against him so far. Female wrestlers continue to battle it out in the capital. During the inauguration ceremony of the new building of the Parliament of India, it is condemnable that those who protested were dragged and arrested. This shows that the scepter was bent on the first day.”
Wrestlers’ Protest: Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi assault Modi govt
Several different Opposition leaders together with Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar additionally slammed the Narendra Modi-led authorities on the Centre over the ‘manhandling’ of wrestlers.
“It’s shameful our champions are treated in this manner. Democracy lies in tolerance but autocratic forces thrive on intolerance and quelling of dissent. I demand they be immediately released by the police. I stand by our wrestlers,” Mamata Banerjee mentioned.
Strongly condemn the best way Delhi Police manhandled Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and different wrestlers. It’s shameful our champions are handled on this method. Democracy lies in tolerance however autocratic forces thrive on intolerance and quelling of dissent. I demand they be instantly…
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 28, 2023
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi mentioned that the ‘conceited king is crushing the voice of the folks’ on the streets because the ‘coronation’ is over.
राज्याभिषेक पूरा हुआ – ‘अहंकारी राजा’ सड़कों पर कुचल रहा जनता की आवाज़! pic.twitter.com/9hbEoKZeZs
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 28, 2023
Attacking the Centre, Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra additionally mentioned, “The arrogance of the BJP government has increased so much that it is mercilessly trampling the voices of our women players under its boots. This is totally wrong.”
Wrestlers booked after scuffle as cops thwart protest close to new Parliament constructing
Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia together with different protesters had been booked for rioting and obstructing public servant in discharge of responsibility on Sunday after a scuffle with safety personnel who tried to cease them from marching to the brand new Parliament constructing because it was being inaugurated.
“The FIR has been registered at Parliament Street police station under New Delhi district against the organisers of the protest, including wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, and others who were part of the scuffle that took place at Jantar Mantar today with the police,” a senior police officer mentioned.
The FIR has been registered beneath sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public features), 353 (assault or prison power to discourage public servant from discharge of his responsibility) and 332 (voluntarily inflicting harm to discourage public servant from his responsibility) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the officer mentioned.
Sections 352 (assault or prison power in any other case than on grave provocation), 147 (rioting) and 149 (illegal meeting) of the IPC and Section 3 (mischief inflicting harm to public property) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act have additionally been invoked, he mentioned.
Soon after, the Delhi Police additionally cleared the positioning of their over-month-long sit-in at Jantar Mantar and mentioned they won’t be allowed to return there.
The police mentioned that 700 folks had been detained throughout the nationwide capital and as many as 109 protesters, together with the three wrestlers, had been detained at Jantar Mantar. Women detainees had been launched later within the night.
Elaborate safety measures had been made after the wrestlers’ name for a girls’s ‘Mahapanchayat’ outdoors the Parliament for which they didn’t have permission.
Chaotic scenes had been witnessed on the dharna web site at Jantar Mantar, barely three kilometres from the brand new Parliament constructing that was inaugurated by the prime minister, as protesters and police personnel shoved and pushed one another when the Phogat sisters, Sakshi Malik and others tried to breach the barricades.
Immediately after the wrestlers and different protesters had been pushed into buses and brought to totally different areas, the police personnel started clearing the protest web site by eradicating cots, mattresses, coolers, followers and the tarpaulin ceiling together with different belongings of the wrestlers.
Delhi Police calls wrestlers’ behaviour ‘extremely irresponsible’
Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dependra Pathak claimed the protesters ignored repeated requests and warnings and ‘wrestled’ with police personnel who tried to cease them.
“Today (Monday) was an important day for the country as the new Parliament building was to be inaugurated and despite warnings and repeatedly urging protesters at Jantar Mantar to not march beyond the protest site, they continued to do so,” he mentioned, including the behaviour of the wrestlers was ‘extremely irresponsible’.
They had been out to disturb the preparations made by the safety businesses, the senior police officer instructed the information company PTI.
“The detained protesting wrestlers will not be allowed to continue with their dharna at Jantar Mantar. The entire protest venue at Jantar Mantar has been cleared,” Pathak added.
Security was heightened close to the brand new Parliament constructing, at Jantar Mantar in addition to at Delhi’s borders with neighbouring states, and lots of farmer teams who had been planning to hitch the wrestlers’ protest had been stopped from coming into the nationwide capital. Several farmer leaders in Haryana had been additionally detained for a number of hours, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) claimed.
A gaggle led by BKU chief Rakesh Tikait held a sit-in on the Ghazipur border which was closed as they tried to enter the nationwide capital to participate in a protest referred to as by the agitating wrestlers. The protesters later dispersed.
‘Our motion isn’t over’: Wrestlers to proceed protest in opposition to WFI chief
After the scuffle, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik vowed to proceed their sit-in at Jantar Mantar.
“Our movement is not over… We will start our satyagraha at Jantar Mantar. In this country, there will be no dictatorship but there will be satyagraha held by women wrestlers,” she mentioned in a tweet in Hindi.
हमारा आंदोलन खत्म नहीं हुआ है.
पुलिस हिरासत से छूटकर हम वापस जंतर मंतर पर अपना सत्याग्रह शुरू करेंगे
इस देश में अब तानाशाही नहीं, बल्कि महिला पहलवानों का सत्याग्रह चलेगा.
— Sakshee Malikkh (@SakshiMalik) May 28, 2023
कभी सोचा नहीं था कुश्ती की रिंग में लड़ते लड़ते एक दिन इंसाफ़ के लिए ऐसे सड़कों पर भी लड़ना पड़ेगा…. देश की बेटियाँ बहुत मज़बूत हैं, जब विदेश में मेडल जीत सकती हैं तो अपने देश में इंसाफ़ की लड़ाई भी जीतके ही मानेंगी। #WrestlerProtest pic.twitter.com/eTHzERBUwb
— Sakshee Malikkh (@SakshiMalik) May 28, 2023
Vinesh Phogat additionally mentioned whereas it took the Delhi Police seven days to register an FIR in opposition to WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, it did not even take seven hours to guide those that had been protesting ‘peacefully’.
The prime Indian wrestlers resumed their agitation in opposition to Wrestling Federation of India president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on April 23 demanding his arrest for alleged sexual harassment of a number of girls grapplers, together with a minor.
