Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Even as the protesting wrestlers have turned the protest site at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi as their makeshift home with an indication of it being a long drawn battle, the former Olympian sprinter and the Indian Olympic Association chief PT Usha on Thursday castigated the wrestlers for resuming their public protest without waiting for the report of the committee constituted to look into their complaints.
Usha has strongly criticised the public protest by wrestlers over alleged sexual harassment by Wrestling Federation India boss Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. Mr Singh, a BJP MP, has denied the allegations and indicated he will fight fiercely to prove he is innocent.
Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia have been protesting against Singh and demanding the government to take action on their complaint. They have also written to Ms Usha to act on the matter urgently.
Ms Usha, however, criticised the wrestlers for not waiting for the report of a committee that is looking into their allegations to come out before deciding to sit on a public protest in Delhi. She said the protest “amounts to indiscipline.” “The players should not have protested on the streets. They should have at least waited for the report of the committee. What they have done is not good for the game and the country. It is a negative approach,” Ms Usha said.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had formed the committee to look into the allegations against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its chief Mr Singh. The committee, which was told to give a report to the Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry, had given it on April 5, but the ministry has not yet made public the findings of the six-member committee.
“The Narendra Modi government has done excellent work for sportspersons in the country. The government spends a lot to help sportspersons. Some 3,000 players get ₹ 5 lakh on their boarding, lodging and training. They also get ₹ 1.20 lakh for personal expenses,” Thakur told reporters on Thursday.
“Some wrestlers were sitting at Jantar Mantar (in Delhi). Who spoke to them? I left all my programmes in Himachal Pradesh and heard them for 12 hours. Seven hours one day, over five hours the next day. We did a press conference late at night. We made a committee… The Narendra Modi government is very clear about standing with the players and helping them. For us, the priorities are the sports and the players. We won’t compromise with them,” Thakur said.
The protesting wrestlers had also asked Modi for a meeting with him to discuss the sex harassment allegations against the BJP MP who heads the WFI. “PM Modi sir talks about ‘Beti Bachao’ and ‘Beti Padhao’ and listens to everyone’s ‘mann ki baat’. Can’t he listen to our ‘mann ki baat’? He invites us to his home when we win medals and gives us a lot of respect and calls us his daughters. Today, we appeal to him that he listens to our ‘mann ki baat’,” Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik told reporters.
The WFI chief in a video message alluding to the allegations against him indicated he will fight the wrestlers to prove them wrong. “Friends, the day I reflect on my life, what I gained or lost, the day I feel I don’t have the strength to fight, the day I feel helpless, I won’t like to live a life like that. Instead of living such a life, I would wish that death embraces me,” Singh had said.
The athletes resumed their protest against the WFI chief on Sunday, three months after they ended a similar protest on the government’s assurance of looking into their complaints. However, the wrestlers became restless and resumed their public protest demanding direct action.
As they continued their protest, the wrestlers have turned the protest site as their makeshift home. Their day begins with an early morning run to the office of Janata Dal (United) nearby where they make use of the bathroom since the lavatories available at Jantar Mantar are either too dirty for use or non-functional. They then go about with their daily exercise routine, which includes weight-lifting, some stretching and sprinting in the limited area available to them at Jantar Mantar to keep their body fit to join the arena when needed.
Those camped at the protest site have alleged that seven wrestlers, reportedly including a minor, filed a complaint against Singh at the Connaught Place police station in New Delhi last week but no FIR has been registered in this regard yet. On Tuesday, a bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud issued a notice to Delhi police on a plea by the seven women wrestlers alleging non-registration of an FIR against Singh. The matter has been listed for hearing Friday.
