Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 10: While complaining that the agitating top wrestlers of the country are under tremendous pressure for compromise, on Saturday threatened to boycott the Asian Games this year if their demands are not met.
India’s top wrestlers protesting against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment charges, said the accused being an influential political leader of the ruling party was exerting much of pressure on them to bring about a compromise to their agitation.
“We will participate in the Asian Games only when all these issues will be resolved. You can’t understand what we’re going through mentally each day,” said 2016 Olympics medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik.
The protesting wrestlers, including Malik Bajrang Punia, held a Mahapanchayat with Khap leaders in Haryana’s Sonepat on Saturday. Punia said the wrestlers would share the details of their discussions with the government with the Khap leaders at the Mahapanchayat.
Malik said the “minor” who was among the seven women wrestlers to complaint about Singh’s sexual harassment, had changed her statement against the WFI chief under pressure, “There’s huge pressure on us to compromise,” she said, accusing Brij Bhushan Singh of getting his men to call and threaten the complainants.
Elite grapplers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik among the country’s top wrestlers leading the protests against Brij Bhushan Singh, claimed the minor’s father was under depression because of the pressure put on him to withdraw the complaint. Malik said it was precisely because of that they had been demanding the arrest and custodial interrogation of the accused since day one as he has enough power and influence to derail the investigation and intimidate the complainants and witnesses. “An impartial probe can’t be conducted without Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s arrest,” she said.
Punia said the ‘Mahapanchayat’ on Saturday decided they would plan future strategy after June 15, the deadline for the investigation given by Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur. “We haven’t backed down from our demand for his arrest,” he said, adding that they don’t trust the police investigation.
“The police yesterday took a woman wrestler to the Wrestling Federation of India office despite Brij Bhushan Singh being present there. The woman asked if Mr Singh was at the office, the police lied and said he wasn’t. She got scared when she got to know he was there,” Punia said, alleging that the entire system was shielding Brij Bhushan Singh. “We have risked everything. Brij Bhushan will be arrested if there’s a strong charge-sheet,” the wrestlers said.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has earlier denied all allegations of sexual misconduct, and even issued a defiant statement refuting all charges. “If a single allegation against me is proven, I will hang myself. If you (wrestlers) have any evidence, present it to the Court, and I am ready to accept any punishment,” he had said.
An international wrestling referee Jagbir Singh, who was present at a wrestling event in Lucknow in March, last year, where a woman wrestler alleged harassment by Brij Bhushan Singh, had said he had seen the accused grabbing a woman wrestler “in a place one should not touch a woman.” The Delhi Police, which recorded the statements of more than 200 people following allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan Singh, recorded the statement of Jagbir Singh on May 20, 2023, in Patiala.
Singh has also confirmed having seen the accused molesting a woman wrestler during a photo session after trials for the Asian Games in Lucknow in March, last year. The athletes had gathered on the stage for a customary photograph with the federation chief and the head coach when the woman wrestler “suddenly felt a hand on her buttock” which she alleged in the FIR was “highly indecent and objectionable and without her consent.” The international referee confirmed he saw Brij Bhushan Singh doing it, after which he said she flinched and walked away angrily, saying she doesn’t want the photo to be taken there.
After a five-hour meeting on Wednesday, Union minister Anurag Thakur presented a written proposal to the protesting wrestlers. The proposal assured the wrestlers of an investigation into the wrestling federation chief by June 15, but did not mention his arrest. “After June 15, we will decide where to start the protest again,” added Ms Malik said.
The Delhi Police on Friday took a woman wrestler to the office of the wrestling body chief as part of its investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against him. The wrestler was accompanied by a team of women police officers. Singh’s official residence houses the office of the WFI.
The wrestler was accompanied by women police personnel. They arrived at the WFI office at 1:30 PM and spent half an hour there. During this time, the wrestler was asked to recreate the scene of the alleged harassment and recall the places where she felt harassed.