Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 31: In the government’s first reaction since the Delhi police manhandled the protesting wrestlers, the union sports minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday cautioned the protesters against taking any hasty step that could “harm” them, the sports and other players.
Accusing the protesting wrestlers of “changing goalposts,” Thakur said the wrestlers should wait for the Delhi Police to conclude their investigation and not take steps that can harm them. “The wrestlers should wait for Delhi Police to conclude their investigation and not take any steps that may cause harm to the sport or aspiring wrestlers. We all are in favour of the sport and sportspersons.”
“The athletes themselves had said the platform is not for doing politics. But later political parties came and went and shared this platform,” the minister told reporters referring to the visits by opposition leaders to the wrestlers’ protest site in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Declaring he would not comment on it, the minister added, “I’ll ask the athletes to wait for the conclusion of Delhi Police’s investigation. The Delhi Police has informed the Supreme Court and filed an FIR (First Information Report). Until the investigation is complete, do not take any step which will harm the sport and the players.”
The minister’s comment came even as his party colleague, the Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP Member of Parliament, accused by the protesting wrestlers of having sexually exploited some female wrestlers, once again flaunted his innocence.
The embattled chief of the WFI issued a defiant statement once again 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 said.
Singh’s declaration came on a day when the Delhi Police said the case against him was still being investigated, but then quickly recanted the update. “Some media channels are broadcasting the news of the police filing the final report in the case filed by the women wrestlers. This news is totally wrong. This case is still under investigation and a proper report will be placed in the court only after complete investigation,” it said in a tweet in Hindi from its official account that was soon deleted.
The tweet had appeared to clarify an unnamed Delhi Police officer’s statement to some media outlets, claiming they have not found sufficient evidence to prove the allegations made by female wrestlers or to warrant the influential politician’s arrest. The police will submit a report to court within 15 days, they said.
“During the investigation so far, the police have not found sufficient evidence to arrest the WFI chief. There is also no supportive evidence to prove their (wrestlers) claim. A report will be submitted to court within 15 days, which could be in the form of a charge sheet or final report,” the officer was quoted as saying. But the clarification was quickly deleted.
The statement came amid the ongoing protests by Indian wrestlers against Singh. The athletes, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, had launched the campaign in January this year demanding action against Singh. They allege that Singh has sexually harassed several female athletes.
Coming to the aid of the protesting wrestlers, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Naresh Tikait said a ‘mahapanchayat‘ would be held in Muzaffarnagar’s Soram village on Thursday (June 1) to discuss the ongoing protest by wrestlers. Tikait, the head of Balyan khap, on Tuesday night said the matter would be discussed in detail in the mahapanchayat.
On a drama-filled Tuesday, some of India’s best wrestlers accompanied by hundreds of supporters gathered on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar threatening to immerse their hard-won world and Olympic medals refrained from doing so after being convinced by Naresh Tikait.
Tikait said several representatives of different khaps and their heads hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab Rajasthan and Delhi would be participating in the mahapanchayat to decide the next course of action in the wrestlers protest. On May 28 the Delhi police had detained the wrestlers and had also filed cases against them for violation of law and order.
Speaking about the performance of the Narendra Modi government in the field of sports, Thakur said under the Modi government the sports budget was increased from ₹874 crore to ₹2782 crore, schemes like Khelo India and Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS) were introduced that provided the opportunity of reaching the podium and crores of money have been spent on training sportspersons. He further added that 300 significant sports infrastructures are being built in the nation that will cost around ₹2700 crore.
“We have tried to do more than sportspersons’ expectations and we wish to do more. We wish for India to be stronger in every sport. On the demands of wrestlers, we created a committee after they claimed they had been wronged, they asked for additions we did that too. Committee submitted their report, after that Delhi Police filed an FIR… whatever they demanded we didn’t leave anything out.”
He added, “We heard the wrestlers with open heart and mind and the police is investigating the matter. You can see the records of past 75 years, if there have been allegations, they have been investigated.”
Thakur also said that the wrestlers can protest if they aren’t happy with the investigation’s output. “You have to trust the Supreme Court, Wrestling Association, Police. We also want fair investigation into the matter.” He also stated that elections will be soon held for the post of WFI President. “Brij Bhushan has also stepped aside as president. Everything is happening but investigation will take place as per the laws and the rules of the country.”
Internationally, the United World Wrestling (UWW), the sport’s governing body, issued a statement condemning the detention of the wrestlers and criticizing the “lack of results” in the investigations against Singh. The UWW reminded the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) of its promise to hold fresh elections for the WFI within 45 days and warned that failure to do so may lead to the suspension of the federation.
