New Delhi: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief P.T. Usha met wrestlers at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar Wednesday — 11 days after the athletes hit the streets to protest alleged administrative apathy towards allegations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
#WATCH | Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha reached Delhi's Jantar Mantar where wrestlers are protesting since 11 days. pic.twitter.com/Vs3Lp1ZHaO
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2023
Just days ago, Usha angered the protesting wrestlers when she said their actions amounted to indiscipline and had tarnished the image of the country.
She told the media: “The IOA has a committee for sexual harassment. Instead of going to the streets, they (protesting wrestlers) could have come to us earlier, but they did not. It is not good for sports… they should have some discipline.”
Usha told the wrestlers that she was with them and assured them justice. “She said she was an athlete first and then everything else. She said she would resolve our situation as soon as possible. But we will remain here till Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh goes to jail,” wrestler Bajran Punia said after the meeting.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, who is one the faces of the protest, called Usha “insensitive”.
“We live as per the Constitution and are independent citizens. We can go anywhere. If we are sitting out in the streets, there must be some reason, a reason that nobody listened to us, be it IOA or Sports Ministry. Her saying this is insensitive. I even called her, but she did not pick up my phone,” she said last week.
Another prominent face of the protest, Sakshi Malik, said: “Being a woman athlete, she (PT Usha) is not listening to other women athletes. We have followed her since childhood and were inspired by her. Where there is indiscipline here, we are sitting peacefully.”
Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia said: “You feel sad when she says these things because she is the IOA chief and a woman herself… She cried for her academy in front of the media. She wants us to approach IOA, but we went there three months ago, and no justice was given.”
This is the second time in three months that wrestlers have made Jantar Mantar their makeshift protest site, squatting in public against the BLP lawmaker.
Last week, following an intervention of the Supreme Court, the Delhi Police registered two cases against Singh, including the alleged sexual harassment of a minor. But the wrestlers have said this was not enough – they want him dismissed by the Wrestling Federation of India and are threatening to camp at the protest site until that happens.