Chandigarh: Extending support to wrestlers demanding prompt action against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, an umbrella group of khap panchayats Sunday announced its decision to hold an all-woman panchayat at the new Parliament building in New Delhi on 28 May.
The all-woman panchayat will coincide with the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Khap leaders say they will use the event to demand that Singh be arrested, and that he take a narco test without further delay.
A BJP MP, Brij Bhushan has been accused by seven wrestlers, including a minor, of sexual harassment. He has denied the allegations.
The khaps’ decision to throw their weight behind protesting wrestlers was made after Olympic bronze medallist Sakshee Malikkh presented their case at the Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat held at the historic chabutara (platform) of Meham Chaubisi Sunday.
The mahapanchayat also endorsed the candle march to be organised at India Gate on 23 May in support of the protesting wrestlers.
Mehar Singh Nambardar, president of Meham Chaubisi (cluster of 24 villages) Khap, told ThePrint over the phone that Malikkh had sought their support.
“All khap panchayats are standing with our daughters in their fight for justice. As the issue involves the dignity of our daughters, we have decided to hold an all-woman panchayat at the new Parliament building on 28 May,” he said. “We don’t have any intention of disrupting the inauguration of the new Parliament building by the Prime Minister. But we will hold our all-woman panchayat once the inauguration event is over.”
The Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat was an assembly of all khaps in the region and was attended by khap representatives and farmers’ leaders from districts spanning Haryana, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The chabutara at Meham Chaubisi is a historic platform where elders of 24 villages have in recent decades held regular meetings to address political, social, and cultural issues.
Moreover, Meham was a popular seat of Sufism in the 17th and 18th centuries and the chabutara is where many Sufi saints delivered their sermons. The chabutara is also where meetings were organised during the 1857 war of Independence, according to the official website of the Ministry of Culture’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
‘Ready to take narco test’: Brij Bhushan
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said in a Facebook post Sunday that he was ready to undergo a narco test as long as protesting wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat took one as well.
“If both the wrestlers agree, then they should call the press and announce it,” wrote Brij Bhushan, who claims the allegations levelled against him are part of a conspiracy.
Speaking to the media Monday, Vinesh Phogat announced that she and Punia have accepted Singh’s condition. “He has challenged me and Bajrang Punia, but these seven girls (complainants) will take the test too. It should be telecast live so that the entire country knows about his cruelty to its daughters,” Phogat said.
On Sunday, Malikkh, who attended the mahapanchayat along with her husband and fellow wrestler Satyawart Kadian, had set the ball rolling by making a brief statement about the various issues faced by wrestlers. She then sought the support of the khap and social outfits, stating that wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar may be in for a prolonged battle since the government “was not taking their demands seriously”.
She emphasised the need for the protests to remain peaceful.
After hearing her out, an 11-member committee of khap representatives deliberated for nearly two hours behind closed doors in a house near the meeting venue. They then returned to the venue and announced their support for the protesters.
The Sarva Khap Mahapanchayat was held in light of the 21 May deadline set by wrestlers for khaps to take a call on how to take the agitation forward.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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