New Delhi: India’s top wrestlers broke down on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar Tuesday evening as they planned to “immerse” their medals as part of their ongoing protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Singh over sexual harassment charges.
They have also threatened a fast-unto-death protest at Delhi’s India Gate war memorial.
The grapplers reached Haridwar’s Har Ki Pauri around six in the evening, and cried as they held the medals close to their chest. A television channel showed how Olympian Sakshi Malik brought her medals from her home – in a black bag — to Haridwar.
Surrounded by their family members, the star athletes sat on the banks of the river and were consoled by their colleagues.
Video credit: Manisha Mondal/ThePrint
A huge crowd also gathered around the athletes, urging them not to hurl their medals in the river.
Supportive tweets were posted as the wrestlers sat on the banks. Veteran cricketer Anil Kumble said: “Dismayed to hear about what transpired on the 28th of May with our wrestlers being manhandled. Anything can be resolved through proper dialogue. Hoping for a resolution at the earliest.”
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi: “The whole country is shocked. There are tears in the eyes of the country. The Prime Minister should now shed his arrogance.”
The wrestlers had been camping in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar since 23 April demanding action against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has denied any wrongdoing. Singh is also a BJP MP. He has been stripped of his administrative powers but the grapplers want his arrest over allegations of sexual harassment against seven women wrestlers – one of them a minor.
Several protesting wrestlers were briefly detained Sunday, and cases slapped against them later, as they tried to march towards the new Parliament building. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was presiding over its inaugural function at that time. The makeshift protest site was also cleared by the Delhi Police.
Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia and Asian Games gold holder Vinesh Phogat issued a joint statement on Tuesday morning spelling out their next step on immersing their medals in Haridwar.
“For us, our medals are sacred, and so is the river Ganges,” they said in the statement. “This holy river is the perfect custodian of our medals, not the system that shields the offender.”
The athletes said that after throwing their medals into the river they would return to New Delhi to begin a hunger strike at the India Gate war memorial. However, news agency ANI quoted police sources as saying that the wrestlers wouldn’t be allowed to protest at India Gate as the national monument was not the site for demonstrations.
The star athletes tweeted in the morning about how the police had “brutally” broken up their peaceful protest Sunday, and treated them like criminals. They asked if the seven women grapplers had made a mistake by asking for justice over their harassment.
“Why did we win (the medals)? Was it to witness the horrific behaviour of authorities? Many women wrestlers hid in the fields Monday… Authorities should have caught the perpetrator, but they only wanted to scare and break the victims,” the tweet read.
They said Prime Minister Modi, who called these women daughters, was not interested in their protest and instead had called the alleged harasser to the inauguration of the new Parliament.
They asked if there was any space for wrestlers, and India’s daughters in this “shining” country.
“These medals are our lives, our souls. Once they drown in the Ganga, our lives will have no meaning. And that is why we shall sit for a fast-unto-death at India Gate. India Gate is the place for the country’s martyrs. We are not as pure as them, but when we played at the international level, our thoughts were like those soldiers… Now people need to decide whether they want to stand with their daughters or with their oppressor,” the tweet read.
This is the wrestlers’ second protest, having hit Jantar Mantar the first time in January. The Sports Ministry had stepped in at that time, and the Indian Olympic Association formed an oversight committee to probe their claims against Brij Bhushan Singh. The BJP MP stepped aside till the probe was completed.
The Wrestling Federation of India told the Sports Ministry that the allegations were malicious and unfounded.
The oversight committee submitted its report on 16 April, which was not made public. Singh then said that he would not contest for the president’s post after three terms in office.
On 23 April, the wrestlers, led by Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi, were back at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, accusing the Delhi Police of not registering an FIR despite the seven women wrestlers complaining at Delhi Connaught Place police station.
They moved the Supreme Court, which termed the allegations against Singh as “serious”. The Delhi Police informed the top court on 28 April that they would file an FIR.
The wrestlers, however, said they would continue to protest till Singh was sent behind bars. They were finally moved out of Jantar Mantar on 28 May through police action.
The Delhi Police has registered two FIRs against Singh – one under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) as one complainant is a minor and the other for a comprehensive investigation into the charges.
Also read: ‘Minor’ girl’s uncle claims wrestlers misleading his family, using them to frame Brij Bhushan