New Delhi: Wrestlers protesting against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh held a press conference at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, Saturday. Addressing the media at around 9.45 pm, wrestler Vinesh Phogat said she and others are sitting at Jantar Mantar “with great difficulty”.
“The government pressured us to reach a compromise, but we are not ready to compromise,” said the 28-year-old, who is the first Indian woman wrestler to bag a gold in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games.
Referring to their decision to hold an all-woman mahapanchayat near the new Parliament building, which is to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday, Phogat said the “all-woman panchayat will happen”.
The government, she added, has deployed additional forces to stop those who are trying to reach Delhi to take part in the mahapanchayat, which according to organisers, will be held only once the official inauguration ceremony has ended.
Alleging that police are detaining individuals to stop them from attending the all-woman mahapanchayat, Phogat requested supporters to reach the national capital but without indulging in any kind of violence.
“We will tolerate whatever happens, but without indulging in violence. Everyone has to reach (venue of mahapanchayat). This is about respect for women,” she said.
Phogat, who addressed the media alongside fellow wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, also said that protesters demanding further action against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh are “fighting for the truth”.
“We will stand firm till we are alive,” she said.
In a video message she posted on Twitter shortly after the press conference, Phogat added, “There are a lot of rumours doing the rounds that the players have compromised. We had talks with the government and were being pressured to reach a compromise but we had only one demand, that Brij Bhushan be arrested and we will stick to that demand. We have not compromised and are fighting for respect for women and will continue fighting.”
She then appealed to supporters, especially women, to attend the all-woman mahapanchayat near the new Parliament building Sunday in “large numbers”.
“Whoever is coming to join, you must be peaceful and not indulge in any violence. A lot of people want to end our fight for justice or muzzle our voices and we don’t want that to happen. We are fighting and will continue to fight till our last breath,” she said.
Wrestlers have been staging a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar since 23 April, demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by at least seven women wrestlers, including a minor.
Though Singh continues to deny the allegations, Delhi police have filed two FIRs against him. The first relates to allegations levelled against him by a minor and has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while the second has been filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for outraging the modesty of a woman.
In response to the wrestlers’ protest, Singh plans to hold a rally in Ayodhya on 5 June, and in a media interaction earlier, claimed that the POCSO Act was “being misused against children, the elderly, and seers” and that he would, “under the leadership of seers, force the government to change” it. While maintaining that the allegations against him are false, Singh told news agency PTI that 11 lakh seers will take part in the rally in Ayodhya.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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