New Delhi: Cricketing icons who won the 1983 World Cup have come out in support of top wrestlers protesting sexual harassment charges against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The team released a statement Friday, “fervently” hoping that the wrestlers’ grievances were heard and resolved quickly.
Ace wrestlers – led by Olympic medal winners Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and Commonwealth and Asian Games winner Vinesh Phogat – have intensified their outcry against Singh in the last one week.
Matters came to a head after the Delhi Police briefly detained the wrestlers during their march to the new Parliament building on 28 May while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating it. The same day, the police had cleared out their month-long protest site at Jantar Mantar.
Two days later, the wrestlers — mostly from Haryana — gathered on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar and threatened to “immerse” their medals. They paused their plans after powerful farmer leaders from the state stepped in and asked them to give the government five days to take definitive action.
The 1983 team said in their statement Friday: “We are distressed and disturbed at the unseemly visuals of our champion wrestlers being manhandled. We are also most concerned that they are thinking of dumping their hard-earned medals into river Ganga. Those medals have involved years of effort, sacrifice, determination and grit and are not only their own but the nation’s pride and joy. We urge them not to take any hasty decision in this matter and also fervently hope that their grievances are heard and resolved quickly. Let the law of the land prevail.”
These cricketers, under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, had humbled the mighty Clive Lloyd-led West Indies team in 1983 to give India its first taste of a cricket trophy.
The other members who shone at Lord’s on 25 June that year were Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, K. Srikanth, Syed Kirmani, Yashpal Sharma, Madan Lal, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Sandeep Patil, Kirti Azad and Roger Binny.
Madan Lal, who scalped three wickets in the final, told news agency ANI: “It is heartbreaking that they decided to throw their medals. We aren’t in favour of them throwing their medals because earning medals isn’t easy and we urge the government to sort out this issue as soon as possible.”
On 30 May, as wrestlers sat on the banks of the river with their medals, spinner Anil Kumble had tweeted: “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.”
On Friday, farmers held a “khap mahapanchayat” in Haryana’s Kurukshetra to decide on the next steps to be taken in the agitation.
In another “mahapanchayat” in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar Thursday, more than 60 khaps from Haryana and western UP announced they were ready to launch a protest akin to the 2020-21 farmers’ agitation to “ensure justice” for wrestlers.
Meanwhile, the embattled wrestling body chief, also a BJP MP, cancelled a “support” rally in Ayodhya Friday after details of his alleged misconduct became public Thursday evening. Singh, who has denied any wrongdoing, had defiantly said Wednesday that he would hang himself if allegations against him were proven.
Pstponing his rally, the MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaisarganj wrote on Facebook Friday that as a Lok Sabha member of 28 years he had “tried to unite people of all castes, communities and religions while in power and opposition. These are the reasons my political opponents and their parties have falsely accused me”.
Charges brought against him by seven women wrestlers – one of them a minor – include inappropriate touching, molestation and soliciting “sexual favours” in lieu of professional assistance and support.
There are two FIRs against Singh – one on the complaint by the minor’s father, and another based on the charges of the other six. It is alleged that he touched their breasts, slid his hand down their stomach and rested it on their navel to apparently check their breath.
One of them told the police that when she resisted his advances, Singh snapped back: “Zyada smart bann rahi hai kya… aage koi competition nahi khelne kya tune?”
Also read: Brij Bhushan postpones Ayodhya rally — ‘political rivals have made false allegations against me’