India’s top wrestlers including the likes of Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik along with several others once again turned to protest at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Sunday. The wrestlers were desperate in their resolve this time as they spent the entire night at the protest sight.
They are looking for answers against former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. There are accusations of sexual harassment against the former WFI chief and the wrestlers have now waited enough for the special committee to announce their verdict, hence they have been forced to return to the protest site again.
“We are not moving this time and we will sit here till we get justice,” Phogat had told The Bridge in a brief chat on Sunday after they gathered at Jantar Mantar.
The protests at Jantar Mantar started three months ago against the WFI chief but the stark contrast in both the protest is that the wrestlers would leave the site by night. But this time they are rigid in their claims and are ready to pay any consequence. “From podium to footpath. In the hope of justice under the open sky at midnight,” Phogat tweeted with a photo of the protestors sleeping at Jantar Mantar.
Later on the day, Vinesh Phogat also revealed that the officials are trying to drive the wrestlers out of the protest site. She highlighted that she along with her husband was not allowed to enter with food and later the water supply was also cut off to drive them away from the protest site. “I went out and they shut the gates. They didn’t let me enter. They have stopped the water supply and they have closed the washrooms also,” Vinesh added.
The wrestlers have time and again have made their demands clear that they want the former WFI chief to pay for his actions and also want him totally out of the national body. However, the Oversight Committee that was formed of some imminent sportspersons from India are yet to submit their report on their findings.
Vinesh has a major concern surrounding the committee as she fails to understand the secrecy around their findings. She also points out the courage that the women wrestlers have shown to come out and protest against something that is so sensitive and yet their words are falling on deaf ears. Hence she clearly stated that she and others have lost faith in the Oversight Committee.
“Why is there secrecy over the findings of the Oversight Committee and the details about how they went about the probe? Women wrestlers have shown the courage to speak about what they faced but it seems like their words don’t matter. We have raised a very sensitive issue which concerns the safety of women wrestlers. We have lost faith in the committee,” she told in an interaction with The Indian Express.
