Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s ‘pressure tactics’

Tribune News Service

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, April 26

Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have once again alleged that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s people are threatening the complainants. The wrestlers claimed that Singh’s people have found out the address of the minor girl who is one of the seven wrestlers that have filed a complaint of sexual harassment against Singh.

“Brij Bhushan is claiming innocence while he is threatening the minor girl,” Bajrang said. “Not many here know her name but people have reached her house. If he is innocent then why is he resorting to such acts?” he added.

Bajrang added that the same people are pressuring her relatives to withdraw the complaint. He also alleged that two persons tried to scare him off the case as well.

“Today, two persons approached me and warned me, asking why I was picking up a fight with him. They told me ‘once his party did not give him the ticket, the one who got the ticket was killed the day of the voting’. They are trying to scare us but we have the support of the country. We are not scared,” he said.

As the police were still reluctant to lodge an FIR against Singh, the wrestlers carried out a candlelight procession.

The wrestlers also tried training near the dharna site, though no sparring sessions could take place as the Delhi Police did not allow them to get the mats to the dharna site.

“We trained for a bit in the morning,” Bajrang said. “We had brought the mats but the police did not allow us to place them here. When we were training on the roads, they said you can’t train as we did not have the permission. They do the same thing when we are trying to get food and water. Do we need to take permission to breathe, eat and train?” he added.

“When it comes to medals, everybody joins in and says our wrestlers have made us proud and now that we are out on the road, can’t they see our troubles. We should be in stadiums training, not sitting here. We are very hurt by all of this,” he added.

Listen to our Mann ki Baat

Sakshi and Vinesh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani to hear the wrestler’s “mann ki baat”.

“PM Modi sir says beti bachao, beti padhao. He listens to everyone’s mann ki baat and I want to ask him whether he is listening to us at all. You call us at your house and give us respect so I request you to please listen to our mann ki baat as well,” Sakshi said.

“I also want to ask Smriti Irani ji, why have you not said anything in our matter? We have been sitting here for the last four days, suffering from mosquito bites. The Delhi Police are not allowing us food. They are not allowing us to train, why are you mum? Please come and support us,” the Rio bronze medallist added.

Vinesh questioned why the PM did not reach out to them. “Who knows our voices may not be reaching him. We do not have his direct number where we can contact him. All we can do is to request a meeting through the media,” Vinesh said. “We have been saying that we wanted to meet him from the start. We have taken a huge risk with our careers for this big fight,” she added.

‘Deeply concerning’

New Delhi: Olympics champion shooter Abhinav Bindra took to social media to announce his solidarity with the protesting wrestlers. Bindra has always voiced his opinion in favour of distressed sportspersons. “As athletes, we train hard every day to represent our country on the international stage. It is deeply concerning to see our athletes finding it necessary to protest on the streets regarding the allegations of harassment in the Indian wrestling administration,” Bindra tweeted. Bindra said that all the concerns raised by top wrestlers should be addressed by the administration. “My heart goes out to all those who have been affected. We must ensure that this issue is handled properly, with the athletes’ concerns heard and addressed fairly and independently. This incident highlights the crucial need for a proper safeguarding mechanism that can prevent harassment and ensure justice for those affected,” he said. pti

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