"Injustice done to wrestlers," says Himachal Mahila Congress
Jun 01, 2023
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], June 1 : The Himachal Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee Chief, Zainab Chandel on Thursday said that it will continue to raise its voice on the issue of allegations of sexual harassment against the Wrestling Federation of India former Chief Brij Bhushan Singh levelled by female wrestlers of the country.
The Mahila Congress threatened to launch an agitation if the ruling BJP government does not take action against Brij Bhushan, a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh.
During an interaction with the media in Shimla, She said, "There is resentment among the women of the country. Injustice has been done to wrestling players".
Several ace grapplers including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik have been protesting against the WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh accusing him of sexual harassment and demanding his arrest
She said that the union government has not been able to hear the voices of the wrestling players, adding that the daughters of the country were insulted on May 28, the day when Delhi police detained a few ace wrestlers while attempting to march towards the new parliament building.
Chandel said that the daughters who brought laurels to the country were arrested while the accused were sitting in the Parliament.
Brij Bhushan has denied all the allegations.
"...First they (protesting wrestlers) had some other demand and later they demanded something else. They are changing their demands and language continuously. I had said that if even one case against me gets proven, I will hang myself...I stand by my statement..," said Brij Bhushan to media in Gonda.
Earlier the wrestlers threatened to immerse their medals in the Ganga in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.
On Tuesday, Olympic medalist wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik alongwith Vinesh Phogat reached Uttarakhand's Haridwar to immerse their all medals including Olympic ones in the river Ganga, as a mark of their protest.
But farmer leader Naresh Tikait intervened and stopped protesting wrestlers from immersing their medals in the Ganga and said that there would be a Khap meeting over the issue.
The wrestlers later issued a five-day ultimatum to the authorities to act against the WFI chief.
United World Wrestling (UWW) on Tuesday issued a statement condemning the detention of the wrestlers on Sunday.
Delhi police, who are probing into the claims of sexual harassment, filed two First Information Reports on April 28.
