"You were an athlete, but are now a politician": Wrestler Bajrang Punia attacks Yogeshwar Dutt
Jun 24, 2023
New Delhi [India], June 24 : Olympian wrestler Bajrang Punia lashed out at Olympics medallist Yogeshwar Dutt and said that he is no longer an "athlete" but a "politician" spreading hatred.
Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik came on Facebook Live after they "observed that some misleading things were being spread against the wrestlers".
Bajrang Punia denied that the wrestlers had demanded one trial as they did not get the time to practice.
"He (Yogeshwar Dutt) is a member of the Olympic Association committee. I do not know if he has read the letter. We don't know whether he has said all the things after reading the letter or without reading it, as his job is to spread hatred. In the letter, we have not written that we will give one trial. We demanded time as we were not able to practice. We can show the letter and what was written in that," Bajrang said during Facebook Live.
Bajrang also accused Yogeshwar of asking for favours from the Wrestling Federation of India.
"Yogeshwar Dutt and one more athlete daily used to sit with the federation to ask for direct selection without taking trials. I want to ask him what he had achieved after the 2013 Olympics that you asked for direct entry," he said.
"In 2012, one incident took place in the junior camp. Did you raise your voice against it? In 2014 also you did not raise your voice. Earlier you were an athlete, now you are a politician," Bajrang said.
Yogeshwar took to Twitter and posted a video, questioning the criteria and parameters on which the protesting grapplers were exempted from the trials.
Olympians Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat along with other wrestlers had been on a protest in the national capital since the beginning of this year in order to press for the arrest of the Brij Bhushan over allegations of sexual harassment.
Vinesh Phogat on Friday accused BJP leader Yogeshwar Dutt of leaking the names of the women wrestlers to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and the media after the committee meeting.
Earlier that day, Yogeshwar posted a video on Twitter questioning the exemption that the protesting wrestlers are reportedly getting from trials. Out of six wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat was a part of that list.
She took to Twitter and posted a tweet pointing out how Yogeshwar used to suppress the voices of the female wrestlers and leaked the names of the women wrestlers to the media as well as Brij Bhushan Singh.
