The head of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), PT Usha, visited Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, where the country’s top wrestlers have been staging a demonstration for the past 11 days. They are in protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), who they claim has sexually assaulted a number of female competitors.
She was spotted conversing with the wrestlers including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia. Nearly a week after she slammed the athletes protesting on the streets constituted indiscipline and damaged the nation’s reputation, she arrived at the protest site.
According to Bajrang Punia, she stated that she is supporting the wrestlers and will seek justice on their behalf. She also added that she is an athlete first. She promised to look into the matter and resolve it immediately. She also affirmed that she was misinterpreted.
However, the former track-and-field icon left without speaking to the media gathered at the protest site.
This fresh development was witnessed after Sports Minister Anurag Thakur emphatically mentioned that “Prime Minister Narendra Modiji’s government has always stood with players” and “sports and athletes are their priority.”
Boxing legend MC Mary Kom, who also served as the chair of the sports ministry’s oversight committee that produced a report on the allegations of sexual harassment, has not responded to the current demonstrations.
On Tuesday, Om Prakash Karhana, a 36-year-old former shot putter and Asian champion who was on the IOA’s athletes committee, spoke out in favour of the wrestlers. “I’m not speaking on behalf of the athletes commission but my personal view is that if athletes have come out in the open to fight for their rights, the system in the country should take steps to deliver justice to them as soon as possible,” he remarked.
He further pointed out that denying the wrestlers’ accusations would damage Indian sport because the athletes would lose faith in the system. The 36-year-old retired last year.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janta Party MP and WFI supremo Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has defended himself against the wrestlers’ charges. He argued that the majority of wrestlers in the nation back him and that just a small number of wrestlers connected to a Congress leader have brought accusations against him.
“90% of the athletes & guardians of Haryana trust the Wrestling Federation of India. A few families and the girls who have levelled allegations belonged to the same Mahadev Wrestling Academy. The patron of the academy is Deepender Singh Hooda,” he countered.
Following their initial protest in January, several prominent wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat, returned to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on April 23 to voice their opposition to the WFI chief.
Hours after the Supreme Court heard the case, the Delhi Police filed two FIRs in connection with allegations that named the six-term member of parliament as an offender.
The IOA had established a committee headed by M C Mary Kom to probe the accusations before the wrestlers made the decision to withdraw their protest. Vinod Tomar, the Wrestling Federation’s Additional Secretary, had also been suspended by the Union Sports Ministry.