Khap panchayat leaders, who sought five days from the athletes to address the issue, meet for a second consecutive day on Friday.
Published Jun 03, 2023 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 03, 2023 | 8:00 AM
Wrestlers Sangeeta Phogat, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik (left), and Activists protesting in Vijayawada. (Supplied)
Support is pouring in from various parts of the country for the nation’s top wrestlers who have been demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for allegedly sexually harassing grapplers.
Those who came out in support of the wrestlers most recently included the 1983 Kapil Dev-led Indian cricket team that lifted the World Cup for the first time in the country’s history.
A rally and public meeting were held in Kerala’s Kannur district on Friday, 2 May, in solidarity with the wrestlers. More rallies are planned for Saturday — in Thrissur and Kozhikode.
Politicians, former sportspersons, including footballer CV Pappachan, writers, and intellectuals are expected to attend the rally in Thrissur, considered Kerala’s cultural capital.
Telangana’s capital Hyderabad, its Karnataka counterpart Bengaluru, and Kochi in Kerala have been witnessing similar protests over the past few days.
The district area committee of the Kerala Karshaka Sangham held a sit-in in front of the Municipal Corporation in Thrissur on Friday.
Meanwhile, Khap panchayats (community groups) in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar threw their weight behind the wrestlers on Thursday, 1 June.
They continued their meeting for the second consecutive day at several places in Haryana, including Kurukshetra.
On 30 May, the Khap and farmers’ leaders urged the wrestlers to refrain from tossing their World Championship and Olympic medals into the Ganga river at Haridwar.
They also sought five days’ time to address the athletes’ grievances.
At Pendurthi near Visakhapatnam, workers, women and farmers’ organisations took out a rally and formed a human chain on Thursday in solidarity with the protesting wrestlers.
Women’s organisations take out a candlelight rally in support of the wrestlers. (Supplied)
“We are protesting against the Union government, on whose orders violence was unleashed on the protesting wrestlers,” Lakshmi, one of the organisers of the protest, told South First.
“The wrestlers have been implicated in false cases and they should be withdrawn. The accused, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, should be arrested,” she said, adding that the protest would continue until the wrestlers got justice.
The Delhi Police, on 29 May, registered cases against wrestlers for “rioting” and “unlawful assembly” after they were detained while trying to march to the new Parliament building.
Several women’s organisations held a dharna in Vijayawada demanding the immediate arrest of Brij Bhushan.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) organised a dharna in front of the BR Ambedkar statue in the Anantapur district.
The NFIW also organised a candlelight march in Dhone.
Based on the complaint of seven women wrestlers, two FIRs against Brij Bhushan were taken by the Delhi Police on 28 April. Another 10 complaints have been filed against him.
Activists protesting in Vijayawada in solidarity with wrestlers. (Supplied)
The allegations included demanding sexual favours, inappropriate touching, groping, pulling up t-shirts, blackmailing, and employing intimidation tactics. One of the complainants is reportedly a minor.
The wrestlers, who were sitting in protest at Jantar Mantar, were evicted on 28 May, the day the new Parliament was inaugurated.
Though they threatened to go on hunger strike at the India Gate, the police reportedly denied them permission.
The protesting wrestlers have been led by Olympic medalists Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik, and Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat.
In a statement, the Indian cricket team — they came to be known as Kapil’s Devils — which won the World Cup in 1983 demanded the government address the wrestlers’ grievances.
In the statement released to PTI, the team said, “We are distressed and disturbed at the unseemly visuals of our champion wrestlers being manhandled. We are also most concerned that they are thinking of dumping their hard-earned medals into the River Ganga.”
It added: “Those medals involved years of effort, sacrifice, determination, and grit, and are they not only their own but the nation’s pride and joy. We urge them not to take any hasty decision in this matter and also fervently hope that their grievances are heard and resolved quickly. Let the law of the land prevail.”
Kapil Dev himself said: “I am not going to say anything individually, the entire 1983 team stands by the statement we have issued.”
The rest of the members of the team include Roger Binny, who is now BCCI president, legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, K Srikanth, Syed Kirmani, Yashpal Sharma, Madan Lal, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Sandeep Patil, and Kirti Azad.
Earlier, former Indian cricketers Anil Kumble, Robin Uthappa, and Irfan Pathan expressed solidarity with the wrestlers.
Reigning Olympic gold medalist in javelin Neeraj Chopra and India’s first individual Olympic gold medalist shooter Abhinav Bindra also condemned the police action against wrestlers and demanded justice for the athletes.
