India wrestlers protests: Sports minister promises swift probe

World
By William

Wrestlers have postponed the protest after Sports Minister Anurag Thakur promised them a quick end to the investigation into sexual assault allegations against WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Top Indian wrestlers have postponed an upcoming protest after Sports Minister Anurag Thakur promised a speedy conclusion to the investigation into sexual assault allegations against the country’s wrestling body chief.

Olympic medalists Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Asian Games medalist Vinesh Phogat have led protests against the government’s lack of action against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is also a member of parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Janata Party. (BJP).

He has denied allegations against him relating to sexually assaulting seven female athletes, including a minor.

“We have been told that the police investigation will be completed by June 15. We have been asked to wait and suspend the protest until then,” Malik told reporters at the end of a five-hour meeting with Thakur at his home in New Delhi. on Wednesday.

“If no action is taken by June 15, we will continue our protest,” added Punia, who won the men’s 65-kg (143-pound) freestyle bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Thakur, who is also a member of Modi’s party, said police would file charges by June 15 and that the wrestlers had assured him they would not hold any demonstrations until then.

“They have asked us to complete the investigation and file charges by June 15. We will do that,” the minister told reporters.

The wrestlers were charged with rioting and disorder by police on May 28 after being briefly detained during a march to the country’s new parliament building shortly after Modi inaugurated it in an elaborate ceremony.

Last week, Punia, Malik and Phogat had threatened to throw their medals into the Ganges River for inaction before being dissuaded by prominent peasant leader Naresh Tikait.

After meeting Thakur, the wrestlers said they were reassured that the charges against them would be dropped and the criminal charge would be dropped.

“Those moments when we were dragged and roughly treated by the police were deeply humiliating for all wrestlers, because we only want justice for seven female victims of sexual abuse,” said Punia.

The prominent athletes at the center of the scandal also met with India’s Home Minister Amit Shah last week and demanded that neither Singh nor any member of his family be allowed to participate in the upcoming elections of the WFI. Singh is in his third term as WFI president following his re-election in 2019.

Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Neeraj Chopra and former Olympic sports shooter Abhinav Bindra, also a gold medalist, have led to condemnation of the government’s handling of the scandal and the protesting wrestlers.

Last week, wrestling’s world governing body, United World Wrestling (UWW), urged Indian authorities to conduct a “thorough and impartial investigation” into the allegations against Singh and threatened to suspend WFI if it failed to act. elections would be held at the end of a 45-day deadline.

‘This is the culture’

Vinesh Phogat told Al Jazeera in March that several cases of sexual harassment have been reported in the past and accused Singh of either letting the charges go away or getting the complainant out of the game.

Phogat said she received calls from young female wrestlers from a state in eastern India.

“They had written a complaint to the WFI about sexual harassment by a coach,” she said. “The coach was suspended for ten days, but returned as head coach after seven days. This is the culture [of the WFI]. If the head himself is like this, what action will he take against others?

The protesting wrestlers have refused to share the names of the women who have filed complaints.

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