Women wrestlers make sexual harassment allegations...but... Wrestle with this... WFI chief likens protest to Shaheen Bagh!

NT Correspondent

Gonda, UP: Under-fire Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Friday termed the protest by the country’s top grapplers “dharna of Shaheen Bagh” and reiterated that he won’t quit from the post.

In late 2019 and 2020, the locality of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi was the site of a large sit-in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. A large proportion of the protestors were Muslim women. “The protest by wrestlers against me is the dharna of Shaheen Bagh,” Singh, who is also a sixth-time Lok Sabha MP from UP’s Kaisarganj constituency, told reporters in his native place here.

Celebrated Indian wrestlers, including Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, world championship medallist Vinesh Phogat and others have been staging a sit-in protest for the last two days at Jantar Mantar here against WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual exploitation and intimidation.

With chants of ‘ inqalab zindabad’ and ‘ abhi nahin toh kabhi nahin’ filling the air, the protesting wrestlers reinforced their commitment to their cause, saying they will not move from Jantar Mantar until their concerns are adequately addressed. According to PTI sources, the government wants the wrestlers to end their protest but the athletes are adamant that the WFI should first be disbanded.

However, on Friday the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) formed a seven-member committee, including M C Mary Kom and Yogeshwar Dutt, to probe the allegations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by top grapplers.

Besides legendary boxer Mary Kom and wrestler Yogeshwar, the panel also includes archer Dola Banerjee and Weightlifting Federation of India (IWLF) president Sahdev Yadav. The decision was taken during IOA's emergency Executive Council meeting which was attended by the likes of Abhinav Bindra, Yogeshwar along with IOA president PT Usha and joint secretary Kalyan Chaubey.

Shiva Keshvan was special invitee at the meeting. This comes after the agitating wrestlers had earlier in the day reached out to the IOA, demanding formation of an enquiry committee to probe the allegations against Singh, a day after threatening to lodge multiple FIRs against the WFI chief.