PT Usha meets protesting wrestlers at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar
The head of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), PT Usha, visited Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, the place the nation’s prime wrestlers have been staging an illustration for the earlier 11 days. They are in protest in opposition to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), who they declare has sexually assaulted a wide range of female opponents.
#WATCH | Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha reached Delhi’s Jantar Mantar the place wrestlers are protesting since 11 days. pic.twitter.com/Vs3Lp1ZHaO
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2023
She was observed conversing with the wrestlers along with Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia. Nearly each week after she slammed the athletes protesting on the streets constituted indiscipline and damaged the nation’s fame, she arrived on the protest web site.
According to Bajrang Punia, she mentioned that she is supporting the wrestlers and might search justice on their behalf. She moreover added that she is an athlete first. She promised to look into the matter and resolve it immediately. She moreover affirmed that she was misinterpreted.
She (PT Usha) acknowledged that she is standing with us and might get us justice and that she is an athlete first after which something. She acknowledged that she’s going to look into our drawback and resolve it as early as doable. We will keep proper right here till Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh goes to jail:… pic.twitter.com/qhKi1jNtow
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2023
However, the earlier track-and-field icon left with out chatting with the media gathered on the protest web site.
This modern enchancment was witnessed after Sports Minister Anurag Thakur emphatically talked about 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 moreover served as a result of the chair of the sports activities actions 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 extra recognized that denying the wrestlers’ accusations would hurt Indian sport on account of the athletes would lose faith inside the system. The 36-year-old retired last yr.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janta Party MP and WFI supremo Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has defended himself in opposition to the wrestlers’ charges. He argued that the majority of wrestlers inside the nation once more him and that solely a small number of wrestlers linked to a Congress chief have launched accusations in opposition to 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 preliminary protest in January, quite a few excellent wrestlers, along with 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 reference to 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 sooner than the wrestlers made the selection to withdraw their protest. Vinod Tomar, the Wrestling Federation’s Additional Secretary, had moreover been suspended by the Union Sports Ministry.
