Grapplers, who have been sitting at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for more than three weeks, marched the wrestlers’ protest to the Hanuman Temple at Connaught Place and then to the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara on Wednesday, demanding the arrest of the wrestling association president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. At both places the wrestlers offered prayers.
Earlier this year, about 30 wrestlers, including women wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, sat on a dharna at Jantar Mantar against the President of the Wrestling Federation of India. The wrestlers had made several serious allegations against the President of the Wrestling Association, including sexual exploitation. Then, after the intervention of the Sports Ministry in the matter, the wrestlers’ protest had ended. The Ministry has formed a committee to investigate the allegations of the wrestlers. After that, the committee asked Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to stay away from his work. But he remained in his post and continued to maintain his innocence.
Bajrang spoke to the media after the wrestlers’ visit to the temple. He urged for help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Bajrang said, “I think our voices are not reaching PM Modi. We request him and Home Minister to ensure justice for us. They gave the slogan, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’. So we request that give justice to these daughters. They are also the nation’s daughters. We have come to the temple to seek Bajrang Bali’s blessings so that the daughters of our country get justice at the earliest.”
Determined to make the wrestlers’ protest much bigger the Protesters are keen on shifting to a bigger venue. Therefore they are planning to shift their protest from Jantar Mantar to Ram Lila Maidan and thereby making the agitation a National movement. They are likely to shift the protest after the 21st of May. The wrestlers were accompanied by Bhim Army president Chandrashekhar Azad on their visit to the temple.
