Vinayak Padmadeo
New Delhi, May 19
The wrestlers who are sitting on a dharna in their fight against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in an alleged sexual harassment case have been saying that they are in for a long haul.
However, it was not the case when Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik first decided to start a sit-in protest back in January.
They started the protest and rocked the very foundation of Indian sports when they alleged that Singh had been abusing women wrestlers for a number of years. The feeling within the group was that since the allegations were of a grave nature, either Singh would resign or the government would seek his resignation forthwith to resolve the matter. The wrestlers first came to Jantar Mantar on January 18 and called off their protest three days later after the Sports Ministry formed an oversight committee to probe the allegations.
However, the wrestlers have had to return to the site for a second time as they were not satisfied with the committee’s workings. Subsequently, the wrestlers then filed a complaint with the Delhi Police and then got a favourable directive from the Supreme Court as FIRs were registered against the Wrestling Federation of India chief.
“When we came here for the first time, we thought he would resign promptly and leave. We also thought our Government would seek his resignation and the wrestling body would be handed over to the right people,” Bajrang told The Tribune on Friday, which happened to be the 27th day of their protest.
“Now we are not thinking about days any more. We have thought that this is a fight to get justice and so we will fight till the end,” added the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist.
Further, the wrestlers never wanted to file a police complaint or approach the courts as they wanted to hide the identities of the victims.
“We did not want a big fight because we wanted to save the girls. Already you can see when we sent in the complaints this time, those names were leaked. We wanted to keep their names confidential. They are all out in the open now. Those girls are being pressured now,” Bajrang said.
“If any such incident happens to a girl in our society, it is remembered for eternity. However, if a boy does any such thing, people forget in two months or a year maximum. No girl will put forward such allegations for fun. These are serious allegations and these girls have to live their lives. Some of them will get married as well. No one plays with their honour to get political benefits,” he added.
Chopra looks to better silver effort in Paavo Nurmi Games
New Delhi: Olympics champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will look to go one better in the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on June 13. The Paavo Nurmi Games is a World Athletics Continental Tour gold-level meet. A year ago, Chopra threw 89.30 metres to bag silver.
The 25-year-old won gold in the first leg of the Diamond League series in Doha on May 5 in his season opening event.
German star Johannes Vetter will renew his rivalry with Chopra in nearly two years. Besides Vetter, Chopra will also compete against Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, European champion Julian Weber of Germany and European Championships bronze medallist Lassi Etelatolo of Finland in the event. Before the Paavo Nurmi Games, he will take part in the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games at Hengelo, the Netherlands, on June 4. PTI