Explained: Nation’s wrestlers take to the streets once again. Here’s everything that happened

Wrestlers of the country have once again taken to the streets to protest against Wrestling Federation India president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. They allege that he and other memebers of the fedeartion have sexually harrsed female wrestlers over the years.

Hyderabad: International wrestling champions like Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and several other renowned athletes have, once again, taken to the streets in protest against Wrestling Federation India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Who is Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh?

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Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is a six-time Member of Parliament, five times from BJP and one time from Samajwadi Party. In 1991, he was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from the Gonda constituency in Uttar Pradesh as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.

In 1992, he was involved in Babri Masjid Demolition Case, due to which he was arrested by CBI. He was later given a clean sheet by the Supreme Court of India in 2020.

He is currently serving his third term as the president of WFI. With close ties to the party leadership, he is one of the powerful leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He will not be contesting the upcoming WFI elections as the maximum number of times a candidate can contest is three. However, his son is now expected to take over his post, and he hinted at taking on another role in the federation.

The first wave of protest

In January this year, the wrestlers first made allegations against Singh. They claimed that he and several other male coaches have sexually harassed the female athletes.

Reportedly, Vinesh Phogat, the cousin of the ‘Dangal’ sisters received several calls from wrestlers in Lucknow National Camp who alleged unsafe conditions there. Later, Vinesh and other wrestlers got together and launched their protest at Jantar Mantar.

Almost every wrestler in the country supported the movement either by attending the protest themselves or by sending messages online.

The group called off the protest last time after the sports ministry formed a five-member committee, which was headed by Olympic medallist boxer MC Mary Kom. The committee was instructed to submit its findings within a month.

The report and its findings

The committee was formed on January 23 and was initially asked to submit a report within a month. However, the deadline was extended by two weeks, and also added Babita Phogat, one of the ‘Dangal’ sisters to the committee. Babita joined politics by becoming a part of the BJP in 2019.

In contrast to the wrestler’s allegations, the report submitted in the first week of April gave a clean chit to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. It is said that the wrestlers could not prove their allegations during the probe.

Politics, Babita Phogat and allegations against her

In January when a left-wing leader tried to get on stage, the wrestlers asked her to get down as they did not want to politicise the protest and wanted to keep it just an athletes’ protest.

However, in the second wave, they have said that they are open to all political parties and their leaders and made some scathing allegations against Babita Phogat.

Wrestlers alleged that Babita, who is part of the party Singh belongs to, has taken advantage of the whole movement. They say that she asked to make sure that no other politicians become a part of the movement, only to make sure she benefitted from it.

The second protest and wrestlers’ demands

After the first set of protests, wrestlers sensed their complaints not being taken seriously as WFI resumed operations and Singh continued to hold his post. And hence, they decided to begin their protest again.

While almost every wrestler was part of the protest last time around, this time only Sakshi, Vinesh, and Bajrang are seen at the Jantar Mantar protest site.

They demand an FIR be registered against Singh on the basis of their police complaint that was filed in Connaught Place PS. They are also demanding his arrest under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as one of the complainants is a minor, in addition to removing him from his post.

Wrestlers also demanded that the content of the investigation report be made public. They also alleged mismanagement of the federation and asked for it to be dissolved.

The protestors have now reached out to the Supreme Court of India and the Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that the allegations are serious. The matter will be heard on April 28 and the wrestlers reiterated that they will continue to protest until their demands are met.