Opposition leaders demand immediate govt intervention in wrestlers’ issue

Opposition parties demanded that the chairman of the Parliamentary committee should write a letter to the government in connection with the forceful removal of protesting wrestlers

New Delhi: The Standing Committee members of Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports met on Thursday to discuss the issues of wrestlers and the opposition leaders demanded immediate government intervention in the matter.

Talking to ANI, a member of the committee said, “We have raised the issues before the chairman of the committee and sought immediate intervention from the government.”

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According to a member of the committee, the members of the opposition parties in the meeting demanded that the chairman of the committee should write a letter to the government in connection with the forceful removal of protesting wrestlers from the protest site at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

“The meeting consisting of specific members of the opposition parties have demanded that the chairman of the committee should write a letter to the government in connection with the wrestlers who were forcefully removed from the protest site at Jantar Mantar in Delhi during the inauguration of the new parliament building,” a member told ANI.

On Sunday, India’s Olympic medallist wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia along with Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat were detained by Delhi Police while attempting to march to the new Parliament building where they planned to stage a demonstration. FIR has been filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 147, 149, 186, 188, 332, 353, Section 3 of the PDPP Act, said Delhi Police.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vivek Thakur is the chairman of the committee and there are a total of 31 members in the committee from both houses (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha).

The standing committee for Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports called a meeting on Thursday to discuss the “Olympic Preparedness and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)”, a review of progress in the construction of National Sports University, Manipur and the up-gradation of sports complexes at Varanasi and Ahmedabad” committee agenda read.

Senior officials of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) also attended the meeting and disposed of the detailed consideration in the meeting on said agenda.

The protesting ace grapplers on Tuesday decided to push back their plan of immersing their medals in the Ganga as a mark of protest against WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh after farmer leader Naresh Tikait intervened and secured a five-day ultimatum from them.

The wrestlers are pressing for the removal and arrest of the WFI chief over allegations of sexual harassment.