Wrestlers’ protest to continue, but in court
The group of star wrestlers protesting in demand for adequate punishment for WFI’s outgoing president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for sexually harassing female wrestlers have decided to call off their protest on the street in favour of continuing it in court. They announced this decision in a statement released on social media, which added that they will wait for the implementation of the government’s assurances.
The protesting wrestlers have decided to continue fighting the battle against the outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for sexually harassing female wrestlers, but in court and not on the streets. They announced their decision to call of their street protest through a statement circulated on social media, more than six months after they first sat on a dharna in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
In their statement, they said they will wait for the implementation of assurances made by the government.
Translated from Hindi, the statement, issued on Sunday (June 25) night, on Sakshi Malik’s and others’ Twitter handles, reads: “Implementing the assurances government had made to protesting wrestlers on 7 June’s meeting, in the matter of female wrestlers’ sexual harassment, Delhi Police completed an investigation based on FIRs lodged by six female wrestlers, and filed a chargesheet on 15 June. This fight will now continue in the court and not on the streets, until justice is delivered to us,”
The WFI election for the new office-bearers is scheduled for July, though Gauhati High Court today stayed the elections on a plea by the Assam Wrestling Association (AWA) for its affiliation to the national body.
