Top protesting Indian wrestlers plan to throw their medals into the Ganga River in Haridwar at 6 pm on Tuesday evening before going on an indefinite hunger strike at India Gate, New Delhi in protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over the sexual harassment allegations.
In a joint statement, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia announced that they will travel to Haridwar at 6 o’clock to immerse the medals in the Ganga. The wrestlers quoted, “These medals represent our spirits and our life. After throwing them into the Ganga today, there would be no need to continue living. After that, we will hold a hunger strike at India Gate until we die.”
The Prime Minister, they continued, “calls us our daughters,” but he never once showed concern for the wrestlers. Instead, he welcomed the ‘oppressor’ (Brij Bhushan) to the opening of the new Parliament building. He even posed for pictures wearing all white clothing. This radiance has marred us”, added the protesting wrestlers.
On Sunday, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sangeeta Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and several other people attempted to go towards the new Parliament building for “Mahila Mahapanchayat,” but were stopped by Delhi Police.
A video came out of Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi from Rio that said, “I have not given up.” She claimed that the wrestlers were considering their next move as they continued to receive support from the athletic community in the wake of the clear condemnation of the police action against the top grapplers by numerous political figures and athletes.
“Police has filed FIR against us when we have not caused any damage to the public property. They were very cruel with us, one woman (wrestler) was being handled by 20 officers, you can see the videos… We want to inform our supporters, who are waiting for us at Gurdwara (in Ambala) and other places, that we spent this day devising our next strategy. We have not stepped back, the protest will continue. We will let you know our next step, keep supporting us,” she said.
Abhinav Bindra, the first individual Olympic gold medalist from India, criticised the police intervention against the best wrestlers, claiming it left him “sleepless” and “haunted” by the dreadful scenes.
“Why does it have to come down to our wrestlers being dragged around without any consideration?” tweeted India’s football captain Chhetri. No one should be treated in this manner. I sincerely hope that the case has been properly evaluated.
“I’m so sad to see the visuals of our Athletes…. Please solve this ASAP,” Pathan, a former all-rounder, tweeted.