Former wrestler and father of Phogat sisters, Mahavir Phogat, came out in support of the wrestlers protesting against the Wrestling Foundation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh accusing him of sexual exploitation.
Mahavir, the Dronacharya Awardee, rose to fame after Aamir Khan portrayed him in the international blockbuster movie, Dangal, where Sanya Malhotra and Sana Shaikh played the roles of his daughters, Babita and Geeta Phogat.
Phogat doesn’t expect much from the stars. He, however, hoped that a word of encouragement for the wrestlers from Aamir Khan would serve their cause. “I don’t have expectations from any stars but if he (Aamir Khan) tweets in support, we would like it,” Mahavir was quoted by India Today as saying.
Meanwhile, the protesting wrestlers are continuing with their dharna at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. A commission led by Olympian Mary Kom undertook an investigation into the charges of sexual misconduct made by the female wrestlers against the WFI chief. But phogat had claimed the findings as insufficient.
“There was a dharna in January as well. We wanted to inform the sports minister, BJP chief JP Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah about the situation. They would have resolved the issue. A committee was formed (to probe the charges) but it did not do justice and no report was filed,” Phogta said.
“There is no politics over the issue. The allegation that my family is trying to usurp power is false. Our family is together. We won’t take any position in WFI,” he added.
On the other hand, the Delhi Police have registered two FIRs against the allegations of sexual exploitation of female wrestlers. However, they claimed that 90 per cent of the players support Brij Bhushan Singh while only one wrestling family has made the charges of sexploitation against him.
Earlier on 26 April, the wrestlers held a candle-light march at Jantar Mantar and beseeched PM Modi to hear their “Mann Ki Baat” too.