Wrestlers continue protest against federation president, demand new head

Sonu Ahlawat, 25, a wrestler from Haryana, said, “The demand is to remove him (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh) from the post of WFI president. He has been accused of sexual harassment. Woh khiladiyon ko threaten karte hain…shuru se hi karte aaye hain (He has been threatening wrestlers and has been doing so since the beginning). People are still scared… there is still some fear among those of us who are here…that our time as wrestlers can be spoilt for being here. Wrestlers like Punia and Vinesh are speaking out now because they have had enough of this,”

Olympian Amit Dahiya, who joined the protest Thursday, said, “Federation ka doosra adhyaksh chahiye. We need more support. Jo abhi adhyaksh hain, who apni man marzi se chalata hain…kisi ki sunta nahi hain (current president runs it according to his whims and doesn’t listen to anyone).”

Wrestlers emphasised they did not intend to make the protest a political matter. In a purported video from Thursday, Punia is seen requesting CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat not to make it a political matter. Karat, who was at the site of the protest, was asked by the wrestlers to step down from the stage. “Aapse request hai, aap saamne aaye. Madam, please isko rajneeti ka mudda na banaiye…yeh khiladiyon ka dharna hain,” Punia said.

Army veterans Vir Singh Chauhan and Lal Singh Yadav said they had come to support the women who had “spoken out against the WFI president”.

“This is a question of safety of our daughters. If they are saying something like this, we need to stand with them. A high-level inquiry is necessary. If the government is really saying ‘beti bachao, beti padhao,’ this is the time to prove it,” Chauhan said.