Justice for ‘India’s Daughters’ more significant than a medal at the Asian Games: Bajrang Punia
Additionally, according to Bajrang, Brijbhushan is attempting to maintain control over the federation through his family.
The upcoming Asian Games are less significant, according to Bajrang Punia, than the protests that are currently taking place in New Delhi to demand the removal and arrest of Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Indian Wrestling Federation, who is accused of sexually abusing and harassing female wrestlers.
He said at a press conference, “We want to play, it’s not like we don’t want to go to the Asian Games. But I think achieving justice for the daughters of this nation is much more significant than receiving an Asian medal.
The wrestlers would be in the middle of getting ready for the Asian Games, which will take place in Hangzhou, China in September of this year, at the time of the ongoing protest. Bajrang and Vinesh Phogat, who both won gold at the 2018 Asian Games, are currently camped out at Jantar Mantar in the Indian capital with other wrestlers and 2016 Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik. Who will represent Indian wrestling at the Asiad is still unknown because the WFI is currently on indefinite hiatus.
The media’s coverage of the protests, according to Bajrang, has been biassed in favour of Brijbhushan, who is “trying to give this protest a different angle,” he continued.
“Look at his criminal history; there are no doubts about that. Questions are raised when we receive awards for the nation, he said.
Keeping control
Brijbhushan is allegedly trying to maintain control over the federation through his family, according to Bajrang. Since 2019, his son Karan Bhushan Sharan Singh has served as vice president and senior vice-president of WFI as well as vice president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association.
“Very few people are attempting to politicise this protest by taking it in a different direction. The reason we are seated here and engaged in this conflict is that we want to seize control of the federation, according to Brijbhushan,” Bajrang said. “You must hold a position in a state wrestling federation if you want to hold any office within the organisation, including that of the president. He has repeatedly stated that he won’t run for office again or return, but since 12 years have passed, he is ineligible. However, his family has been in charge of UP and Bihar wrestling. He claims that we are engaging in “pariwaarvad,” but it is actually him.
Since the protests began, groups opposed to the wrestlers have made an effort to divide the controversy between the states of Haryana, where the majority of the wrestlers are from, and UP, where Brijbhushan is a member of parliament. In response to inquiries about it, Vinesh said: “You can see a lot of athletes on Twitter who have publicly supported us and sent messages. All of them, including Abhinav Bindra, Nikhat Zareen, and Sania Mirza, are not from Haryana or involved in the sport of wrestling.
Out of concern for the safety of the complaining women, the wrestler added that she will not be disclosing any information about the ongoing investigation by the Delhi Police, who confirmed to the Supreme Court that they will file a FIR against the BJP MP. “These girls’ safety is crucial, and this is a sensitive topic. We can’t take the chance of any information getting out,” she said.
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