After Haridwar huddle, wrestlers rethink switch to drop medals in Ganga

ON A day of extreme drama, the protesting wrestlers, led by Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, launched on Tuesday that they’d ‘immerse’ their medals throughout the Ganga river, and reached Har ki Pauri in Haridwar by night time.

After sitting in a huddle on the banks of the river for over an hour-and-a-half, the place just a few of them could very nicely be seen sobbing as they clutched their medals and citations, the wrestlers reversed their decision, rapidly after Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Naresh Tikait reached the spot and requested them to defer their decision by 5 days.

Protesting wrestlers sit at Har ki Pauri, in Haridwar district. (PTI)

Before Tikait’s arrival, because the group on the ghat grew better, a human chain of family members and completely different pehelwans shielded the wrestlers. Sakshi’s mother, Sudesh, held her daughter tight; Vinesh’s husband, Somvir Rathee, moreover a grappler, embraced her as she broke down and lined her face.

Somewhat over an hour later, as Tikait and his supporters arrived on the spot, the wrestlers and the farm chief went into a brief huddle. And, minutes later, the wrestlers made their choice to their parked cars.

The wrestlers acknowledged there are just a few reason they modified their minds, along with a phone identify from a BJP chief asking for some time, and pressure from the households to not go ahead with their plans.

Wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia started the protest on Wednesday. (Photo: Praveen Khanna)

“We were assured that our demands would be met, so we stepped back. However, in case the government goes back on its word, we will return to the Ganga again,” acknowledged a wrestler who did not have to be named.

“We have sought five days’ time and told the wrestlers to wait. After that, we will have a mahapanchayat and take the next course of action,” Tikait acknowledged, after the wrestlers left Har Ki Pauri.

A Union Minister from western Uttar Pradesh can be learnt to have reached out to the wrestlers and urged them to not ‘immerse’ their medals.

Speaking to The Indian Express later, Tikait acknowledged he wanted to guarantee that the wrestlers did not take any step in anger. “Bacche gusse me wahan chale gaye the… Humne unhe manaya ki aap aisa mat karo…(They got angry and went there… we convinced them not to do this),” he acknowledged.

Sakshi Malik, in blue, an Indian wrestler who gained a bronze medal on the 2016 Summer Olympics, is detained by the police all through a protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar. (PTI)

Asked if he had spoken to the federal authorities sooner than asking the wrestlers to defer their movement, he replied, “No.” Asked if he would accompany wrestlers on their means once more to Delhi, he acknowledged, “We will discuss this.”

Tikait, who’s the highest of the Balyan Khap, acknowledged he was at his residence in Muzaffarnagar till night time, when he heard of the wrestlers’ decision to go to Haridwar. He, along with completely different khap leaders and farmer leaders, then made their choice to Haridwar.

“National president of Bhartiya Kisan Union and head of Balyan Khap, Chaudhary Naresh Tikait ji, and heads of other khaps are reaching Haridwar soon to meet wrestlers. All wrestlers are requested not to take wrong steps,” tweeted Tikait’s youthful brother Rakesh Tikait at 6.28 pm.

Earlier throughout the day, in a normal assertion posted on their social media accounts, the wrestlers acknowledged they’ve been taking the drastic step of parting with their hard-earned medals because of the model by which they’ve been dealt with by the police on May 28.

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta Phogat and Bajrang Punia with supporters all through their protest march within the course of recent Parliament establishing, in New Delhi, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (PTI Photo)

Bajrang, Sakshi and Vinesh, who began their sit-in at Jantar Mantar on April 23, have been among the many many over 700 detained on Sunday. They have been dragged, lifted off the freeway and put into police vans as soon as they tried to cross security barricades and march to the model new Parliament establishing, exterior which a women’s mahapanchayat was scheduled. They have been later launched.

“All of you saw what happened on May 28, the way we were treated and detained by the police. The police not only cleared our protest area at Jantar Mantar, but also registered FIRs against us, despite the fact that we were protesting peacefully. Have female athletes committed some crime by asking for justice for the sexual harassment committed against them? We have been treated like criminals,” acknowledged the assertion.

“These medals are our life and soul. After we ‘immerse’ them in the Ganga, there would be no meaning for us to live. So we will go to India Gate and sit on a fast unto death,” it acknowledged.

The Delhi Police, however, acknowledged the wrestlers would not be allowed to protest at India Gate as it is a “national monument and not a site for demonstrations”. On Monday, the Delhi Police had acknowledged the wrestlers would not be allowed once more at Jantar Mantar nonetheless could protest at any “suitable place” after trying to find permission.

Wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta Phogat and Bajrang Punia along with completely different protesters

The choice to half with their medals was a difficult identify and a matter of “self respect”, the wrestlers acknowledged of their assertion.

While they have been protesting on the streets of the Capital for over a month now, fascinating to fellow sportspersons to rally behind them, turning to politicians for help and khap leaders for advice, and even making direct appeals to the Prime Minister, the events over the weekend pushed them proper right into a nook, forcing them to consider the drastic step.

It included failed late-night negotiations with the federal authorities and delicate makes an try to interrupt the group, acknowledged sources. The remaining straw was their forceful eviction from Jantar Mantar.

According to sources, on the eve of their proposed march to the model new Parliament, a high-ranking cabinet minister met Sakshi and her husband. During the last-minute parleys, the federal authorities is learnt to have proposed that movement might be taken in opposition to Brij Bhushan after the police file a chargesheet. The wrestlers, however, have been steadfast of their demand for his fast arrest.

Sangeeta Phogat and Vinesh Phogat being detained by police. (Express {photograph} by Amit Mehra)

With the police submitting FIRs in opposition to them on Sunday, the wrestlers acknowledged they spent all the of Monday hiding throughout the fields. “The authorities should have caught the accused, but they were trying to threaten the women who were the victims to end their protest and to break them,” they acknowledged.

The wrestlers are demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by seven female wrestlers, along with a minor. Singh has been named in two FIRs registered by the Delhi Police on April 28, along with one under the POCSO Act pertaining to the allegations of the minor wrestler.