IMAGE: Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Deepak Punia were part of the sit-in against Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, MP. Photograph: ANI
The wrestlers who accused Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, MP, of sexual harassment and intimidation on Tuesday rued that the government did not consult them before forming the oversight committee that will probe charges against the sports administrator.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had announced on Monday that a five-member oversight committee, headed by legendary boxer M C Mary Kom, will investigate the charges against the WFI boss and also manage day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sarita Mor and Sakshi Malik, who staged a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for three days demanding the sacking of the WFI president, posted identical tweets on the micro-blogging site, expressing their dismay.
‘We were assured that we will be consulted before the formation of the oversight committee. It’s really sad that we were not consulted,’ the wrestlers tweeted and tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Thakur.
World Championship bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games champion Geeta Phogat, too, requested the PM to intervene and help resolve the matter.
Geeta tweeted, ‘I request the Honourable Prime Minister of the country, all the sisters and daughters of our country are looking towards you with great hopes and expectations. If we all sisters and daughters do not get justice, then it will be a great misfortune in the history of the country.’
Earlier in the day, Vinesh tweeted, ‘Truth can be troubled but cannot be defeated. If the objective is big, keep your spirits high.’
The oversight committee has former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, ex-badminton player and Mission Olympic Cell member Trupti Murgunde, ex-TOPS CEO Rajagopalan and former SAI executive director — teams — Radhica Sreeman as other members.
The wrestlers had accused Singh, who is also a BJP MP, of acting like a dictator and sexually harassing junior wrestlers.
The wrestlers did not reveal the identity of the athletes who faced sexual harassment.
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