- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Malik, who is the first Indian woman to bag an Olympic medal in wrestling, has temporarily suspended the agitation against outgoing federation chief along with her protesting colleagues
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN WRESTLER Sakshi Malik, who won a bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and a gold in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year, has said that she was “hurt” that prime minister Narendra Modi has not yet remarked on the allegations of sexual misconduct against the chief of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who also happens to be a parliamentarian from the prime minister’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The 30-year-old Malik, who is among some top wrestlers who have protested against Singh and sought his arrest and faced hardships including police action in the process, told the BBC, “When we won medals, he [Mr Modi] invited us home for lunch, he treated us with so much love and respect. It does hurt that he is now silent over this issue.”
Malik, who is the first Indian woman to bag an Olympic medal in wrestling, has temporarily suspended the agitation along with her protesting colleagues after their recent meeting with Indian sports minister Anurag Thakur. The latter promised to complete the investigation against Singh by Thursday (15).
The Delhi Police on Thursday said Singh will face sexual harassment and stalking charges. They filed a 1,000-page report on its investigations into allegations that triggered the wrestlers’ protest. Singh so far has denied all allegations against him.
Malik said they would decide their next course of action depending on how strong the charges are against Singh.
“But our fight for justice is far from over,” she told the news publication.
“Mr Modi should definitely get involved and ensure that the police investigation is impartial. All we really want is a fair and proper investigation,” she added.
The government has assured that neither Singh nor any of his close aides would have any role to play in the new wrestling federation which will be elected by July 4. But the wrestlers are still apprehensive and said Singh could still interfere in the body’s functioning and only his arrest could stop him from exercising his influence.
The protest also saw the WFI coming under the scanner of the world wrestling body — United World Wrestling — which condemned the detention of the protesting wrestlers in May and threatened it might suspend the Indian federation if its pending elections are not completed within the stipulated time.
