New Delhi. The government assured the wrestlers who have been protesting at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for two days to resolve their grievances. After this, the wrestlers ended their strike on Friday late night. As the first step to resolve their grievances, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has come under attack, is being relieved of his post of president. After the second round of talks with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, other wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Banjrag Punia, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya decided to end their strike.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said after the marathon meeting that it has been decided to form a monitoring committee whose names will be announced on Saturday. The committee will complete the inquiry in four weeks. It will seriously investigate all allegations of financial or sexual harassment against the WFI and its president. He told that till the completion of the investigation, Brij Bhushan Singh will stay away from the federation and cooperate in the investigation, while the monitoring committee will look after the day-to-day work of WFI.
Bajrang Punia gave a big statement
After the meeting, wrestler Bajrang Punia said that the Sports Minister listened to our demands and assured proper investigation. I thank them. We hope that there will be a fair investigation, so we are withdrawing the protest. Let us tell you that Vinesh Phogat has alleged that the President of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has been sexually abusing women wrestlers for many years.
Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia also wrote a letter to Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha on complaints of alleged sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India President Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. The wrestlers had requested the IOA to appoint a committee to look into the complaints of sexual harassment against the WFI president.
Wrestlers’ strike ends after talks with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.
Also read: Wrestlers Protest: IOA constitutes 7-member committee to investigate against Brij Bhushan Singh
Formation of 7 member committee
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has constituted a 7-member committee to probe the allegations of sexual harassment against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. This committee includes Mary Kom, Dola Banerjee, Alaknanda Ashok, Yogeshwar Dutt, Sahdev Yadav and 2 advocates.