New Delhi: Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday asked protesting grapplers not to take any step that would undermine sports. Thakur's comments came a day after the wrestlers threatened to immerse their medals in river Ganga at Haridwar. The Minister also urged the protesting wrestlers to be patient and trust the probe into the allegations against the Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Top grapplers including Olympians Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat have been protesting the inaction against Brij Bhushan Singh, whom they have accused of sexual harassment of women wrestlers. They were protesting at Jantar Mantar in the national capital, from where they were evacuated by Delhi Police on Sunday. The grapplers were also detained and later released.
"I urge the wrestlers to be patient till the outcome of the investigation. I also urge them not to take any step that would undermine sports. We favor sports and sportspersons," Anurag Thakur told reporters. Thakur, however, refused to comment, on who had supported the wrestlers.
Along with hundreds of their supporters, the grapplers had reached Har ki Pauri to immerse their medals in river Ganga on Tuesday. Following an intervention by farmer leader Naresh Tikait and persuasion by Khap and farmer leaders, the wrestlers refrained from the act. Meanwhile, Brij Bhushan Singh in a public rally in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh said it was an emotional drama by the wrestlers and that he would hang himself even if a single allegation against him was proven. Naresh Tikait has announced holding a Mahapanchayat on Thursday in Uttar Pradesh to discuss the issue of the wrestlers' protest.
