'Govt Busy Saving One Man': Naresh Tikait After Convincing Wrestlers Not To Immerse Medals In Ganga

Tikait also called for a Khap meeting tomorrow hours after he intervened and convinced the protesting wrestlers to not immerse their medals in River Ganga while seeking five days time.

Farmer leader Naresh Tikait with wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Sangita Phogat during their protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Farmer leader Naresh Tikait on Tuesday said that the BJP-led Central government is saving WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexually harassing young talents by eminent wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshee Malik, and Bajrang Punia.

Tikait also called for a Khap meeting tomorrow hours after he intervened and convinced the protesting wrestlers to not immerse their medals in River Ganga while seeking five days time.

Speaking to ANI, Tikait said, "Entire Indian govt is saving one man (WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh). There will be a Khap meeting tomorrow."

#WATCH | "Entire Indian govt is saving one man (WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh). There will be a Khap meeting tomorrow," says Farmer leader Naresh Tikait who intervened and asked protesting wrestlers not to immerse their medals while seeking five days time#WrestlersProtest pic.twitter.com/3xm10VPQg7

— ANI (@ANI) May 30, 2023

The protesting wrestlers on Tuesday decided not to "immerse" their medals in the Ganga as had been intended earlier. Their decision came after farmers' leader Naresh Tikait reached the Har Ki Pauri ghat in Haridwar and urged them to reconsider their decision to immerse their hard-earned medals in the holy river, Ganga.

The wrestlers, however, handed over their medals to Bharatiya Kisan Union President Naresh Tikait. The wrestlers handed over their medals with the condition that Tikait help them get "justice" and have WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh arrested within five days. Eminent wrestlers like Vinesh Phogat, Sakshee Malik, Bajrang Punia, and others have been demanding Singh's arrest, accusing him of sexually harassing young talents. 

Before Tikait arrived at the ghat, the Ganga Sabha, which looks after the affairs of the holy river, had issued a diktat in the evening, forbidding the immersion of the medals. The wrestlers had chosen Har ki pauri, a revered spot on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar, to bid farewell to their medals. May 30 coincided with Ganga Dussehra in Haridwar, drawing a substantial crowd to witness the wrestlers' poignant gesture.

Earlier, in a heartfelt statement shared on her Twitter handle, Vinesh Phogat expressed the significance of the medals, stating, "These medals are our life and soul. We are going to immerse them in the Ganges because she is Maa Ganga. After that, there is no point in living, so we will sit on a hunger strike until death at India Gate."

The wrestlers' statement emphasized the symbolism of India Gate, a site associated with the sacrifices made by martyrs for the country.

"India Gate is the place of those martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the country. We are not as holy as them, but our emotions while competing at the international level are similar to those soldiers," Sakshi Malik, a bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, said in a Tweet earlier.