New Delhi: The wrestlers protesting against former chief of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation, said Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur sat with them only for a few minutes and at times they were intimidated during the meeting. Their statement comes after Anurag Thakur broke his silence on the ongoing protest and said the government had allowed all the protesting wrestlers to present their case before the oversight panel and reiterated its commitment towards an “impartial probe” into the allegations against Singh.
Addressing a press conference on the issue on Thursday, Anurag Thakur said, “A few wrestlers are sitting in protest at Jantar Mantar. I spent 12 hours with them -- seven hours on the first day and five hours the next day (in January). I had listened to all their grievances, held a press conference at 2-2.30 at night, formed a committee after talking to them. They had asked to add a member and gave Babita Phogat's name, and we added her to the committee. There is nothing in our mind, we wanted an impartial probe.”
"Whoever wanted to present their version before the oversight committee, was given a chance to do so, there were no restrictions. We even increased the timeline of the probe, there were 14 meetings. We gave a chance to every athlete to present their case,” the minister was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
"If anyone wants to file an FIR he or she can do that anywhere and it should not matter how old the case may be. Delhi Police said that they will conduct a preliminary inquiry and after that they will take the next step,” Anurag Thakur further said.
It is to be noted that star wrestlers, including World Championships medal winner Vinesh Phogat, and Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, have resumed their protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Sunday. They accused Brij Bhushan of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.