On Thursday, June 15, police released a 1500-pages long report on former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on grounds of grave offenses including sexual harassment and assaulting women.
Ministers of the cabinet met with the athletes regarding their protest last week, and the sports minister Anurag Thakur informed the wrestlers that all the charges against the protest had been dropped by the police in a six hour long conversation with the athletes. Thakur also promised a deep investigation into Singh by the following week and that he be ousted as the WFI President by the end of the month.
The wrestlers have been protesting against Singh for six months and have faced brutal mob lynching, violence, arrest and internet shutoffs. Vinita Phogat informed BBC that she herself had been a victim of mental torture and had informed Prime minister Modi about Singh’s inappropriate behavior on their meeting post 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
After various efforts to suppress the rallies, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime minister Modi may be worried about the impact it can cause on the party’s future with a member being accused of sexual harassment.
After continuous backlashes on the Farmer’s protest since 2021, recent losses in the state election; a rally consisting of renowned sports people including women wrestlers might be their final crack down.
All other party’s politicians had released statements in support of the protest. When initially Singh denied all the allegations, the government committee had also released a report. It said that they found no evidence of sexual harassment against the WFI chief. This made the wrestlers furious and they went on to march and protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi since Apr. 23.
BJP might realize the tension of the situation and their support lately shows they do not want to pass over the opportunity to any party to indulge in it. When earlier they had shown little interest empathy in the situation, it had given rise to anger among citizens across the country. The BJP government had to face major backlash as a result.
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