Abhinav Bindra follows Neeraj Chopra, Sunil Chhetri; Reacts to wrestlers’ protests

Abhinav Bindra, India’s gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, took to Twitter to react to the police detaining the protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar.

“Last night was sleepless, haunted by the horrifying images of my fellow Indian wrestlers protesting,” Bindra wrote. | Photo Credit: Sushin Kumar Verman / The Hindu

Abhinav Bindra, India’s gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, took to Twitter to react to the police detaining the protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on Sunday.

“Last night was sleepless, haunted by the horrifying images of my fellow Indian wrestlers protesting. It’s high time we establish independent safeguarding measures across sporting organizations,” he said.

“We must ensure that if such situations arise, they are dealt with utmost sensitivity and respect. Every athlete deserves a safe and empowering environment.”

Last night was sleepless, haunted by the horrifying images of my fellow Indian wrestlers protesting. It's high time we establish independent safeguarding measures across sporting organizations. We must ensure that if such situations arise, they are dealt with utmost sensitivity…

— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) May 29, 2023

A little over one month after the wrestlers had begun protesting at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding the arrest of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harrassment. On Sunday, India’s top wrestlers including Olympic and World medallists Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik were all detained.

The wrestlers had been planning to march to the site of New Delhi’s new parliament building and conduct a ‘women’s mahapanchayat’ to coincide with the inauguration of the building by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The wrestlers left Jantar Mantar – where they had been sitting in protest since April 24th – but as soon as they crossed protective barricades placed around the protest site were detained.

Yesterday, Tokyo 2020 Games gold medallist Neeraj Chopra had raised his voice on social media, calling the treatment ‘saddening’.

“This video saddens me. There has to be a better way to deal with this,” he had written on Twitter in reaction to a tweet from Sakshi.

Indian men’s football team captain Sunil Chhetri tweeted, “Why does it have to come down to our wrestlers being dragged around without any consideration? This isn’t the way to treat anyone. I really hope this whole situation is assessed the way it should be.”

Indian track and field athlete Murali Sreeshankar also reacted to the incident.

“Absolutely barbaric!! Our champions didn’t deserve this. As an athlete who dreams and works towards the Olympic glory, this picture would leave a very deep wound,” he tweeted.