Sakshi, Vinesh and protesting wrestlers give government ultimatum to respond to protests

The wrestlers have said that they will give five days to the government to respond to the protests. If it does not happen, they will immerse their medals in River Ganga.

The wrestlers were detained by the police during the protest march towards new Parliament building, in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: PTI

7:28 pm

The wrestlers have said that they will give five days to the government to respond to the protests. If it does not happen, they will immerse their medals in River Ganga.

7:20 pm

The Khap leaders have arrived at Har ki Pauri. The leader of the Balyan Khap is looking to cajole the wrestlers to request them to decide against immersing their medals in river Ganga.

7:02 pm

The wrestlers have assembled at Har ki Pauri, a ghat of River Ganga in Haridwar. The wrestlers have emotionally broken down and the River Ganga Protection Committee has forbidden them from immersing them in the river. So, they are not able to immerse the medals in the river.

6:59 pm

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal reacts: “The whole country is shocked. There are tears in the eyes of the whole country. Now the Prime Minister should leave his arrogance,” he wrote on Twitter.

Sakshi Malik, the 2016 Olympic Games bronze medallist, has reached Haridwar where she has said she would throw her medal in river Ganga as the wrestlers’ protest intensified against the former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Haridwar: Protesting wrestlers sit at Har ki Pauri, in Haridwar district, Tuesday, May 30, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI

India’s top wrestlers including Olympic and World medallists Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik on Tuesday said that they would immerse their medals in Ganga after being detained by the Delhi Police.

In a statement on Twitter, the wrestlers mentioned that they will let go of their medals in Ganga at 6 pm and will sit on an indefinite hunger strike at India Gate.

Sania Mirza reacts to the protests:

As an athlete but more as a woman this is too difficult to watch .. they’ve brought laurels to our country and we have all celebrated them , with them .. if you have done that then it’s time to now stand with them in this difficult time too .. this is a highly sensitive matter and serious allegations.I hope whatever the truth is justice is served.. sooner rather than later.

Hailing Ganga as a mother, the wrestlers considered the river ‘to be divine and pure’. “Our hardwork to win these medals was also as earnest. These are invaluable to the nation and the best place for these medals to be is in the pure Ganges, rather than in this impure system.”

Sakshi, Vinesh are India's pride. I am pained as a sportsperson to find pride of our country coming out to protest on the streets. I pray that they get justice.#IStandWithWrestlerspic.twitter.com/hwD9dKSFNv

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 28, 2023

Why are the indian wrestlers protesting?

The wrestlers began protesting a little over one month at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding the arrest of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harrassment.

Anil Kumble reacts to the protest:

“Dismayed to hear about what transpired on the 28th of May with our wrestlers being manhandled. Anything can be resolved through proper dialogue. Hoping for a resolution at the earliest,” the former Indian cricketer wrote on Twitter.

“You saw what happened on May 28, how the police behaved and brutally arrested us. We were protesting peacefully but they snatched our protest site and booked us under serious offences.

Did the female wrestlers do anything wrong in seeking justice for sexual harassment with them? The police and authorities are treating us like criminals when the actual wrongdoer is walking free out in the open. Our experiences are becoming matters of laughter on television. So much so that there’s even talk of wanting to bring changes to the POCSO act, ever so casually, “ said the statement.

More to follow.