Willing to sacrifice medal to get justice for victims: Bajrang
Wrestlers protesting against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Thursday said they are ready to “sacrifice” their careers in sports to get justice for women wrestlers. The wrestlers also welcomed the decision of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) panel to conduct selection trials for the Under-17 and Under-23 Asian Championships to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from June 10 to 18. After reaching Rajghat with Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Sangeeta Phogat and his supporters, Bajrang Punia said that he will not end the protest before the arrest of Brij Bhushan.
Brij Bhushan has been accused of sexually assaulting female wrestlers, including a minor. Bajrang said, “Our fight for justice will continue. We are getting a lot of support from all over the country. Government’s slogan is Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, so it should be kept in mind that these are the daughters of the country. Coming, Bajrang said that now his priority is to get justice to the victims.
He said, “If we get justice for our daughters, it will be our biggest medal. We are ready to make sacrifices. This fight is for the good people in WFI and not for people like Brijbhushan or his followers who will continue to molest women wrestlers. Selection trials for the U-17 and U-23 Asian Championships will be held in Sonepat and Patiala from May 17 respectively. Will be till May 20. Bajrang welcomed the move. He said, “We welcome the move to restart the game through trial. We had said earlier that the game should be run by the committee instead of Brijbhushan. We never opposed the committee.
He said, “We are not calling other wrestlers here, we do not want their practice to be affected.” So on the same day ‘Badi Panchayat (Village Council)’ will be organized. He further said that the future course of the protest would be decided by the elders in the panchayat. The wrestler said, “If nothing happens by Friday, we will follow whatever decision our elders in the khap panchayat make. The next step of our protest will be decided on May 21.
The protesting wrestlers have moved from Jantar Mantar to important places like Hanuman Mandir near Connaught Place, Bangla Sahib Gurudwara and Rajghat in the last three days. When asked about this, Bajrang said, “We are planning to visit important places in the city everyday to make people aware of our plight.
