Brij Bhushan responds to wrestlers' threat to immerse medals; 'They belong to...'

Amid the ongoing protests by ace Indian wrestlers, the  Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has urged the wrestlers not to immerse their medals in Ganga as they belong to the country. The WFI chief further asked the wrestlers to wait for the Delhi police’s investigation before concluding anything in the matter. 

“Wait for the Delhi police investigation. I would like to tell the wrestlers to not immerse their medals in the Ganga River. The medals belong to a country,” Singh was quoted as saying. 

The outgoing WFI chief’s statement came after the protesting wrestlers went to Uttarakhand’s Haridwar and threatened to immerse their medals in Ganga claiming that the right place for their medals is in Ganga and not with the government which stands with the culprit.

‘Let wrestlers prove in court…’: WFI chief Brij Bhushan 

Hinting that false allegations are levelled against him by the wrestlers, WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh, while he was confronted by Republic, said, “Let them (wrestlers) give evidence against me in the court.”

Responding to Republic’s question on why the oversight committee’s report is not being made public, Singh stated, “The report has to be made public by the government, not me. The committee was not formed at my request. The committee was formed on the advice of the players, that they should do it.”

5-day ultimatum to Brij Bhushan 

On the request of farmer leader Naresh Tikait on Tuesday, May 30, the protesting wrestlers have temporarily halted their plans to consign their medals in Ganga at Haridwar. Following this, Tikait gave the central government a five-day ultimatum and demanded the Centre act over sexual harassment allegations against WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

The development occurred after the protesters were detained by the Delhi Police on Sunday, May 28, as they attempted a protest march to the new Parliament, which was scheduled to get inaugurated by PM Modi. Following this, the visuals of champions, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat being manhandled by the police started circulating on the internet evoking shock and outrage across the country.