India’s best female wrestler has announced her retirement from the sport in protest at the election of the federation’s new president, a close associate of her predecessor, who has been accused of sexually harassing players.
2016 Olympics bronze medalist Sakshi Malik announced her retirement soon after Sanjay Singh was elected as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
Sanjay Singh is a close associate of Brij Bhushan Singh, a six-time Member of Parliament from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In June, after weeks of protests led by Sakshi Malik, Mr. Singh was accused of sexually harassing six female wrestlers during his tenure.
The lawmaker has denied all the allegations leveled against him and his case is pending before the trial court.
The wrestlers started their protest in January by setting up a camp on the streets of the capital, New Delhi. He later called off the protest after a discussion with the federal sports minister promising to take action against Singh.
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But protests resumed in April over alleged government inaction, leading to dramatic scenes when they tried to march to the new Parliament building and were detained by Delhi police. .
Malik, 31, broke down in tears as she announced her decision to quit wrestling while the powerful lawmaker and new WFI president celebrated her ‘victory’.
“We slept on the streets for 40 days and many people from different parts of the country came to support us,” Malik told a news conference in New Delhi, referring to protests earlier this year.
With tears in her eyes while leaving, she said, ‘I will quit wrestling if Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and his close associate is elected as the president of WFI.’
Asked by reporters about Sakshi Malik’s decision to resign, Singh said, “I have nothing to do with it.”
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was at the forefront of the protest, said ‘the future of wrestling is bleak.’
Phogat said, ‘To whom we should express our grief. We are still fighting during training.’
Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia on Friday left the Padma Shri (fourth highest civilian honour) on the footpath in front of Parliament after being stopped by the Delhi Police.
In a letter to the prime minister, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist wrote: ‘We all spent the night in tears.
‘We didn’t know what to do, or where to go. The government has given us a lot. I was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019. I also received the Arjuna, Khel Ratna award. I was very happy when I received this award. But today the sadness is more than that. And that’s because a female wrestler left the sport for her own safety.’
The Federal Sports Ministry told PTI news agency that the WFI elections were conducted in a free and democratic manner.
The sport’s governing body United World Wrestling (UWW) suspended the WFI following the scandal. The WFI passed the August deadline for the appointment of a new president, forcing Indian wrestlers to join the world competition as neutral players.
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2024-09-01 17:27:17
