DCW chief asks why wrestling federation chief not asked to resign in wake of sexual harassment charges

DCW chief Swati Maliwal raised a question on Friday as to why the Wrestling Federation of India WFI president has not been asked to resign in the wake allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by female wrestlersCelebrated Indian wrestlers including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and world championship medallist Vinesh Phogat are staging a sitin protest at the Jantar Mantar here for the last two days against WFI president and Bharatiya Janata Party BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh accusing him of sexual exploitation and intimidationAlso read Unhappy with govt assurance without action wrestlers vow to intensify protestIt has been 72 hours since the protest was launched by the Indian wrestlers Why has the WFI presidents resignation not been sought Why is an FIR not being registered in connection with the sexual harassment allegations Why is the sports minister not making efforts to end the protest Till when will the pride of the country sit on the street like this Maliwal asked in a tweet in HindiLed by Phogat and Punia the protesting wrestlers including Sakshi Malik Anshu Malik Ravi Dahiya and Sarita Mor met Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur at his residence here on Thursday night and demanded speedy action in the matter The two sides were involved in a marathon meeting that ended around 2 am with the parties failing to find a tangible solutionThe wrestlers refused to back down from their demand that the government initiate immediate steps to disband the WFIMeanwhile amid allegations of sexual harassment against BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh the Congress demanded that the sports body should be dissolved and Prime Minister Narendra Modi answer what action he took when issues were allegedly flagged to him by a wrestler in 2021Flanked by Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh and Commonwealth Games gold medallist discus thrower Krishna Poonia both Congress leaders party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said it was shameful that even after 72 hours Singh had not resigned and the government was maintaining a conspicuous silenceThe Congress first and foremost demand is that the federation should be dissolved with immediate effect she saidBrij Bhushan Singh should have resigned yesterday itself But the biggest demand that we raise for public interest is that women need to be made safe and secure Shrinate said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters hereThese are some of Indias most decorated athletes who have come out in the open and talked about sexual harassment she said asking What more do we want our girls to sayThe biggest question before the country today is that when Mr Modi got to know the gory details of what was happening in the Wrestling Federation of India in October 2021 and Vinesh Phogat is on record to say that she briefed the prime minister along with her family what did he do why did he not get an inquiry done Shrinate saidWas there an interdepartmental inquiry done was Mr Brij Bhushan Singh summoned was he asked to clarify his stance there are many questions today and that is our foremost demand This country needs to know the truth she saidPoonia a Congress MLA from Rajasthan said it was very difficult for women athlete as it is and with such matters coming to light it is going to get tougherShe alleged that the BJP has torn the Beti Bachao slogan to shreds with repeated incidents involving BJP leaders coming to lightVijender Singh said he had gone and expressed solidarity with the wrestlers and strict action should be taken immediately in the matterAsked about a failed attempt during UPA rule to bring in a legislation to keep politicians away from sports administration and whether the BJP should do so now as it has a majority Shrinate said We were willing to give our support then and your saying this is right that political consensus could not be formed back thenYou BJP have majority you make an ordinance at willthere are so many sports federation where BJP leaders have captured power there should be a debate on this bringing a legislation but that is a separate issue The lesser the political interference the better it would be she saidStar wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday alleged that that the president had sexually harassed women wrestlers for years a charge vehemently rejected by the sports administratorShe also claimed that she had received death threats at the behest of the WFI president from officials close to him because she dared to draw Prime Minister Modis attention to several issues plaguing Indian wrestling when she met him after the Tokyo GamesTop Indian wrestlers meeting with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur remained inconclusive on Thursday night as they refused to back down from their demand that the government immediately disband the Wrestling Federation of IndiaThe wrestlers who have accused the WFI president of sexual exploitation and intimidation have continued their sitinTokyo Olympics medallist Bajrang Punia Rio Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik world championship Sarita Mor Sangeeta Phogat Anshu Malik Sonam Malik Satyawart Malik Jitender Kinha Amit Dhankar and CWG medallist Sumit Malik are among the wrestlers who have protested against the WFI chiefSingh 66 was elected unopposed as president of WFI for a third consecutive term in February 2019This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever