Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, BJP MP and President of Wrestling Federation of India. file. , Photo Credit: PTI
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Friday termed the protest by the country’s top wrestlers as “Shaheen Bagh sit-in” and reiterated that he will not quit.
A day after threatening to file multiple FIRs against the WFI chief, agitators on Friday reached out to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) demanding setting up of an inquiry committee to probe allegations of sexual harassment against wrestler Singh.
However, Singh is firm on his stand of not stepping down.
Singh, a sixth-time Lok Sabha MP from UP’s Kaiserganj constituency, told reporters at his native place here, “The protest of the wrestlers against me is the Shaheen Bagh sit-in.”
Singh termed the protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar as an attack on the BJP and sponsored by the Congress party.
Earlier talking to a TV channel, he had said, ‘The protesting players have become a toy in the hands of Congress and Deepinder Hooda. This kind of conspiracy against me was done by the Congress about three decades ago. Once again the plot is repeated.
The accused is the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has said that the allegations against him are part of a political conspiracy. In a Facebook post today, the Kaiserganj MP said that he would address a press conference on the same day in the evening.
In his previous responses to the allegations, Mr Singh had denied any incident of sexual harassment. He said, “If anything like this has happened, I will hang myself.” ANI,
“Sexual harassment is a big allegation. How can I act when my name has been dragged into this? I am ready to investigate.
Top Indian wrestlers have accused Mr Singh sexual abuse of young players In the women’s national camp, Olympic bronze medalist Bajrang Punia said many more wrestlers are ready to move forward.
“Yesterday there were two girls. Now we have five to six girls who are ready to come forward with evidence. The protesting wrestlers are demanding the government immediately dissolve the wrestling federation of india,
A late night meeting with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday remained inconclusive as he refused to back down from his demand.
The marathon meeting started at around 10 pm on Thursday night and the wrestlers left Mr. Thakur’s house at 1:45 pm. Olympic medalists Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, Sakshi Malik and World Championship medalist Vinesh Phogat were part of the meeting.
According to government officials, the wrestlers will again meet the Sports Minister on Friday.
The ministry cannot force Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to resign until it gets a written reply from the WFI as the government itself has sought clarification from the wrestling body.
The WFI is yet to respond to the Sports Ministry, which on Wednesday gave the wrestling body 72 hours to respond to allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation by its president, several women athletes.
(With inputs from PTI)