After Meeting Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Wrestlers’ Protest Suspended till June 15th

New Delhi: After Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur’s tweet post-midnight tweet, the protesting wrestlers went to meet him at his residence today. Sports Minister Anurag Thakur tweeted that the government was “willing to have a discussion with the wrestlers on their issues”. “I have once again invited the wrestlers for the same,” he added. It is to be noted that this comes after the protesting wrestlers met Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi.

Over the months of protests, the demands of these wrestlers have been abundantly clear; the arrest of the President of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a ban on his family’s involvement in the WFI, and the disbandment of the WFI itself. The wrestlers also demanded that the findings of an oversight panel investigating the allegations against Singh be made public.

Sports minister Anurag Thakur said, “I had a long 6-hour discussion with the wrestlers. We have assured wrestlers that the probe will be completed by 15th June and chargesheets will be submitted. The election of WFI will be done by 30th June. An Internal complaint committee of the Wrestling Federation will be constituted, headed by a woman. All FIRs against wrestlers should be taken back. Wrestlers also requested that Brij Bhushan Singh who has completed 3 terms and his associates should not be re-elected. Wrestlers will not hold any protest before 15th June”.

On the other hand, suspending the protests till the 15th of June, 2023(till the completion of the investigation), wrestler Bajrang Punia said, “Government has assured us that police investigation will be completed before 15th June. We have requested that all FIRs against wrestlers should be taken back and he has agreed to it. If no action is taken by 15th June, we will continue our protest”.

Ruchi Bhattar

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