Bishamber Yadav, Mumbai Uncensored, 30th May, 2023:
New Delhi: The security force announced on Monday that the protesting wrestlers will be permitted to demonstrate at a suitable location in the city other than Jantar Mantar. This comes a day after the Delhi Police cleared the sit-in site of the protesting wrestlers.
On Sunday, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia, along with other protesters, were charged with rioting and obstructing a public servant in the performance of their duties following a scuffle with security personnel who attempted to prevent them from marching to the new Parliament building during its inauguration. Immediately after, the Delhi Police removed the site of their month-long sit-in at Jantar Mantar and informed them that they would not be permitted to return.
Wrestlers had been protesting at Jantar Mantar against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh since April 23. They demanded his arrest for alleged sexual harassment of multiple female grapplers, including a juvenile.
During yesterday’s protest march to the new parliament in the nation’s capital, Olympians and Commonwealth Games champions were seen being manhandled by Delhi police. Shocking social media users across the nation remarked that it was ironic that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating the new parliament building and referring to it as the “temple of democracy” less than two kilometres from where the Delhi police, which is under the control of the central government, was seen cracking down on India’s top female athletes.
Subsequently, a fight broke out between wrestlers and police, resulting in the arrest of the grapplers. In response, Delhi’s Deputy Commissioner of Police, Suman Nalwa, stated, “Yesterday, despite repeated requests, protesters violated the law. Therefore, the ongoing sit-in protest has been ordered to end. If the wrestlers apply to stage a sit-in protest in the future, they will be permitted to do so at a location other than Jantar Mantar.”
“We provided every conceivable amenity to the protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the past 38 days. But yesterday, despite repeated requests, they violated the law…In the evening, they were released from custody,” she added.
The renowned wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik, along with other organisers, were recorded in a FIR on Sunday after a brawl with the police at Jantar Mantar. The FIR was registered under Sections 147, 149, 186, 188, 332, and 353 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act for rioting and obstruction of a public servant in the performance of duty.
