On Monday, wrestler Bajrang Punia travelled to Kurukshetra’s Pipli mandi in Haryana, where farmers are protesting for the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops, and he offered his support.
Punia asked why the farmers shouldn’t get the correct price for their hard work and crops. “I have come here to lend support to the farmers as I also belong to the family of farmers. We are just asking for the MSP of our crops… and the government should accept this demand,” Punia said at the protest site.
“The government had failed to take against (Union minister) Ajay Mishra Teni. Now, we have to protest against Brij Bhusan Sharan Singh. But we need to be united to raise our voice strongly,” Punia said.
After trucks, purportedly from his convoy, ran over a group of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in 2021, Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra was listed as an accused in the case. Ajay Mishra didn’t resign as a Union minister despite widespread protest.
On Sunday, taking to Twitter, the ace wrestlers wrote in Hindi, “Farmers are asking for the MSP for their crops. The farmers who feed the entire country work hard in the fields throughout the year. Shouldn’t he get the right price for his hard work and crop? We wrestler farmers are with them in this struggle. We come from these families.”
The Wrestling Federation of India president, BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, has been the target of protests from top grapplers Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat since the start of this year over charges of sexual harassment.
The Delhi Police detained Brij Bhushan in response to claims of sexual harassment.
Wrestlers who have supported them in their “fight for justice” held a “Panchayat” on Friday at Chhotu Ram Dharamshaala in Sonepat district and invited farmers, khap members, and women’s groups members.
The wrestlers informed their supporters about the conversation they had on Wednesday with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.
Olympic medallist Malik said efforts are being made to break the victims.
