Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has urged farmer leaders not to make the “mistake” and to wait for the results of the investigation into the allegations of sexual harassment made by the wrestlers, with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha supporting the wrestlers’ protest against him.
The Kaiserganj, Uttar Pradesh, representative for the BJP, Singh, once more asserted his innocence and said that he was singled out because he had improved the selection procedures for wrestlers.
After the farmers’ group Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said on Saturday that it will organise statewide protests in favour of grapplers and demanded Singh’s immediate arrest, the WFI president made the comments in a video shared on social media.
On Sunday, a number of SKM officials and members went to the Jantar Mantar protest location to show their support for the wrestlers who have been holding a sit-in against Singh since April 23. The Morcha had led the movement for the Centre’s now-repealed farm policies over a period of a year.
Singh remarked, “Chacha-Taau (uncles), I am not saying that you should not come to Delhi,” in a 25-minute video that was shared on Facebook on Saturday night. You are free to do whatever you want when you visit Delhi.
“I have always vowed that if the allegations against me are true, I will hang myself.
“Believe me, if daughters of your village are into wrestling, then ask them when no one is around if the allegations against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh depict what Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is. After that, you can do whatever you want.” Singh, a six-time MP booked by Delhi police for alleged sexual harassment of wrestlers, said, “It should not happen that when the probe report is out after one month, two months or three months, you have to repent.
“But, one thing I would say with folded hands is that when the probe is complete, I will come to your ‘khaap’ panchayat. If I am guilty, you can beat me to death with shoes.” He claimed that wrestlers who are staging a dharna have “nothing more to give (yeh khatm he)”.
“I have made rules so that sportspersons from the bottom (layer) will come to the top…. Things went wrong after this,” he said.
Singh added that he had established procedures to guarantee that each wrestler would have to go through the trials. He commented on the agitated wrestlers by saying, “As a result, their problems have gotten worse.”
The protest’s leaders, Malik, Punia, and Phogat, came under fire from the WFI president for how they conducted themselves during the proceedings.
“If a self-respecting person’s character is attacked, he or she dies, and this is what is happening right now. The people for whom I have sacrificed everything say, “My elderly from the khap panchayats, I respect you very much. My appeal to the elderly with folded hands is that you not make the error, he added. “If these children are making a mistake, let them do it.
The wrestlers are holding a sit-in at Jantar Mantar to demand that Singh be held accountable for allegedly harassing seven female wrestlers, including one juvenile.
Two FIRs were filed by Delhi Police on April 28 in relation to the accusations made against the WFI director.
According to the SKM, there would be an all-India agitation from May 11 to May 18 at each state’s capital, district office, and taluka. To support the agitated wrestlers, there will be rallies and protest marches in the public.
