Outrage among people after the statement
After this statement, the whole country is in shock. Various types of memes are being shared on social media. People are expressing their opinions. One user wrote that you female wrestlers have together got Brijbhushan’s ticket cancelled. Another user wrote that Brijbhushan was being unnecessarily targeted, which was understood earlier. Another user wrote, “Brij Bhushan was saying that I am innocent, but no one listened.” One user even suggested that these wrestlers should be sent to jail, saying that “because of them, the Indian Wrestling Federation has been defamed in the whole world, they should be put in jail.”
What was the whole matter?
In the last months of 2022, allegations of sexual harassment were made against Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Indian Wrestling Federation (WFI), by women wrestlers. Top Indian wrestlers like Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia also openly raised their voices and demanded action from the government in this matter. The wrestlers’ protest, which started for the first time in January 2023 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, alleged that WFI officials were exploiting women wrestlers, but due to delay in the investigation and lack of concrete action, they were forced to sit on protest again and again.
Protest ends after government’s assurance
The government had formed a committee to investigate these allegations, but the wrestlers said that the report of this committee was not being made public, and no legal action was being taken against Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. Therefore, they were forced to sit in protest again. The wrestlers ended their protest when the government assured them of action and started the process of justice in this matter.