Wrestlers Protest: ‘Action will be taken once Delhi Police file the chargesheet,’ says Union Miner Anurag Thakur
Union Sports Miner Anurag Thakur on Thursday said that all the demands of the protesting wrestlers are being fulfilled and that necessary action will be taken once the chargesheet is filed in the matter.
“We are handling this issue (wrestlers protest) very sensitively… Whatever the players demanded, we are doing all those things. Necessary action will be also taken once Delhi police file the chargesheet…To all those politicising this issue, I would like to say that the law is equal for everyone and all the players are important to us,” Thakur told reporters.
“The wrestlers should wait for the probe to get concluded and all the politicians expressing their views in this regard, I’d like to tell them that our law is the same for all Indians.”
“The Modi government increased the budget for sports and the amount of respect Modi ji has given to the athletes is not unknown to anyone,” he added.
#WATCH | Maharashtra: “We are handling this issue (wrestlers protest) very sensitively… Whatever the players demanded, we are doing all those things. Necessary action will be also taken once Delhi police file the chargesheet…To all those politicising this issue, I would like… pic.twitter.com/kdpCGl8t08
— ANI (@ANI) June 1, 2023
On Wednesday, Thakur urged the protesting Indian wrestlers to not take any steps until the Delhi Police investigation on Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, alleged of sexual harassment and misconduct is concluded.
“The wrestlers had said it themselves in January that this platform is not for politics and we don’t want any political party to do so. But later, the parties and trade unions joined the protests,” Thakur told reporters on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to comment on that but I’ll say this, my dear athletes, wait for the Delhi Police investigation. They’ve regered the FIR keeping in line with their talks with the Supreme Court. It’ll only be right if you don’t take any steps until the investigation is concluded that harms the sport or any athlete. We all are in favour of the sport and the athletes. We all want them to progress. Sport in this country has moved forward under the guidance of Prime Miner Narendra Modi. Not just the budget but the achievements as well,” he further added.
VIDEO | “Let the investigation get completed. You (protesting wrestlers) will have to trust the police, Supreme Court and the sports department,” says Union Miner Anurag Thakur on wrestlers’ protest. pic.twitter.com/E4zhwCeEim
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 31, 2023
Earlier on Tuesday, some of country’s top wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat, who’d been protesting at the Jantar Mantar in the national capital for over a month had stated that they’d immerse their Olympics and World Championship medals in Ganga, Haridwar.
After sitting in a huddle on the banks of the river for over an hour-and-a-half, where some of them could be seen sobbing as they clutched their medals and citations, the wrestlers reversed their decision, soon after Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Naresh Tikait reached the spot and asked them to defer their decision five days.
