Our protest was against WFI president and not against the government: Satyawart Kadian

Olympic bronze medal Sakshi Malik and her wrestler-husband Satyawart Kadian posted a Twitter video on Saturday in which they clarified that their protest at Jantar Mantar, which lasted more than a month, was not against the central government but was aimed only at the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.“We have been protesting against Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Singh because he has sexually harassed women wrestlers and has done other kinds of fraud in the federation. For many days, there is a narrative being created that our protests were politically motivated. We have said time and again that this protest is not against the government but it is against the president of the WFI. Brij Bhushan is from the ruling party,” Satyawart said. Singh is also a BJP MP from Kaiserganj.“We came to protest in January (first time), and permission was taken two BJP leaders,” Satyawart said.
Sakshi then showed a picture of the letter for permission which was purportedly written former wrestler Babita Phogat and Teerath Rana — both associated with the BJP. “BJP leaders wrote for permission. Brij Bhushan is an MP. How can the protest be against the government?” Satyawart asked.

VIDEO | “90% people related to wrestling, including wrestlers and coaches, knew about the inappropriate behaviour women (wrestlers) were being subjected to for the last 10-12 years. Whenever anyone tried to raise their voice, word would reach the WFI President, and they started… pic.twitter.com/vBcMqQIm0w
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 17, 2023
The 11-minute-long video on Twitter was posted two days after the Delhi police filed a chargesheet against Singh for alleged sexual harassment, assault and stalking of six women wrestlers. On June 7, Sports Miner Anurag Thakur assured a delegation of wrestlers led Olympic medalls Bajrang Punia and Sakshi that a chargesheet in the case would be filed June 15 after which they put their protest on hold.
The chargesheet against Singh has been filed under IPC sections relating to assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty (Section 354), sexual harassment, making sexually coloured remarks (Section 354 A) and stalking (Section 354 D). On April 28, the Delhi Police regered two FIRs, related to six adult wrestlers and a minor, that have at least two instances of demands for “sexual favours” in lieu of professional assance; close to 15 incidents of sexual harassment that include 10 episodes of inappropriate touching; several instances of intimidation including stalking.
The minor later withdrew her allegations.
Though harassment and intimidation the WFI president has been going on for a decade, nobody wanted to raise their voice because of fear and because the wrestling fraternity was not united, Sakshi said.
“Why we were quiet for so long? There were reasons, first of all, there was the absence of unity,” Sakshi said.

#WATCH | There were some people who kept supporting us during our protest including (Bhim Army Chief) Chandra Shekhar Azad and (former J&K Governor) Satyapal Malik, who inspired us to put forward our issues without fear: Satyawart Kadian, Wrestler and husband of Sakshee Malikkh… pic.twitter.com/gPXdFw5wtf
— ANI (@ANI) June 17, 2023
Talking about the minor withdrawing her complaint, Sakshi said, “The minor gave statements under sections 161 and 164 and after many days, she changed her statement because her family was threatened. So how could an individual raise their voice? Her family was intimidated. These wrestlers come from poor families. It’s not easy to muster the courage to take on a powerful man.”
Satyawart alleged that most people who were connected to Indian wrestling knew about the alleged sexual harassment but didn’t have the courage to come forward earlier.
“Ninety per cent of people related to wrestling, whether they were wrestlers or coaches everyone knew that for 10 to 12 years sexual harassment was happening, some have seen it also. People wanted to talk about it. If people tried to raise their voice, the president (Singh) would immediately get to know and their careers would be ruined,” Satyawart added.
He also spoke about two incidents which traumatised the protesting wrestlers — being dragged the police into vans when they tried to march towards the new Parliament building on May 28 and being on the verge of throwing their medals into the Ganga at Haridwar but being stopped.
“The call for ‘Mahila Samman Mahapanchayat’ was made the Khap leaders and we followed their order and faced police brutality. That broke us. We won so many medals for our country and our dignity was being trampled. I can’t explain in words what we went through. We then decided to immerse medals in Haridwar but someone grabbed Bajrang’s arm and took him to a corner and made him speak with many (influential) people. If we had done that (immersed medals), there could have been violence. So, better sense prevailed. We gave the medals to coaches and parents. We were not in a mental state to understand if there was a conspiracy. (After that) We were advised to meet the Home Miner, we were told that we will get a solution from there, so we put across our viewpoint.”