Competitions and camps should not be held in UP: Vinesh Phogat

National camps, trails and competitions must be held outside Uttar Pradesh, the home state of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, World Championship medall Vinesh Phogat said.
Phogat is among the wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar demanding the arrest of Singh, also a BJP MP, against whom seven women wrestlers have filed complaints of sexual harassment. The police have filed two separate FIRs.
“This needs to be overseen the government, we have not stopped the national camps from happening. If the camps will be held in Lucknow, or the other areas of UP that are under Brij Bhushan’s control, we definitely have a problem. Anywhere else in India, we don’t mind. The young wrestlers need to continue their training and competitions,” Vinesh said.
Vinesh had previously said that she and the other protesting wrestlers, including Olympic medalls Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik need to get back into shape, with the Asian Games and the Olympic qualification cycle fast approaching. They trained in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. “Fitness is down. Our bodies are swelling and getting dehydrated because we’re sitting here long hours. We need to build it back up, but a few days of consent training will do that.”
On Saturday night, members of the wrestlers’ advisory committee met with representatives of the Sports Authority of India (SAI), including Director General Sandip Pradhan. Among their demands was a ban on any family members of Brij Bhushan’s involvement in the WFI going forward. Brijbhushan’s son, Karan Bhushan Singh, is the vice president of the WFI, and a member of its executive committee.

“We want the future of wrestlers to be secure. Once he’s gone, if someone just like him becomes the president, then how will anything change?” Vinesh said, adding that any experienced and qualified member of the “huge wrestling family in India” should be put in charge of the federation next after a thorough background check.
Tuesday was the 17th day of protests, but despite a huge show of support from farmers and khap leaders, who are assing the wrestlers in making decisions regarding the protest, the numbers at Jantar Mantar saw a decline. Vinesh insed, however, that the protest will not fizzle out soon, and that only big crowds are not indicative of the support they are receiving from across the country.
“It doesn’t matter how many people are sitting here. What matters is how people connect to this, which is coming through messages, social media posts, and other emotions,” she said.
Insing that this is no longer an ‘agitation’, but instead a movement, Vinesh said that the reason why she feels so many women have connected to their protest is that in all fields across the country, they have had to face similar problems. “This a very long fight for the truth and to remind people of the reality. Go into corporates, sports, entertainment, or any industry, women are struggling with these issues,” she said.

“People should realise that even in sports, even at the very top level, these things happen. So this is a fight to get the truth out about the problems that women face everywhere. We would like them to come forward and share their stories and maybe if they couldn’t find justice, joining us, they could.”
She added that she wishes this movement spreads throughout the country, rather than staying relevant in the northern states where wrestling is popular, and major support is coming from.
There is an acknowledgement that the protests may not come to an end any time soon as police conduct investigations after filing FIRs against Brij Bhushan. “If they arrest him today, we’ll leave. If they don’t, we could even be here for six months. So we will sit for however long we have to, it is in their hands how long this movement lasts,” Vinesh said.