Protesting wrestlers rethink immersing medals, give 5 day deadline

Protesting wrestlers gathered at Uttarakhands Haridwar to immerse their medals in river Ganga as a mark of protest against WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations on Tuesday decided to halt their plan after farmer leader Naresh Tikait intervened and sought a fiveday time from the protesting grapplersTikait took medals from the wrestlers and sought a fiveday time from themOlympic medalist wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik alongwith Vinesh Phogat who have accused the Wrestling Federation of India WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment and are demanding his arrest reached Uttarakhands Haridwar to immerse their all medals including Olympic medals in the river Ganga on Tuesday evening as a mark of their protestA sizable crowd is present as the wrestlers were seen huddled together to immerse their medals which they have achieved after much hard workWomen wrestlers were sitting on the ground and were emotionalEarlier the wrestlers took to Twitter and shared a post about the chain of events that have unfolded in recent days and the way authorities handled the situationThe protesting wrestlers said that they will visit Haridwar and throw their medals in the Ganga at 6 pm on TuesdayThey said they will sit on a hunger strike at India Gate after throwing their medalsIn their post the wrestlers said You saw everything that happened on May 28 how police treated us and the way they arrested us We were protesting peacefully our place has been taken away and the next day serious cases and FIR were filed against us Have the wrestlers committed any crime by demanding justice for the sexual harassment that happened to them The police and the system are treating us like criminals while the oppressor is taking jibe moving freely He is even openly talking about changing the POSCO ActSeveral ace grapplers including Bajrang Punia Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik have been protesting against the Wrestling Federation of India WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh accusing him of sexual harassment and demanding his arrest They also went on to question the fact that how the women wrestlers had to hide for the entire dayYesterday many of our women wrestlers were hiding in the fields The system should arrest the oppressor but it is engaged in breaking and intimidating the victim women to end their protest the grapplers said They further said that these medals are left with no meaningIt is not less than death for us thinking of returning medals but how can we live compromising our selfrespect We dont need these medals anymore If we speak against exploitation they prepare to put us in jail the wrestlers saidWe are going to shed these medals in the Ganga Our medals which we earned after hard work are as sacred as River Ganga These medals are sacred for the entire country and the right place to keep the sacred medal can be holy Ganga and not our unholy system which masquerades us and stands with our oppressor after taking advantage of us The medal is our life our soul We will sit on hunger strike at India gate till death the wrestlers addedOn Sunday Indias Olympic medallist wrestlers Sakshi Malik Bajrang Punia along with Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat were detained by Delhi Police while attempting to march to the new Parliament building where they planned to stage a demonstrationFIR has been filed under Indian Penal Code IPC sections 147 149 186 188 332 353 Section 3 of the PDPP Act said Delhi PoliceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever