‘Wait for probe report…If guilty, you can beat me to death’: WFI chief tells farmers, khap leaders
GONDA: With the Samyukta Kisan Morcha extending support to the wrestlers’ protest against him, Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has urged farmer leaders not to make the “mistake” and instead wait for the outcome of the probe into the allegations of sexual harassment made by the grapplers.
Singh, the BJP MP from Kaiserganj, again claimed he was innocent and alleged that he was targeted as he had brought reforms in the selection process for wrestlers.
The WFI chief made the remarks in a video posted on social media after the farmers’ collective, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), on Saturday announced that it will hold nationwide protests in support of grapplers and demanded the immediate arrest of Singh.
A number of SKM leaders and members visited the protest site at Jantar Mantar on Sunday and expressed solidarity with the wrestlers who have been staging a sit-in against Singh since April 23.
The Morcha had spearheaded the year-long agitation against the now-repealed farm laws of the Centre.
ALSO READ | Sexual harassment case: WFI chief Brij Bhushan yet to be questioned
In a 25-minute video posted on Facebook on Saturday night, Singh said, “Chacha-Taau (uncles), I am not saying that you should not come to Delhi. You can come to Delhi, and do whatever you want. From the first day I had said that if charges against me are proven, I will hang myself. Believe me, if daughters of your village are into wrestling, then ask them when no one is around if the allegations against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh depict what Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is. After that, you can do whatever you want.”
VIDEO | “The area is filled with water and there was no place to sleep, so we thought of bringing the cots…,” says wrestler Vinesh Phogat. pic.twitter.com/TWmqxdImlR
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 3, 2023
Singh, a six-time MP booked by Delhi police for alleged sexual harassment of wrestlers, said, “It should not happen that when the probe report is out after one month, two months or three months, you have to repent. But, one thing I would say with folded hands is that when the probe is complete, I will come to your ‘khaap’ panchayat. If I am guilty, you can beat me to death with shoes.”
He claimed that wrestlers who are staging a dharna have “nothing more to give (yeh khatm he)”. “I have made rules so that sportspersons from the bottom (layer) will come to the top. Things went wrong after this,” he said.
Singh also said that he had made rules to ensure that every wrestler has to give the trials. “Due to this, their problems have increased,” he said on the agitating wrestlers.
READ MORE | Wrestlers protest: India’s top grapplers form two panels to decide future
The WFI president took potshots at Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, who are leading the protest, over their performance during the trials.
“If there is character assassination of a self-respecting person, then he himself dies, and this is happening today. The ones for whom I have done everything they have put my everything at stake. My elderly from the khap panchayats, I respect you a lot. If these children are committing a mistake, let them do so, my request to the elderly with folded hands is that you should not commit the mistake,” he said.
The wrestlers have been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar demanding action against Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven female wrestlers, one of whom is a minor.
On April 28, Delhi Police registered two FIRs in connection with the allegations against the WFI chief.
The SKM has said that during May 11-18, an all-India agitation shall be held in all state capitals, district headquarters and talukas.
Public meetings and protest marches shall be held in support of the agitating wrestlers.
ALSO READ | Delhi Police claim cops weren’t drunk & no force used against wrestlers; AAP terms them “lies”
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