India’s wrestlers protesting sex abuse stopped from reaching India’s new parliament

Top wrestlers demand resignation and arrest of chief of India’s wrestling association over allegations of sexual harassment

About a mile away from the inauguration India’s new parliament building, several Olympic medal-winning wrestlers were detained by police as they intensified their protest demanding the arrest of the country’s federation chief over sexual harassment allegations.

A heavy police presence overpowered about 100 protesting Indian wrestlers and their supporters, as they planned to march to the new parliament building which prime minister Narendra Modi hoped would “propel our great nation to new heights of progress”.

“As the new building of India’s Parliament is inaugurated, our hearts and minds are filled with pride, hope and promise. May this iconic building be a cradle of empowerment, igniting dreams and nurturing them into reality,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, the wrestlers were shoved, pushed and dragged onto buses as they demanded the resignation and arrest of Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for allegedly sexually harassing young athletes.

The wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, have been staging demonstrations in New Delhi for more than a month.

They had originally started protesting in January, demanding action against Mr Singh, who denies the accusations against him.

The protest in January was withdrawn after Mr Singh, also a member of parliament from prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was stripped of all administrative powers by the sports ministry.

The wrestlers, however, resumed their protest on 23 April and demanded Mr Singh’s arrest. They have since been camping at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site, which is near the new parliament building that Mr Modi inaugurated on Sunday.

The athletes had planned a women’s assembly, as the Delhi police ramped up security measures at the protest site, ahead of the new parliament building’s inauguration. Tensions escalated after wrestlers led by Vinesh Phogat attempted to breach security, reported NDTV.

“They broke the barricades and didn’t follow police directions,” senior Delhi police officer Dependra Pathak told local media. “They broke the law, and that’s why they were detained.”

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat (centre) is detained by the police while attempting to march to India’s new parliament (AFP via Getty Images)

Bajarang Punia, however, refuted the allegations.

A series of photos and videos of the wrestlers being dragged away by the police were shared on the Twitter handle of Malik, who won the women’s 58kg freestyle bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“By arresting people, how can we call us ‘mother of democracy’? India’s daughters are in pain,” wrote her team.

“This is how our champions are being treated. The world is watching us,” she tweeted.

“Brij Bhushan Singh, the man who sexually harasses people gets to sit in the parliament while we are being dragged on road,” she wrote in another tweet. “Sad day for Indian sports.”

Phogat, while being taken away by police, told reporters: “Congratulations on the new country.”

“Protesters are treated like criminals,” she said in a video statement issued prior to being detained.

“The daughters of the country are protesting on road. But instead of getting justice, we are being treated like criminals, like we have committed a crime.”

Indian wrestlers (from right) Bajrang Punia, Sangita Phogat and Vinesh Phogat talk to each other ahead of their protest march (AP)

After detaining the protesters, police started to remove the mats and tents laid out on the protest site, reported the Scroll.in.

The officials also stopped hundreds of farmers from marching to the capital from the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab, with heavy police deployment in Sonipat, Jhajjar, Jind and Gurugram districts.

Rakesh Tikait, a prominent face of the year-long farmer protests that had taken place years ago, said thousands of farmers were not allowed to enter Delhi from a nearby border. “We will sit here and decide what to do next,” he said.

Several social media users criticised the police crackdown on the protesters.

“The coronation is over - the ‘arrogant king’ is crushing the voice of the public on the streets!” wrote opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, who was recently disqualified from the parliament.

“This is Sakshi Malik. Olympics medalist, Padma Shri and Khel Ratna awardee. This is how she was dragged on the streets of Delhi today,” tweeted Swati Maliwal, chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women.

“Such behavior with our sportspersons who bring honor to the country is very wrong and condemnable,” wrote Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as he shared a video of police dragging the wrestlers away.

Meanwhile, police in the capital have issued an advisory to treat New Delhi district as a controlled area, with only public transport, civil service aspirants, bonafide residents, labeled vehicles and emergency vehicles to be allowed to move in the area.