No political motive in protest, say Sakshi Malik, Satyawart Kadian

Two days after Delhi Police filed a charge sheet against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his close aide Vinod Tomar, Sakshi Malik posted a video on her twitter account on Saturday with her wrestler husband Satyawart Kadian. In the 11-minute clip, they say their protest had no political motive, it was not against the government and that the wrestling community should remain united.

“Let me make it clear that our protest is not politically motivated. We first came to Jantar Mantar in January, and the police permission to sit there was facilitated by two BJP leaders," Kadian said as Malik, 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist, displayed copy of the permission request signed by BJP's Tirath Rana on her mobile.

The other BJP member who helped them get police permission, they said, was Babita Phogat. Phogat is the cousin of Vinesh Phogat, the other face of the protest with Bajrang Punia. Babita’s younger sister Sangeeta, also in the protest, is Punia’s wife. Babita was also in the sports ministry’s Oversight Committee that probed the wrestlers’ allegations against Singh.

“This protest is not supported by Congress. More than 90 percent of the people in the fraternity know what is going on in wrestling for 10-12 years. A few people wanted to raise their voice but the wrestling community was not united,” Kadian, a multiple Asian Championships medallist, said.

Punia, Malik and Vinesh Phogat led the second phase of their sit-in at Jantar Mantar on April 23 demanding that Singh, a six-term BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh's Kaiserganj, be arrested. Delhi Police, on Supreme Court’s direction, lodged two FIRs on April 28 naming Singh. One was on the complaint of six female wrestlers and the other was under the POCSO Act on the complaint of a minor. The minor’s complaint has been withdrawn.

The wrestlers’ 36-day sit-in ended on May 28 when their planned march to the new parliament building to attend a Malila Mahapanchayat was stopped by the police and they were detained. The protest site was also cleared. The police action was criticised, but Kadian said the incident broke the wrestlers.

“Let me make it clear that the call for the Mahila Samman Mahapanchayat was made by the khap leaders. We followed their order and faced police action. That broke us. We have won so many medals for the country and our dignity was trampled on the streets. I can't explain in words what we went through,” Kadian said.

The next day, the wrestlers went to Haridwar to immerse their international medals in the Ganga but were persuaded by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Naresh Tikait from doing it. Malik and Kadian claimed people from the “system” tricked them there.

“One man grabbed Bajrang by the arm and took him aside. He made him speak to some influential people. If we had done that (immersed medals), there could have been violence. We gave the medals to coaches and parents. We were not in a state to understand if there's a conspiracy,” they said.

“The system takes advantage when we are not united. If you are facing any sort of injustice, do raise your voice and stay united,” he added.

Sources claimed that BJP members Tirath Rana and Sanjeev Balyan were present at Har ki Paudi that day and they took Punia aside and made him speak to “people in the government”. A few days later, the wrestlers met home minister Amit Shah, apprising him of their demands. The next week, they held a six-hour meeting with sports minister Anurag Thakur, who assured them that the charge sheet would be filed by June 15, which was done.

The BKU leadership was reportedly not happy with the wrestlers opening a dialogue with the government without keeping them in the loop.

Those in the know of things say that the wrestlers’ plan to hold a Mahapanchayat on Sunday has been called off.

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