Wrestlers demonstrating against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Monday denied reports of withdrawing from the protest.
Medal-winning grapplers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat have said they will not hesitate to leave work if it comes in the way of their fight for justice against the wrestling body chief.
According to media reports, Sakshee Malikkh, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia have resumed their duties in the railway.
Denying reports about withdrawing from the protest, Phogat, in a tweet in Hindi, said: “Those who said our medals are worth INR 15 are now after our jobs. Our life is at stake, so a job is a very small thing in front of that. If the job is seen to be an obstacle in the way of justice, then we will not take even 10 seconds to leave it. Do not show fear for job”.
Sharing a screenshot of a report claiming that Malikkh had resumed her duties with Indian Railways, the grappler said in a tweet in Hindi: “This news is completely false. In the fight for justice, none of us has backed down, nor will we. Along with Satyagraha, I am fulfilling my responsibility in Railways. Our fight continues till justice is served. Please don't spread any wrong news”.
The grapplers met Federal Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday night and called for an impartial probe against Singh.
According to media reports, the athletes sought meeting with Shah after their five-day deadline for action against Singh ended on Saturday.
During the meeting, Shah told the wrestlers that “let the law take its course”.
Prior to that, the wrestlers reached Haridwar last week intending to throw their medals in the Ganga River as they said that if justice is not served, then the medals don’t have any value.
However, they were restrained from doing so by prominent farmers’ leader Naresh Tikait. Afterwards, Tikait and the athletes issued a five-day ultimatum to the federal government to take action against Singh.
The Delhi police are probing the charges levelled by the wrestlers against Singh. Two first information reports have already been filed against the WFI chief.
This was the second time that wrestlers staged a protest against Singh. The first time, the grapplers staged a three-day protest at the same venue. Then they called-off the protest after Federal Sports Minister Anurag Thakur assured them of taking action against Singh if he were to be found guilty.
Thakur even announced an oversight committee that included ace boxer M.C. Mary Kom, London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, former badminton player Trupti Murgunde, member of the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Mission Olympic cell, and ex-administrators of SAI Radhica Sreeman and Rajesh Rajagopalan.