Wrestlers Protest: Farmer Leaders Call for Mahapanchayat to extend solidarity

New Delhi— A day after the wrestlers took their protest to Haridwar, where they threatened to 'immerse' their medals in the Ganga but backtracked after the intervention of farm leaders. Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday urged them to "trust" the Delhi Police investigation and "be patient" until its conclusion.

Naresh Tikait, national president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), convened a meeting of khap leaders at Sauram village in Muzaffarnagar on Thursday after rushing to Haridwar on Tuesday and persuading the wrestlers to postpone the immersion of their medals for five days. He stated that 30-35 khap chiefs from Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh are anticipated to attend the Mahapanchayat.

According to information obtained, Tikait's call alarmed certain BJP leaders from Western UP who worried that it would encourage the expansion of protests in the area.

“The only thing we ask is that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh be taken into custody first. Later, we will talk about additional issues,” Tikait told the media.

Seven female wrestlers, including a teenager, have accused Brij Bhushan, the head of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a BJP member from Uttar Pradesh, of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation. He is mentioned in two FIRs that the Delhi Police have filed, including one under the POCSO Act that relates to the claims made by the minor wrestler.

Brij Bhushan repeated that the allegations against him were false on Wednesday, according to a PTI report from Barabanki. "I am announcing once more that I will hang myself if even one accusation against me is found to be true... If you have evidence, present it to the court; if the court decides to hang me, I will accept it,” he said.

The wrestlers should wait until the Delhi Police has finished its probe Sports Minister Thakur told media in New Delhi earlier in the day. "My dear athletes, you can put your faith in the Delhi Police's inquiry... I implore the wrestlers to wait patiently for the investigation's conclusion. I also beg them not to do anything that would jeopardize sports or hurt any athletes," he added.

In the upcoming weeks, a status report, according to Delhi Police personnel, would be presented in court.

According to a report published in The Indian Express, some BJP leaders from the area, including the leader of the party's western UP branch, are said to have traveled to the capital and met a Union minister in response to Tikait's proposal for a mahapanchayat. It is also known that a top Haryana BJP leader was approached by a BJP politician from western UP who asked him to bring the matter up with the central leadership.

Brijendra Singh, a BJP member from Hisar, spoke out in favor of the protesting wrestlers on Tuesday. "I can sense the anguish and helplessness that our wrestlers are experiencing as they are on the verge of losing their lifetime of labor—the Olympic, Commonwealth, and Asian Games medals—in the sacred Ganga. Heartbreaking beyond words," he tweeted. He had brought up the subject earlier as well.

A group of Haryana-based BJP leaders are concerned about how the protest may affect the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections later this year. These wrestlers are some of our most well-known athletes. It is quite bad if they must demonstrate to receive justice, remarked a party representative from Haryana.