Junior wrestlers put the heat on Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik & Vinesh Phogat

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, January 3

In a dramatic turn, over 300 wrestlers from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi today protested against Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat.

The wrestlers, who came down in droves from Bawana, Baghpat, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and all major akhadas from the National Capital Region, raised chants of ‘Bajrang Punia haye haye’, ‘Vinesh Phogat haye haye’. They also released a video statement that urged the United World Wrestling (UWW) to save the sport. Ritika, who is a senior Asian Championships bronze medallist in the 76kg category, and Nitika, who is the junior Asian champion in 59kg, said, “Please save wrestling from these three.”

The protesters came to the Jantar Mantar area, which was the site of last year’s wrestlers’ dharna in the sexual harassment case against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The protesters alleged that the three senior wrestlers were the reason they have lost out on competitions and prospects of government jobs.

Shivanand and Anil Pandey, both junior wrestlers from Ghaziabad and now training at the Anil Mann akhada in Delhi, said they have lost out on a whole year. “We were planning to apply for police recruitment, and a medal and a certificate would have given us a significant advantage, but the cut-off date for that was December 31,” Shivanand told The Tribune.

A coach from the Railways blamed Bajrang, Sakshi and Vinesh for playing with the careers of young wrestlers and criticised them for not allowing the federation to run after the elections.

“How can they not agree with an election that happened under the guidance of the Supreme Court? All they have been doing is successfully blackmailing the government to get their own way,” the coach said.

“These stars drive expensive cars like Audi and BMW but these young wrestlers who come from farming backgrounds do not have that luxury. It is very hard for their families to sustain a monthly expense of Rs 40,000 on a boy or a girl,” the former wrestler added.

The coach added that if the situation does not improve, this protest will take a bigger shape than what it was today.

The short protest seems to have made an impact as the ad hoc committee headed by Bhupinder Singh Bajwa assured the wrestlers that they will be holding the junior meets soon.

“The Committee acknowledges the concerns raised by the young wrestlers and is committed to address the issues. The Committee is planning to organise the national championships for the U-15 and U-20 categories within the next 6 weeks at LNIPE, Gwalior,” an ad hoc committee statement said.

“…Once again, the Committee reassures the young wrestlers that the U-15, U-20 national championships will be held in February, 2024, at LNIPE, Gwalior, for which the details will be announced soon. The young wrestlers are advised to continue training and practicing for these events,” the statement added.