Wrestlers announce ‘mahila mahapanchayat’ outside new parliament
The protesting wrestlers will attend a ‘mahila mahapanchayat’ outside the new parliament building next Sunday, the day it is due to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The decision was taken at a mahapanchayat called by Maham Chaubisi khap — a cluster of 24 villages — in Haryana’s Maham town in Rohtak district.
The day marked the end of wrestlers’ 15–day ultimatum to the government. The protesters had last fortnight warned of some “big decisions” if former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was not arrested by Sunday (May 21).
“We had declared that we’ll take some big decisions today if Singh is not arrested in 15 days. It has been decided that a mahila mahapanchayat will be held outside the new parliament building on May 28 and the wrestlers will attend,” Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia said.
Women from Rohtak, Jhajjar, Narnaul, Faridabad, Rewari, Charkhi Dadri and Gurugram districts of Haryana are likely to form the bulk of the scheduled congregation.
“We urge women from all over India to join us. This is a battle for our daughters. Soon, we’ll take to social media to request women to reach Delhi by next Sunday,” Punia added.
The mahapanchayat was attended by representatives of farmer organisations, women groups, and khaps. Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik was the lone wrestler from among those at the Jantar Mantar sit-in who was present there.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, who has visited the protestors at least twice during the sit-in, attended the mahapanchayat. “The government will try to raise allegations against the wrestlers, but we are ready for the long fight,” he was quoted as saying.
The khap leaders extended their support to the wrestlers’ decision to take out a candlelight march to India Gate on May 23 to mark one month of their current protest.
“It is a shame that the women of this country have to sit on pavements to seek justice and yet there is no action from the government. Why is one man (Singh) so important to this government? I feel there are two different laws in this country, one for common citizen and another for powerful people such as Singh,” Punia said.
The wrestlers have over the past week taken out three marches to various locations in and around Connaught Place besides paying their respects at Rajghat. They didn’t have police permission for the processions and are in no mood to seek one for the mahila mahapanchayat either.
“Why do we need permission for this? If Delhi Police asks us to get permission, we’ll comply. We didn’t break any rule yesterday either, but were treated like criminals,” Punia said, referring to the top wrestlers being denied entry into the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday. They wanted to watch the IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings from the stands but were turned back by the police despite holding five valid tickets.
“We were not carrying any posters or banners. We did wear white t-shirts that had a slogan in support of wrestlers printed on it, but we are free to wear what we want. If someone wants to watch a CSK-DC match wearing a Mumbai Indians jersey, will you deny entry to him/her?
“We don’t have anything against police officials. But the government has left us in the cold. We wrote to all women MPs from the BJP but not one has contacted us. It’s a shame,” said Punia, a multiple world championships medallist.
‘Asian Games as good as over’
The stir has taken a toll on the wrestlers’ training, diet, rest and recovery. While some of them still train intermittently, the routine needed at the elite level has gone missing. Punia and two-time World Championships bronze medallist Vinesh Phogat feature in the Asiad long list but the chances of them making the cut are miniscule.
They have skipped the Zagreb and Alexandria ranking series and the Asian Championships this year and are set to miss the Bishkek ranking series next month. The Hangzhou Asian Games is in September-October.
“I don’t think we are physically or mentally ready for Asian Games. At our current level, we won’t even win the selection trials, forget winning a medal. Our only objective now is to get Singh arrested,” Punia, a two-time Asian Games medallist and the defending champion in 65kg class, said.
The next hearing of the wrestlers’ plea in a Delhi magistrate court is on May 27.