Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik claimed on Monday that no resolution was reached following the wrestlers’ “normal conversation” with Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday night regarding their protests against Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexual harassment.
“It was a normal conversation and no final solution was achieved. Our demand will be the same, to get the accused arrested,” Malik told the reporters.
In a demonstration against Brij Bhushan, Malik and Bajrang Punia have been calling for his arrest over claims of sexual harassment against seven wrestlers, including one kid. They are joined by fellow Olympian and World Championship medalist Vinesh Phogat. Singh has refuted every accusation.
“We have not withdrawn our names, Vinesh, I and Bajrang are together in this protest and we have not withdrawn our names,” Malik told news agency.
In the first such high-level engagement into the ongoing situation, Shah is said to have listened to the wrestlers until late. Anurag Thakur, the sports minister, guaranteed the wrestlers that their accusations would be fairly investigated earlier.
The late-night meeting with Shah takes place just days after the wrestlers attempted to dip their medals in the Ganga in Haridwar but were prevented by farmer activist Rakesh Tikait, who has given the government till June 9 to apprehend Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Sakshi Malik’s father, Sukhbir Malik, claimed that during their meeting with Shah, she, Punia, and Phogat made two demands: they called for Brij Bhushan to be detained and for honest officials to be appointed to the wrestling federation.