The support for wrestlers staging a protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is growing with representatives of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) arriving at Jantar Mantar to express their solidarity with the stir.
According to AAP sources, representatives of 360 villages in Delhi, including MLAs and councillors, will visit Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.
AAP's Delhi unit convenor Gopal Rai told reporters on Tuesday said the wrestlers who brought fame to the country have been braving adverse weather conditions. "They sat there in heavy rains on Monday. The prime minister has no time to listen to them. The Supreme Court had to direct that an FIR be registered. Even the sports minister is not ready to hear their pleas," Rai said.
He accused the BJP of maligning the protesting wrestlers. "They (BJP leaders) are trying to malign the movement. They (wrestlers) were not allowed to put up tents. They were not allowed to install a microphone system. The whole nation is watching. People are supporting them over social media and they are also reaching Jantar Mantar," Rai said.
"On Wednesday, representatives of 360 villages, including councillors and MLAs, will visit Jantar Mantar at 11 am to support the protesting wrestlers. A strategy for the movement will also be chalked out. The voices of these players will reach every village," the AAP leader said.
The protesters have been demanding criminal action against Singh for the alleged sexual harassment and intimidation of seven female wrestlers, including a minor.
Meanwhile, the SFI unit at Delhi University has expressed its support for wrestlers. One of the protestors, Olympic medal winner Bajrang Punia will join the SFI march at Delhi University, sources said.
This comes as the BJP accuse AAP of trying to hijack the protest. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma alleged that AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj held a meeting with Aadil Khan, Durgesh, Neeraj and Sandeep on Tuesday. "There is a plan to hijack the dharna of players. Adil has been assigned the task of buying clothes for mats, tents and turbans. After Shaheen Bagh, this. Kejriwal is behind all this," Verma tweeted.
This comes as another wrestler Vineesh Phogat lashed out against Sports Minister Anurag Thakur for hushing up complaints related to sexual harassment by forming an oversight panel instead of taking action.
Vinesh said that twice in the past sexual harassment cases were reported during the national camp but WFI swept the matter under the carpet. Though the complainants had shared their ordeal in a meeting with the sports minister, he did not do anything except for constituting an oversight panel.
"During the 2012 national camp, a sexual harassment complaint was lodged at a police station. Within 24 hours that case was hushed up. In 2014 a physio, who was also the trainer of Geeta Phogat, raised a similar matter and he was removed from the camp within 24 hours. From that day, his wife could not participate in any competition.
"Before we started our protest, three months back, we had explained everything to a government official about how sexual harassment was taking place and how women wrestlers were being tortured mentally. The athletes were being pushed to a stage where they could have done anything with their lives.
"We waited for three-four months but when nothing happened, we came to Jantar Mantar. When we met the sports minister, the women wrestlers shared individual incidents related to sexual harassment. The girls were crying before him but no action was taken at that time.
"Sports minister tried to hush up matter yet again by forming a committee. We have tried to raise this issue at every level but the matter was always suppressed," said Vinesh.
The Asian Games gold medallist said now people can understand why they were silent for 12 years.
"We had to play sport. Our career, life was at stake and that's why we could not muster enough courage. Now we have reached a stage in our careers where we could speak. It's not easy to stand against a powerful man," she said.