Wrestlers return to work post meeting Amit Shah, vow to continue fight against WFI chief

It was a day of drastic decision-making for the protesting wrestlers. Even as farmers continue to back their protest, the trio of Bajrang Punia, Sakshee Malikkh and Vinesh Phogat had to issue denials 

against reports that they had withdrawn their protests post their meeting with Home Minister late Saturday.

The wrestlers had to issue statements denying they were no longer protesting or seeking arrest of BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India's head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on sexual harassment charges raised by wrestlers. The farmer union leaders however expressed their unhappiness over the meeting. 

The trio - Bajrang Punia, Sakshee Malikkh and Vinesh Phogat on Monday returned to their respective homes and rejoined offices post their meeting with Amit Shah on Saturday night. While no official statements have emerged post that meeting, it is reliably learnt that very little came out of it. The result of the meeting was Punia and Malikkh rejoining their government duties. Satyavart Kadian, husband of Sakshee, vehemently denied any deal with Shah. 

When news channels started flashing news of the wrestlers getting back to normal life and leaving their protest to get justice for all the molested female wrestlers in the past, Malikkh tweeted: “This news is totally false. None amongst us has backed off nor will we back off. I am trying to fulfil my duty with railways department along with carrying on my protest and fight for justice. We will continue to fight till we get justice. Please do not run false news.”)

She further tweeted that those who had disrespected their achievements are now after their jobs too. However, she added that the job is a very small sacrifice to make if it comes in the way of their fight for justice. She warned that nobody should try to threaten them in the name of jobs. 

Reportedly Shah assured them that the investigation against Brij Bhushan would be done impartially. However, he did not agree to the wrestlers’ demand of arresting him immediately. He also requested for two weeks time to complete investigations against Singh, to which the wrestlers reportedly agreed. He also wished wrestlers should rejoin duty.