Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik has declared that they only ask for Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh's arrest responding to Sports Minister Anurag Thakur's invitation for discussion. The 30-year-old, who has reached Thakur's residence in Delhi along with Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Poghat, said it remains to be seen the offer government provides them and they will proceed accordingly.
In a chat with India Today, Malik, who arrived at Thakur's residence said:
"We are not ending our protest. We will see what proposal the government will offer to us. Our main demand is that Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan should be arrested. We will discuss the proposal brought by the government with khap panchayat leaders if we like it. We will not accept any other proposal and will go through it."
The government has invited the protesting wrestlers for a discussion for the second time, a few days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah met them at his residence regarding their accusations of sexual assault against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh . On this occasion, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur has urged the athletes to have a discussion.
In a tweet made at midnight on Tuesday, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur stated that the government was willing to have discussions with the wrestlers on their issues. He tweeted, "The government is willing to have a discussion with the wrestlers on their issues. I have once again invited the wrestlers for the same."
On Monday, the protesting wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Poghat, and Bajrang Punia returned to their respective duties. However, they vowed to continue to fight for justice. In a tweet on the same day, Sakshi Malik revealed that no one has stepped back from their fight for justice and urged the news outlets to stop running wrong stories. The wrestlers have also made three demands - arrest Brij Bhushan Singh, clean up wrestling in India, and conduct fair WFI elections moving forward.
Delhi Police record statements of Brij Bhushan Singh's arrest:
Earlier, the Delhi Police took statements of a few employees of Brij Bhushan Singh and those working at his residence in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda as part of their investigation. Furthermore, a minor, who earlier gave two statements against the WFI chief, based on which a case was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has now recorded a fresh statement under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) section 164.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait insisted that they haven't stopped supporting the wrestlers and have postponed the June 9 demonstration against the WFI chief on the athletes' request. According to some media reports, the farmer leaders were unhappy with the wrestlers for keeping them in the dark about their meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah. Hence, they decided to stop supporting them moving forward.
