Opposition parties used wrestlers' shoulder to fire their gun: Yogeshwar Dutt

Security personnel detained wrestler Sakshi Malik during wrestlers' protest march towards new Parliament building, in New Delhi, on May 28, 2023. (PTI Photo)

BJP leader and Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt on Monday said politics has crept into the grapplers' agitation and the protesters are allowing political parties to fire from their shoulder. Dutt also said the wrestlers should not have marched towards the new parliament building.

"Players have been used. They are allowing political parties to fire from their shoulder. You saw a big example of this during the inauguration of the new Parliament building "Everyone knows protocols that are involved when top dignitaries like the President or the Prime Minister are present. Wrestlers were pushed to go there, which is sad. The Opposition was behind their march," Dutt told reporters in Chandigarh at an event.

He said that the inauguration was already boycotted by many of the opposition parties, which then further used wrestlers' protest to their ends. "They tried to tarnish the image of the country." Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sangeeta Phogat, all medal-winning wrestlers, were dragged and forced into buses by Delhi Police when they marched towards the new parliament building and tried to breach the barricades on Sunday.

The grapplers protesting against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh were marching from Jantar Mantar towards the new Parliament building for a women's 'Mahapanchayat' when they were confronted by police and detained. They were released late last night from detention. Dutt said police is not to blame for the scuffle between them and wrestlers and it was all doing of the politicians.

"Politics has crept in this. The demand for FIR by wrestlers has already been met. Police is doing their job. The Committee has given its report to the Sports Ministry," he said. "But about yesterday's incident, everyone knows that in such a programme if anyone tries to create any kind of hurdle then police will take action. Section 144 was already imposed in the area," he added.

Asked about female players being dragged by police, Dutt, who was in attendance with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, said, "Look there at the chief minister. If I go near him and hold any protest, police will drag me too." "It was a historic moment for all of us when the new Parliament building was being inaugurated," he further said.

The wrestlers are demanding the arrest of outgoing WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for allegedly sexually harassing several women wrestlers, including a minor, under his presidency of the federation. They had called for a women's Mahapanchayat at the new Parliament building at a time when it was being inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.