“This information is entirely false. In the fight for justice, none of us have nor will ever retreat. In addition to my duties with Satyagraha, I am also responsible for the Railways. Our struggle will continue until justice is served. Please do not disseminate false information,” Malik tweeted alongside a screenshot of a news report from a television network.

https://twitter.com/SakshiMalik/status/1665645066105544705

“The withdrawal of the movement is merely a rumor. These rumors are intended to injure us. We have neither retreated nor ceased our forward progress. The rumor that female wrestlers have raised FIR is also false. The battle will endure until justice is served, tweeted Punia.

Malik, Punia, and Vinesh Phogat have resumed employment with the Indian Railways after being evicted from their Jantar Mantar protest site on May 28. Records from the Northern Railways headquarters indicate that Olympic bronze medalist Malik joined her Baroda House office on May 31, a day after the high drama in Haridwar, where the trio refrained from immersing their international medals in the Ganga following a late intervention by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Naresh Tikait.

Malik approved the conduct of Railways inter-divisional championships for men’s cricket, badminton, powerlifting, basketball, volleyball, kabaddi, wrestling, boxing, athletics, and hockey in a letter dated May 31.

ALSO READ :Wrestlers demand Brij Bhushan Singh’s arrest, postponing Ayodhya rally.

The letter was sent to the divisional sports directors, the office of the Divisional Railway Manager, and all five divisions of Northern Railways — Ambala, Delhi, Firozpur, Lucknow, and Moradabad.

The letter was submitted by Malik in her capacity as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD). While Malik did not respond to calls and messages, a knowledgeable official confirmed the development.

“Yes, the three of you entered the military a few days ago. Since the khaps are now devising the future of the protest, the wrestlers have decided to return to work, according to a source who spoke to HT.

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Wrestler Babita Phogat, who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, has joined the oversight committee that was established to investigate the multiple charges that have been levelled against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
The Sports Ministry has established an oversight committee, which is currently conducting an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment, intimidation, financial irregularities, and administrative lapses committed by the WFI and its chief. These allegations concern the WFI and its chief.

Some of the most well-known grapplers in the world, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Ravi Dahiya, are the ones who made the accusations.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports issued a statement that included the following information: “Former wrestler Babita Phogat has been added to the panel of the Oversight Committee formed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to undertake the day-to-day administration of the Wrestling Federation of India.”

The legendary boxer MC Mary Kom serves as the chairperson of the oversight committee, which also includes former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former shuttler Trupti Murgunde, Radhica Sreeman, and Rajesh Rajagopalan, who formerly served as the CEO of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. Babita is the sixth member of the committee.

In the beginning of this month, the Minister of Sports, Anurag Thakur, made the announcement that a committee would be established to look into the allegations made against the WFI chairman and to also handle the day-to-day operations of the sports organisation.

After receiving reassurances from the government, the grapplers ultimately decided to call off their protest, which brought an end to the conflict between the agitated grapplers and the WFI.

Also read:- Sudha Murty gave her husband, daughter, and Rishi Sunak four pieces of advice.

On the other hand, Bajrang, Vinesh, Sarita Mor, and Sakshi, who participated in a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar for three days in order to demand the removal of the WFI president, had also expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that they were not consulted prior to the formation of the committee. They held the sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar.

Wrestler Babita Phogat Joins Oversight Committee Probing #MeToo Allegations

Know more: https://t.co/okmwaVoSJ2#uniquetimes #LatestNews #BabitaPhogat #goldmedalist #Commonwealth #BrijBhushanSharanSingh #WrestlingFederationOfIndia #Metoo pic.twitter.com/dZDDjjnTBP

— uniquetimes (@uniquetimesorg) January 31, 2023

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Taking the first action in the wrestler and WFI dispute, the Sports Ministry has suspended Vinod Tomar, Assistant Secretary of the Federation. Tomar had said on Saturday evening itself that most of the people of the Federation are with Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and personally also I do not find the allegations of the players correct. I have been associated with Brij Bhushan Singh for 12 years, he is not like that. The allegations of the players are baseless. It’s been 3-4 days and they haven’t produced any evidence yet.

Federation said – personal agenda behind the protest

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has responded to the notice of the Sports Ministry. It was said on behalf of the Federation – the protesting players are defaming the WFI for their personal interest. They have personal agenda behind the protest. The president or anyone in WFI can’t do anything arbitrarily. There is no scope for mismanagement here.

The strike ended after a 7-hour meeting

The three-day-long strike by wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh ended at 1 am on Friday. This decision was taken after a 7-hour meeting between Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and the wrestlers. Anurag Thakur told that an inquiry committee will be formed. It will give its report in 4 weeks. Its members will be announced on Saturday.

Anurag Thakur told that Brij Bhushan Singh will not look after the work of the Federation until the investigation is completed. This committee will keep an eye on the functioning of WFI. Brij Bhushan has assured cooperation in the investigation. On the other hand, wrestler Bajrang Punia said, ‘The Union Sports Minister listened to our demands and assured proper investigation. I thank them. We hope that there will be a fair investigation, so we are ending the strike.

• 2 committees formed for investigation in one day, 2 meetings of wrestler and sports minister
  Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and wrestlers engaged in a day-long sparring over allegations of sexual harassment. Both the parties were not ready to leave the ‘akhada’. Understand the events of the day like this…
• 12 noon: Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh announced to hold a press conference in the morning. He said that there is no question of resignation. If I open my mouth, a tsunami will come. He changed the time of the press conference 5 times. Sources told that there was pressure from above to cancel the press conference.
• 12 noon: Wrestlers write a letter to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Wrestlers alleged- When Vinesh Phogat had missed the medal in Tokyo Olympics, then Wrestling Association President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh mentally disturbed her so much that Vinesh had made up her mind to commit suicide.
• 6 pm: Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat reach Sports Minister Anurag Thakur’s house. The meeting between them went on till late night. After this it was announced to end the strike. During this, the Sports Minister announced the formation of a committee for investigation.
• 8 pm: After this the IOA decided to conduct an inquiry. IOA formed a 7 member committee. These include boxer Mary Kom, archer Dola Banerjee, badminton player Alaknanda Ashok, freestyle wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, Indian Weightlifting Federation President Sahdev Yadav and two lawyers.
• 8 pm: Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has canceled his Friday press conference. Brij Bhushan’s son Prateek told the media – Brij Bhushan will talk to the media after the annual meeting of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to be held in Ayodhya on January 22. Brij Bhushan Sharan has sent his reply to the Sports Ministry.
• 12 midnight: WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh tweeted that the press conference to be held after the General and Executive Body meeting of the Wrestling Federation of India on January 22 has been postponed till further notice.

• 200 wrestlers returned after leaving the National Championship

This controversy has also affected the National Championship to be held in Gonda, UP. Many players from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab who went to participate in the championship returned on Friday. Delhi’s wrestler Pradeep Meena, who was involved in these, told that till now more than 200 wrestlers have returned. These people refused to play in the championship.

Now understand what is the whole matter

On January 18, about 30 wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, sat on a dharna against the Wrestling Federation of India at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Later, more than 200 players joined this demonstration. She accused WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and some coaches of sexual harassment by Olympic winning players. The wrestlers demanded the resignation of the WFI president.

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat said that our allegations are true. We should not be forced to come in front of everyone. We are fighting for our honour. We do not want to tell the whole country what has happened to the daughters of the country. The day all the girls tell the media what happened to us, it will be a disaster for wrestling.

If our demand is not accepted, we will file an FIR against these girls. WFI President Brij Bhushan will send Sharan Singh to jail. At the same time, Bajrang Punia said that there are 6-7 girls with us with proof, who have been exploited by the Speaker.

पहलवानों के धरने के बाद खेल मंत्रालय एक्शन में , कुश्ती संघ के अतिरिक्त सचिव विनोद तोमर सस्पेंड.

आज ही विनोद तोमर ने कहा था, 'आरोप आधारहीन हैं. ऐसा कुछ नहीं है. 3-4 दिन हो गए हैं, और उन्होंने अब तक कोई सबूत पेश नहीं किया है.#WFIControversy#WrestlersProtest pic.twitter.com/WTUq60bXnL

— Shivam Pratap Singh (@journalistspsc) January 21, 2023

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Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia held a press conference in New Delhi after meeting with officials from the Union Sports Ministry to talk about their protest.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), will hold a press conference on Friday at the Wrestling Training Centre in Nawabganj, Gonda district, Uttar Pradesh. Wrestlers who are protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi will also talk to the press today at 10:30 AM. This happened after top Indian wrestlers met with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and refused to back down from their demand that the government start taking steps right away to get rid of the WFI.

“Exposing the political conspiracy of those plotting against wrestling and playing with the dignity of women wrestlers,” Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh wrote in a Hindi Facebook post announcing his press conference for today.

Indian wrestlers like Olympic medalists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, world champion medalist Vinesh Phogat, and others have been sitting in at Jantar Mantar to protest WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. They accuse him of sexual exploitation and bullying.

On Thursday night, the protesting wrestlers, led by Vinesh and Bajrang and including Sakshi, Anshu Malik, Ravi Dahiya, Sarita Mor, and others, met Anurag Thakur at his home and asked him to act quickly. The two sides had a long meeting that ended around 2 a.m., but they still haven’t come up with a real solution.

Also Read: Wrestlers Protest against WFI

What We Know About the WFI Protest So Far

Sources told PTI that the government wants the wrestlers to stop their protest, but they have stuck to their demand that the WFI be dissolved first. A source close to the wrestlers told PTI, “The government can take care of other problems later, which is fine with us. But first, it needs to get rid of the WFI.”

Brinda karat told not to give the sports person's protest a political colour, asked to leave the protest site by the wrestlers pic.twitter.com/VwR4ttAs12

— Amanpreet Singh (ਅਮਨਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ) (@amanthejourno) January 19, 2023

A group of wrestlers, including Bajrang, Vinesh, Anshu, Sakshi, and her husband Satyawrat Kadiyan, met with government officials on Thursday morning to talk about their problems. They met with Sports Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi, Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, and Joint Secretary (Sports) Kunal.

According to PTI, during the hour-long meeting, the athletes were told to stop their protest and that their problems would be taken care of. Babita Phogat, who used to be a wrestler and is now a leader in the BJP, was also there.

The Sports Ministry has asked the WFI for an explanation about the wrestlers’ claims, but the WFI has not yet given one. Since the government has already asked the WFI for an explanation, the ministry can’t make Brij Bhushan quit until it gets a written answer.

A spokesperson for the National Commission for Women said, “People who have complaints about this matter can go to the women’s panel.”
The protest started with a shocking revelation. On Wednesday, a crying Vinesh Phogat said that WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had been sexually exploiting women wrestlers for many years. The sports administrator and BJP MP strongly denied this claim.

The 28-year-old woman said that she had never been used in this way, but she added, “I know at least 10–20 female wrestlers who have told me that the WFI President took advantage of them sexually. They told me what happened. I can’t give you their names right now, but if we get to meet the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of the country, I’ll be happy to “.

“People close to the WFI President have made death threats against me. If something bad happens to any of us sitting here, it will be the WFI President’s fault “She said that.

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