Wrestlers to halt protest till June 15 after Anurag Thakur assures action

Protesting wrestlers on Wednesday met Union Minister for Sports Anurag Thakur at his residence in the New Delhi. Following a long meeting with Thakur, some of the top wrestlers have informed that they will halt their protest till June 15.

According to media reports, "Government has assured us that police investigation will be completed before 15th June. We have requested that all FIRs against wrestlers should be taken back and he has agreed to it. If no action is taken by 15th June, we will continue our protest,” Bajrang Punia told ANI.

The meeting at Thakur's residence began earlier today at around 11:00 AM in the morning and ended during the early evening hours. Wrestler Sakshi Malik accompanied star wrestler Bajrang Punia. However, Vinesh Phogat, one of the prominent faces in the protest, did not attend the meeting as she was in her village Balali in Haryana to attend a pre-scheduled panchayat.

After meeting the protesting wrestlers, Thakur informed the media, "I had a long 6-hour discussion with the wrestlers. We have assured wrestlers that the probe will be completed by June 15 and chargesheets will be submitted. The election of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will be done by June 30."

In the wee hours of Tuesday, the minister took to his Twitter account to invite the wrestlers for a meeting and wrote, "The government is willing to have a discussion with the wrestlers on their issues. I have once again invited the wrestlers to the same."

Thakur's statement comes days after Home Minister Amit Shah met with the protesting wrestlers at his official residence in the national capital.

On April 23, 2023, the protesting wrestlers resumed their protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital and demanded the arrest of WFI's President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers and misconduct.

On April 28, two first information reports (FIRs) were filed by the Delhi Police against Singh. These FIRs included at least two instances of demanding “sexual favours” in lieu of professional assistance; close to 15 incidents of sexual harassment that include 10 episodes of inappropriate touching, molestation that includes running hands over breasts, touching the navel; several instances of intimidation including stalking.