Following his intervention in preventing the protesting wrestlers from immersing their medals into the Ganga at Haridwar’s Har ki Pauri on Tuesday evening, farmer leader and Baliyan khap president Naresh Tikait announced that the khap leaders had summoned an emergency meeting for Wednesday to decide the best course of action.
Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia were among the agitated wrestlers who surrendered their medals to Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Tikait after he pleaded with them not to throw them into the river.
“Our girls are being mistreated, and the nation is furious. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the head of WFI, is being saved by the government. It is acceptable to stage a nonviolent protest. We won’t fail them (the wrestlers who are objecting), To address the next steps surrounding the demand to detain the WFI head (on allegations of sexual harassment), we have scheduled a khap meeting for Wednesday, Tikait informed the media.
He said, “So yet, nobody from the administration has gone to speak to the wrestlers.
According to Surendra Solanki, the president of Palam Khap, “if a solution is not found in the next five days, a maha khap panchayat will be convened in Delhi, and we will then gherao the Prime Minister’s house.”
As a symbolic gesture of protest against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who they have accused of sexual harassment, the wrestlers travelled to the Har ki Pauri on Tuesday evening. They did this to immerse their medals into the Ganga.
Tikait and the wrestlers have now set the government a five-day deadline to address their requests; in the event that this deadline is not met, the wrestlers will proceed with their plan to immerse their medals in the Ganga.
Many people had gathered at the Har ki Pauri to see the wrestlers’ moving performance when they arrived there with their Olympic and world championship gold.
A protective circle of people gathered around Sakshi, Vinesh, and Vinesh’s cousin Sangeeta as emotions ran high and they all started crying. Their spouses also provided them comfort.
The wrestlers had earlier stood in mournful silence for almost 20 minutes after arriving at Har ki Pauri. They then took a seat on the riverbed while holding their medals and displaying signs of extreme grief.