4 months ago
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The Congress on Friday appealed to President Droupadi Murmu and other constitutional functionaries to “speak up” against the exploitation of women wrestlers and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for making India’s daughters cry.
The party mounted a scathing attack on the BJP over the election of Sanjay Singh as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Mr. Singh is an aide of BJP MP and former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, against whom women wrestlers had made serious allegations of sexual harassment.
Following Mr. Sanjay Singh’s election on Thursday, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, who was the face of the wrestlers’ protest earlier this year, announced her retirement and broke down at a press conference.
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said at a press conference that the BJP’s policy was “to make your daughter cry” and “torment” them.
“I ask Honorable President of India, who we respect immensely, to shed all inhibitions and speak up for the daughters of India. I also appeal to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha to speak for daughters of farmers and the way they have been insulted,” he said.
Mr. Surjewala said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must answer the “travesty of justice, subjugation of talent and the bulldozing of quality sports” in the country.
“The announcement of the retirement of the country’s first woman wrestler to win an Olympic berth after the election of BJP MP Brij Bhushan’s assistant and ‘nominee’ Sanjay Singh is a ‘dark chapter’ in sports history.”
The Congress leader said that the women wrestlers had sat at Jantar Mantar for 39 days and knocked on the doors of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and Parliament to demand justice.
“Instead of giving justice, the BJP government crushed them with the shoes of Delhi Police and dragged them on the streets,” Mr. Surjewala said.
