03-05-2023 : P.T. Usha, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief, met with wrestlers at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Wednesday after they had been protesting against the alleged administrative apathy towards allegations of sexual harassment against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The athletes had been protesting for 11 days, but Usha angered them when she criticized their actions as indisciplined and damaging to the country’s image. She suggested that the protesting wrestlers could have approached the IOA’s committee for sexual harassment instead of taking to the streets.
During her meeting with the wrestlers, Usha assured them that she was with them and promised to resolve the situation as soon as possible. However, the wrestlers said they would continue their protest until Singh was dismissed by the WFI. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, who is one of the faces of the protest, called Usha insensitive for suggesting that the wrestlers lacked discipline. Another prominent face of the protest, Sakshi Malik, said that Usha, being a woman athlete, was not listening to other women athletes.
Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia expressed sadness that Usha, as the IOA chief and a woman herself, had criticized the protesting wrestlers. He also revealed that they had previously approached the IOA for justice but received none. The wrestlers have made Jantar Mantar their protest site for the second time in three months, squatting in public against the BJP lawmaker. The Delhi Police registered two cases against Singh, including the alleged sexual harassment of a minor, following the Supreme Court’s intervention. However, the wrestlers are demanding his dismissal by the WFI and are threatening to continue their protest until their demands are met.