New Delhi:
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said on Friday that everyone wants justice to the wrestlers demanding action against outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, but it will only happen after due process.
Mr Thakur’s comments came days after the country’s top wrestlers, who had been protesting allegations of sexual harassment against Singh for more than a month, threatened to dunk their medals in the Ganga river in Haridwar.
“The government is in favor of an unbiased inquiry… We all want justice to be done, but it will be done after following due process,” Mr Thakur said in an interactive session at the India Economic Conclave hosted by the Times Network.
The minister said Delhi police are investigating the case, which was filed after a government-appointed commission issued a report on the allegations against Singh, who is also a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP.
“There is no bias,” Mr Thakur said against suggestions that the delay in action was because Singh was a Lok Sabha member of the ruling party at the Centre.
The minister said that the Delhi police is expected to file charges in the matter soon.
“We are all in favor of a speedy investigation,” he added.
Mr Thakur said the government had agreed to every demand from the wrestlers, set up a panel to investigate the charges against Singh and asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to appoint a committee of directors to look into the affairs of the WFI to arrange.
“Whether it’s an athlete or a woman, if an atrocity has been committed, they should be brought to justice quickly,” he said, adding that the incidents the wrestlers were referring to had happened seven years ago.
Mr Thakur said the wrestlers were told an FIR could be filed at any police station but they wanted the government’s intervention.
Several Olympic and World Championship medal-winning wrestlers including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat protested in Delhi demanding Singh’s arrest over alleged sexual harassment of several female grapplers, including a minor.
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