Chennai, April 10: Olympic and World Championship Medallist Bajrang Punia has come out in open and raised questions over the investigation being carried out to probe charges including sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The multiple Worlds Medallist, Bajrang Punia said that attempts are being made to give clean chit to the embattled WFI chief and prove the women wrestlers, who made accusations against him, wrong.
“A news report recently claimed that one of the members of the oversight committee is not in agreement with its final report. It indicates that something suspicious is being done either by the committee or the ministry,” Bajrang Punia added.
The oversight committee was constituted by the Union Ministry of Sports to probe the allegations made by the Women Wrestlers. The committee is headed by the legendary woman boxer M. C. Mary Kom. Former wrestler Babita Phogat was added as the sixth member of the committee after wrestlers raised objections to its composition.
Over and above the oversight committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Sports, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) also formed a committee to probe the allegations after the wrestlers wrote a letter to its head, P. T. Usha.
According to Bajrang Punia, the news report said the statements given by wrestlers are being manipulated. It means that attempts are being made to give clean chit to Singh and prove the grapplers, who protested against him, were lying. “It is in this background, I demand that the statements and complaints made by the women wrestlers be made public so that the people can assess the credibility of the outcome of the investigation,” Punia explained.
In response to a question, Bajrang Punia said, “I don’t know who wants to save him (Singh) and who are all supporting him and for what reason. We had faith in the government that it would give justice to us. However, the way things are going on, we don’t feel like the government will supportus or go with the truth”
He further said that he was not happy with the recent developments wherein the federation has resumed its day-to-day functioning “without the committee coming out with its report and the without the last word is said about the complaints and allegations”
EOM
