Wrestlers Protest | Wrestlers will soon have a ‘mahapanchayat’ of their own: Bajrang Punia

File Photo: PTI Sonipat/Chandigarh. Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia on Sunday announced that wrestlers will soon have a mahapanchayat of their own. While addressing the ‘Sarva Samaj Samarthan Panchayat’ in Mundlana of Sonepat district in Haryana in support of the wrestlers, Poonia requested the speakers not to announce any decision and said that the wrestlers would call a ‘mahapanchayat’ in the next 3-4 days. He said, “We will hold a mahapanchayat and give a call for it. We’ll fix the place. We want to bring everyone together for that panchayat, we don’t want to be divided.” Several Olympic and world championship medalists including Poonia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat are agitating, demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and outgoing president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). . Brijbhushan Sharan Singh is accused of sexually assaulting several female wrestlers, including a minor. Poonia said that his fight is not for any particular caste, but for respect. “If we remain divided, we cannot win,” he said. Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary were also present in this panchayat. Malik has recently been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Malik hit out at the central government for not paying heed to the demands of the wrestlers and urged the people to oust the government from power in the next Lok Sabha elections. In another “mahapanchayat” held in Haryana’s Kurukshetra on Friday, khap leaders demanded Singh’s arrest and gave the government time till June 9 to act on it. It said that if the demand is not met, the farmers will go to Jantar Mantar on June 9 with the protesting wrestlers. Earlier, farmers’ organizations had also organized “Khap Mahapanchayat” in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait participated in Friday’s mahapanchayat. At a panchayat held in Sonepat, Malik recalled the wrestlers’ confrontation with the police in Delhi and said, “You have seen it all. My blood boils seeing this. Malik will travel to the poll-bound Rajasthan. He said that BJP has no chance to win from there and appealed to the people of the state to stand in support of the wrestlers. The former Jammu and Kashmir governor claimed that the central government would be forced to apologize on the issue of wrestlers, as it did on the issue of agricultural laws. Also read He said that farmers would have to fight another battle to ensure legal guarantees on the issues of Minimum Support Price (MSP) even if the three farm laws were repealed. Reiterating his claim regarding the 2019 Pulwama attack, Malik once again targeted the Modi government and said that the attack was possible only because the central government refused to provide aircraft for the movement of security personnel. He said, “They had asked for five planes, if they were given, they would not have to travel by road… They could have asked me for five planes, I was the governor, I would have given them in 15 minutes, but they asked the Home Ministry.” Had asked for aircraft from, who refused to give the aircraft. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said that there is a lot of anger among the people against the government for not giving justice to the wrestlers. Jayant Chowdhary alleged that such an atmosphere has never been seen before where the government stands in support of the accused in the case of wrestlers. On Poonia’s appeal for another mahapanchayat, Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chadhuni) chief Gurnam Singh Chadhuni said, “Whatever our players decide, we will follow.” (agency)