We Will Throw Our Medals In River Ganga Today: Protesting Wrestlers

Amid the tussle with the government over sexual harassment charges against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the wrestlers have said they will throw their Olympic medals in River Ganga in Haridwar today at 6 pm and go on a fast unto death at the India Gate.

Taking to Twitter, star wrestler Bajrang Punia said, "we will throw our medals in river Ganga in Haridwar today at 6 pm".

"These medals are our lives, our souls. There would be no reason to live after throwing them in the Ganga today. So, we will stage a hunger strike until death at India Gate after that," read the joint statement by protesting grapplers in Hindi.

The Prime Minister who calls us our daughters, but did not even once show his concern for the grapplers. Rather, he invited the 'oppressor' (Brij Bhushan Singh) to the inauguration of the new Parliament building. He even posed for photographs in bright white clothes. We have been stained by this brightness," the statement said.

"The President, who is a woman herself, sat barely two kilometres away and watched. She didn't say anything," it said.

"We don't need these medals any more because this system does its own propaganda by hanging them around our necks and putting a mask on us, it said.

"They then exploit us, and put us in jail if we protest," it added.

Top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshee Malikkh, and Bajrang Punia have been protesting the arrest of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment of female athletes, including a minor.

On Sunday, Delhi police detained top Indian wrestlers including Sakshi Malik, bronze winner Vinesh Phogat and another Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and later filed FIRs against them for rioting and obstruction of duty at the protest site at Jantar Mantar.

Dramatic scenes from the site showed police dragging the Olympic and world championships medal-winning players ahead of their march towards the new Parliament building for the planned women's 'Mahapanchayat'.

According to the police, the wrestlers did not have permission to move towards the new Parliament building.

The police also cleared the protest site by removing the cots, mattresses, coolers, fans and the tarpaulin ceiling along with other belongings of the grapplers.