Brinda Karat meets wrestlers demanding action against WFI chief

NEW DELHI: CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat on Tuesday met agitating wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, at Jantar Mantar here and said that she fully supported their demands. Several prominent wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar seeking action against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment of players.

This is the second time in over three months that Karat visited the protesting wrestlers to extend her support. The CPI(M) leader had come to support their protest in January too, but then she was asked to leave the stage. The protesting wrestlers had then said that they did not want to make the agitation against the WFI chief political. However, in a departure from their earlier stand, the wrestlers on Monday rallied for support from political parties, women’s organisations and farmers’ organisations.

When Karat reached the protest site on Tuesday, the wrestlers apologised to her for the incident which happened last time. ''I told them (wrestlers) that I was there the first time to express solidarity and I have come back as I fully support their demands. They told me that the Delhi Police has refused to file an FIR and is revealing the names of complainants to the WFI chief who is threatening the complainants,'' Karat told PTI. ''I told the wrestlers that they have our full support and we will organise protests to demand justice. I told them about the struggle we waged for laws against sexual harassment and that the government is violating those laws to protect their own MP. Their struggle is every woman’s struggle for justice,'' she said.