Vikrant Shekhawat : Oct 22, 2024, 03:40 PM
WFI President: Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik has recently made a big allegation that BJP leader and wrestler Babita Phogat had instigated her and other wrestlers to protest due to her ambition to become the President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Sakshi claims that Babita had a meeting with several wrestlers, in which she urged them to raise their voice against cases of sexual abuse and molestation within the WFI. However, Sakshi says that Babita had her own agenda behind this movement, which has now come to the fore.Conspiracy to remove Brijbhushan Singh?Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia had opened a front against WFI President Brijbhushan Sharan Singh last year. The three, along with other wrestlers, staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, leveling serious allegations of sexual abuse against Brijbhushan Singh and demanding his dismissal from the post of President. At that time, this movement of wrestlers received massive support, but Babita Phogat, who herself is associated with the BJP, was not seen with them in this demonstration.In a recent interview, Sakshi Malik revealed that Babita Phogat herself encouraged the wrestlers to protest. Sakshi says that Babita's real intention was to take over the presidency of WFI by removing Brijbhushan Singh. Sakshi claimed that BJP leader Tirath Rana and Babita Phogat helped in organizing the demonstration in Haryana, not the Congress."Babita played mind games"Sakshi Malik says that she initially believed in Babita Phogat because she herself has been a successful female wrestler and could bring positive change if she took over the leadership in WFI. But Sakshi also said that Babita misused this trust and instead of supporting her, played her politics behind the demonstration. Sakshi said, "We thought Babita would sit with us and support us in the protest, but she played mind games with us."Allegations against Vinesh and Bajrang tooSakshi Malik has also made serious allegations against her fellow wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia in her recently published book 'Witness'. Sakshi says that due to the selfish decisions of Vinesh and Bajrang, no concrete results came out of the protest. She claimed that both of them were pressured by the people around them and in this greed, they accepted the decisions of the ad-hoc committee, which said that they would be given exemption in the trial games.Sakshi said that this decision caused a deep damage to the protest and many people supporting it started believing that this movement was being done only for personal gain. This raised questions on the credibility of the wrestlers' movement and it deviated from its direction.Questions on the purpose of the movementThese revelations of Sakshi Malik have brought a new twist in the whole matter. While earlier the wrestlers' protest was being seen as a movement for reform in WFI and against sexual exploitation, now it is being accused of selfishness and personal agenda.ConclusionAfter these allegations of Sakshi Malik, many questions have been raised about the performance of the wrestling association and the wrestlers. The allegations leveled on Babita Phogat are serious, as it gives a glimpse of the political game within the wrestling association. Apart from this, the allegations leveled on Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia also make it clear that internal strife and selfish elements dominated the wrestlers' movement. Now it remains to be seen what further steps are taken in this matter and what is the result of these allegations.