CHENNAI: More than a couple of months after leading a historic protest against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Olympic and World Championships medallist Bajrang Punia came out in open and raised questions over the investigation being carried out to probe charges including sexual harassment against Singh.
The multiple Worlds medallist spoke to this daily and alleged 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, which was constituted by the sports ministry to probe the allegations, was not in agreement with its final report. It indicates something suspicious is being done either by the committee or the ministry. Someone is doing something wrong," the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang told this daily.
The sports ministry constituted the committee which was headed by the legendary woman boxer MC Mary Kom. Former wrestler Babita Phogat was added as the sixth member of the committee after wrestlers raised objections to its constitution.
Besides, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) also formed a committee to probe the allegations after the wrestlers wrote a letter to its head, legendary track and field athlete PT Usha. The oversight committee was initially given four weeks to complete the probe and submit its report, which was later extended by two weeks.
"The news report said that statements given by wrestlers are being manipulated. It means that attempts are being made to give clean chit Singh and prove the grapplers, who protested against him, were lying," Bajrang added further.
Showing his apprehensions over the investigation, the 29-year-old wrestler from Haryana demanded to make the statements given by the women wrestlers public. "Through your newspaper, I wanted to tell the people of this country that the statements given by the women wrestlers against the WFI chief should be made public so that they also know the truth. The whole process was videographed. These videos should be run on news channels. These statements should be made public to decide whether he (Singh) was guilty or not. I don't know who wants to save him, who all are supporting him. 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 support us or go with the truth," said Bajrang.
He was also not happy with the recent developments wherein the federation has resumed its day-to-day functioning. "The WFI has resumed its activities even as the report of the oversight committee has not been made public yet. We don't know whether the committee has submitted its report or not. We don't have any information on it yet," Bajrang signed off.