Rethink ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’: Akhilesh Yadav tells BJP on wrestlers' protest

Samajwadi Party broke its silence over wrestlers' protests when wrestlers announced that they were heading to Haridwar to immerse their medals in Ganga.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, speaking about the wrestlers' protest against former Wrestlers Federation of India (WFI) Chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, said on Saturday that it was the responsibility of the Bharatiya Janata Party to ensure women wrestlers got justice.

Samajwadi Party national chief Akhilesh Yadav. (HT file photo)

He said, “The BJP should rethink its slogan of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'. When women wrestlers are demanding justice, it is their [BJP's] responsibility that they get justice.”

SP broke its silence over the wrestlers' protests when the protesting women wrestlers announced that they were heading to Haridwar to immerse their medals in Ganga. Yadav had tweeted in Hindi, “This time, Mother Ganga has called the daughters.” On Sunday, he had tweeted: “Today’s incident made it clear that all the BJP’s slogans on women’s safety and dignity were hollow and were only to grab women’s votes #MurderOfDemocracy”

Centre seeks time till June 15

The Centre has sought time till June 15 for the investigations to conclude, but the wrestlers' protest is not over yet, grappler Sakshi Malik on Wednesday said. Malik's statement came after she and her fellow wrestlers met Union sports minister Anurag Thakur. “We have been asked to suspend our protest till police completes its investigation by June 15”, she added.

Wrestler Bajrang Punia said, "We had a discussion on some issues. Police investigation should be completed by 15th June and the minister has requested us not to hold protests until then. He also said the security of female wrestlers will be taken care of. We have requested that all FIRs against wrestlers should be taken back and he has agreed to it".

The protests

The country's top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and Asian Games gold winner Vinesh Phogat, have been demanding the arrest of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Two FIR's had been filed against Brij Bhushan, one of which was taken back by a minor girl.

On May 10, the girl had recorded her statement before a magistrate in New Delhi under Section 164 of the code of criminal procedure (CrPc) against Brij Bhushan. The girl’s father had alleged that the WFI chief had forcibly pulled her towards him and sexually harassed her after which, she was completely disturbed and gradually, she complained of health issues.

In the FIR, the girl’s father had alleged that Brij Bhushan pressed her shoulder very hard and intentionally slipped his hand under her shoulder. The WFI chief allegedly said “you support me, I will support you. Stay in touch with me".

However, the father recently claimed that he and his daughter had made some “false allegations” against the Wrestling Federation of India chief.