Amid the whirlwind that surrounds wrestling in the nation, former grappler Sakshi Malik voiced that the protesting wrestlers have no issues with the newly-elected WFI panel but for the involvement of chief Sanjay Singh, a Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist.
“We don’t have any issues with the new federation except one man, Sanjay Singh. We don’t have any issue if the new body comes back without Sanjay Singh. We do not have any issue with the ad-hoc committee as well,” Malik said.
The 31-year-old wrestler urged the government to make wrestling safe for the up-and-coming grapplers.
“The government is like parents to us and I would request them to make wrestling safe for the upcoming wrestlers. You have seen how Sanjay Singh has been behaving. I don’t want Sanjay Singh’s interference in the federation,” she added.
Sanjay Singh got the better of rival contestant and former wrestler Anitha Sheoran by a landslide in the WFI polls, before being suspended by the sports ministry for flouting rules of transparency by announcing the senior nationals in the Brij Bhushan stronghold of Gonda.
“I can only make a request. If the ministry says he won’t come back it will be better. Everybody saw the kind of power abuse by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh after the WFI elections. He announced junior nationals at his home without much deliberation,” Malik continued.
The ad-hoc panel named to run the day-to-day operations of the federation announced that the senior nationals would be held in Jaipur early in February.
Malik also requested the ad-hoc panel to hold age group nationals so that the young wrestlers are’t affected by the ongoing malestrom.
“I don’t want any young wrestler to suffer because of us. The ad-hoc committee has already announced senior nationals and I request the ad-hoc committee to announce the U15, U17 and U20 nationals,” Malik said.
She also revealed that her mother has been receiving threatening calls from Brij Bhushan supporters over the past couple of days.
“For the past two, three days, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s goons have become active. My mother is getting threats through phone calls. People are calling and saying that a case will be registered against someone in my family,” the Olympic medallist said.
“People on social media are abusing us but they should remember that they have sisters and daughters at their home,” Malik opined.
When asked if she would enter the world of administration, she did not come up with an affirmative reply, stating, “I am disturbed. We just want junior wrestlers to not suffer. As of now, I don’t have it in my mind.”
In a shocking twits, several young wrestlers held a protest at Jantar Mantar against Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, holding the three responsible for the calamitous situation Indian wrestling finds itself in.
“We are being blamed for junior wrestlers’ loss and that’s incorrect,” Malik voiced.
“If women are involved in running of sport, that will be good,” the grappler added.
When questioned about the protest against the three wrestlers who spearheaded the hartal against the former WFI chief, Brij Bhushan, who has been accused of sexual harassment of women wrestlers, Malik expressed how much she had sacrificed for the sport and the disgruntlement she has been put through in the past few months.
“I have given 18-20 years to wrestling. Only I know what I have gone through in the last few months.”
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