On a windy May 23, marking a month of wrestlers’ agitation against MP and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, people from all walks of life including khap members, farmers, and students, joined wrestlers in a candlelight march from Jantar Mantar to India Gate.
Mr. Singh is accused of sexually harassing athletes.
“On [May] 28th, when the Parliament building is inaugurated, we need support from women... you are our backbone,” wrestler Vinesh Phogat said as she lit a candle, standing beside fellow wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and many others.
Olympian Punia, who too held a candle said, “The khap mahapanchayat has decided to hold a panchayat in front of the new Parliament building on May 28, when it is inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We want more women to stand in support with us, this is a fight for India’s daughters.”
“Every girl, who was once oppressed and harassed, will feel empowered today, as more women are now standing up against what is wrong,” Ms. Phogat said.
Holding two candles amid the massive crowd, 15-year-old Prem, a wrester and student from Gurugram in Haryana, said he boarded a bus along with his wrestler friends to Jantar Mantar to mark his presence at the candlelight march. He and his friends said, “It’s been a month, our sisters have fought for endless nights. If he is not punished, we will continue to protest.”
Since April 23, India’s top wrestlers Ms. Malik, Ms. Phogat, Mr. Punia and many others, along with farmers, have been demanding the arrest of Mr. Singh.
On Tuesday evening, around 5 p.m., with more than 500 security personnel including paramilitary forces deployed, over 1,000 protesters carried candles and the Indian Tricolour to protest at India Gate.
The protesters were given a designated area on Kartavya Path and everything else remained barricaded.
Traffic Police too was deployed at India Gate. Traffic congestion was witnessed in roads leading to central Delhi. Commuters were asked to avoid Mansingh Road and the C-Hexagon.
Raising slogans like “Sakshi Malik lade chalo,” and “Vinesh Phogat lade chalo,” the protesters carried their own instruments and sang different jingles.
Virender, a 72-year-old farmer from Delhi said, “It’s a matter of shame that we have to come here demanding an arrest, something that police should do. Our daughters have been wronged.”
Many who joined the India Gate candlelight march saw the monument for the first time.
Prem and his friends have never seen India Gate. They clicked photographs of themselves, their coaches and their parents.
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Falak, 29, a mother, who held her 10-month-old son Vardhan in one hand and a Tricolour in another, said, “It’s been a month. I have been seeing the wrestlers protest in this heat in TV news channels. Today, I carried my son and decided to be a part of it, we cannot let them fight this alone.”
Some protesters sat down and sang their jingles. Some sat down to light candles between the barricades and near the gardens. Police personnel too helped them in lighting the candles.
The protesters, including wrestlers, left India Gate around 7 p.m. “ Betiyon tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare sath hain” (In this fight, we shall stand with our daughters) many sloganeered as they walked away from the protest site.
