NEW DELHI: Delhi Capitals Chairman, Parth Jindal, and India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist, Abhinav Bindra, have expressed their support for the the protesting wrestlers who were detained by the Delhi Police on Sunday.
Jindal tweeted: “These are our champions – they have worn the tricolour with pride and we have heard Jana Gana Mana on foreign soil because of them – no matter what their issues are and how they are being investigated they have a right to protest and no one and I mean no one should mistreat them – they deserve respect – really pains me to see how our wrestlers are being handled.”
Unprecedented scenes of police dragging Olympic and world championships medallists, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, were witnessed when the wrestlers and their supporters breached the security cordon during their march towards the new Parliament building for the planned women’s ‘Mahapanchayat’.
Bindra has denounced the police action against the country’s top wrestlers at Jantar Mantar, saying the “horrifying images” had left him “sleepless” and “haunted”.
The Delhi Police filed an FIR against them for violation of law and order.
The wrestlers did not have permission to move towards the new Parliament building, hours after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and when they were stopped by police, an ugly scuffle broke out.
The wrestlers had been protesting at Jantar Mantar since April 23 against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, demanding his arrest for alleged sexual harassment of several women grapplers, including a minor.
